JUAN ZUNIGA
22 / student
WHEN HE IS HAPPIEST
Laughing with family and friends
FIRST THING PEOPLE NOTICE IN HIS HOME
How clean I keep things
LESLEY MCGEE
23 / project assistant
WHO WOULD PLAY HER IN A MOVIE
Drew Barrymore or Rihanna
WHAT COMEDIAN’S SENSE OF HUMOR MIRRORS HER OWN
Louis C.K. I’m like a younger black female version.
8 P.M. FOGO DE CHAO, BACK BAY
> COOL KIDS
JUAN [Before the date,] I showered, got a haircut, and shaved.
LESLEY Worked out, showered, did some meditation, and attempted to paint my nails.
JUAN [I was] cool, calm, and collected.
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LESLEY [I was] so nervous. I really hate small talk, so I was just worried that I would have to talk about the weather and what I did for a living for an hour.
JUAN I went to find the reservation, and the hostess had no clue what I was saying. After much debate about how to pronounce my name, Lesley asked if I was Juan and we met then and there.
LESLEY He was cute! My height — dark and handsome. He looked really nice, and I instantly felt underdressed.
JUAN She had a great smile. She took her coat off and I noticed how in shape she was and was very impressed.
LESLEY He seemed pretty calm.
> HAPPY
LESLEY I could tell he wasn’t going to be boring, so I felt comfortable being my normal, weird, unfiltered self.
JUAN She is a fitness chick, working out every day. She is very intelligent, totally into psychology. She likes adventure, jumping when I mentioned that I ride motorcycles.
LESLEY We found out we had so many connections: where he was from, that he was a musician, our mutual love of cooking.
JUAN We’re both into exercising, have friends and family in Florida, like the same music.
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LESLEY I was laughing a lot. We spoke about his opinions on things from food to sex to feminism.
JUAN She seemed more attractive as the night went on because we kept finding things that connect us.
> SHAKE IT OFF
LESLEY He showed me a picture of him with a beard, and with it he looked a lot like my ex-boyfriend, who I thought was adorable. I do wish [Juan] was a bit taller, though.
JUAN The way she reacted to my compliments made me want to leave because it felt as though she just wasn’t interested.
LESLEY We split an Uber back. (I don’t use Uber that often.) I probably would have gone to hang out with him, but I had a big work event the next morning.
JUAN We traded numbers (as friends).
LESLEY So the Uber pulled up to my house and I got out. He just jumped out and hugged me. I think he knew I wasn’t ready for any kissin’ at that moment in time.
JUAN It was interesting: As I opened the car door, she seemed to snicker at how cheesy she thought it was.
> SECOND DATE?
LESLEY Yes! Maybe I’ll kiss him this time . . .
JUAN If so, only as friends.
> POST-MORTEM
LESLEY A-
JUAN B-
GO ON A BLIND DATE. WE’LL PICK UP THE TAB. Fill out an application at bostonglobe.com/cupid.