I will call the girl Lilla, because that really was her name. I met her on the sidewalk of a busy street in Budapest, Hungary.
I’d been walking with a group of friends down the Kiskörút — the “small ring road” in the center of Budapest — when an attractive girl of about 25 walked past us.
I wheeled about without saying a word… jogged back through the crowd of people… stepped in front of the still-moving girl… locked my eyes on hers like two suction cups… smiled… and held up my hands to make it clear I had something to say to her.
She stopped. I asked if she spoke English. She said she did. I gave her a compliment, saying that she looked nice. She smiled and said thank you.
We chatted for a few more minutes. Eventually, I said I have to go, but that I’d like to invite her for a drink one evening. Lilla, for that was her name, smiled and said, “Ok. Here, take my number.”
After I put her number into my phone, we talked for a couple more minutes, and then said goodbye. Lilla walked on the way she was going, and I rejoined my friends, who were waiting some way down the street, nodding their heads in approval.
If you think I’m trying to boost myself up as some sort of supernaturally talented seducer, let me tell you the sad truth:
For the first three decades of my life, I was entirely useless with women. Shy, passive, avoidant.
That changed when I discovered “daygame” — a collection of online wisdom for how to approach a woman on the street, start a conversation, and then get her phone number, with the clear and stated goal of inviting her out one evening.
It took a couple months of daily practice to perform this mating dance naturally and with confidence. But soon enough, an interaction like the one with Lilla became typical.
I could stop almost any girl on the street and have a pleasant conversation. Many times, those five-minute chats ended with plans to meet again one night for a drink.
And so it was with Lilla. I invited her out a few days later.
Lilla lived far in the outskirts of Budapest. Since I suggested the center as the meeting place, she said that 6pm, right when she finished work, was really the only time that would work.
What to do? 6pm is not the sexiest time of the day, but I already had plans for every other night. So I agreed.
To make this seduction even less likely, it turned out Lilla didn’t drink alcohol.
So here we were, at 6:30pm, with the June sun still high up overhead, sitting in a tea house in the fifth district in Budapest, sipping rooibos, and having the most intensely boring, chemistry-free conversation imaginable. Lilla’s friends, my job, her travel plans.
Lilla’s English was fine but not perfect. Or maybe she just wasn’t “that kind of girl.” In any case, all my attempts at sexual innuendo fell flat as they made their way across the table.
I looked inside my teapot. It was nearing the end. I couldn’t imagine that a second round of rooibos would help any. Something had to change.
“How about we go for a lemonade?” I asked. “I know a place around the corner.” Lilla said fine.
As we strolled through Budapest’s fifth district, my mind raced over my options. A lemonade was clearly not any kind of real solution. Where would we take our conversation now, sugar or no sugar? Another 40 minutes of pointless interview chatter wouldn’t do either Lilla or me good.
And then, suddenly, I had a moment of inspiration. I thought back to the collection of online pick up wisdom I had read. I remembered something. And I stopped walking.
Lilla stopped too, and turned to me to see what’s up.
I locked eyes with her, again suction-cup-like. I said, “Give me your hands.” I held out my hands to her as I said this.
For a moment, Lilla hesitated. Quite natural. She had really just met me a short while earlier. I hadn’t explained what I wanted her hands for, or what I was planning to do. I just stood there, my eyes on hers, my hands held out, smirking a little, not saying anything.
Slowly, a little smile spread across Lilla’s face. She looked down at her feet and then back up at me. And she put her hands in mine, curious to see where this would lead.
Are you curious also? I hope so.
Because this is one of the more personal stories I’m including in my new 10 Commandments book, full title:
10 Commandments of Con Men, Pick Up Artists, Magicians, Door-to-Door Salesmen, Hypnotists, Copywriters, Professional Negotiators, Political Propagandists, Stand Up Comedians, and Oscar-Winning Screenwriters
Earlier this week, I went to the crossroads and made a pact with a traveling salesman who lurks there a lot.
This traveling salesman promised he’d make sure I finished this book by March 24 if only I would sign some kind of contract he had.
I signed, and as a result, I have been making great progress on a final push to get this book published by March 24.
In the meantime, I will be writing about this book and how it’s progressing, plus what I’m thinking about doing to make it a success when it comes out.
And on that note, if you are interested in the topic of this book, and you’re thinking you might wanna get a copy when it comes out, click below. I’m planning some launch bonuses and I will be dripping them out early to people on this pre-launch list:
Click here to get on the bonus-dripping pre-launch list for my new 10 Commandments book