The BBC

He was cute, smart, charming --- and had an accent. If only that would have been enough!

As you know I'm fond of nicknames, so I named my latest British import appropriately -- the BBC. Not only was he everything I listed above, but he also was a hunter, and I happily surrendered to be his prey.

I first saw him from far away at a huge work event. I was with my Tita Mary, when I spotted him across a sea of married men and Larrys. I quickly asked"Who is THAT guy?" Her response , "Ehhh...that guy's a dick."

Pretending not to hear, and quite frankly trying to forget that comment, I told myself to be open. What did she really know?

In less than one week, he showed up at my cube, in his adorable accent, introducing himself.

Now, I've been in LA for 6 1/2 years and I have to say that has NEVER happened to me. Okay, maybe once in a bar with some cheeseball, but not a legitimate guy who seems to have it all together. I mean this guy was pursuing me, and I couldn't have been more thrilled to let him know exactly who I was.

The next week he stopped by again, and soon he was following up his daily visits with clever emails. I felt like I was in my very own version of Bridget Jones. Now was he Daniel Clever, or Mark Darcy? Of course, I immediately sent all communication to my Mary coworkers, confirming that he was in fact flirting.

One thing led to another, and I found myself having a date with the cute, single British guy. We met for a drink before going to a movie, and I dropped him off afterwards. It was all great. We even shared the same love for vodka, and he was was a self-admitted lover of red heads. He didn't even try to kiss me that night - what a gentleman, right?

Well, we soon lined up another date and I took him to my favorite sushi place. And I'm not quite sure what it is with me, guys, and cars, but once again I found myself in shock. I really promise that I'm not a superficial girl when it comes to cars, but what is it with these tacky ones? Hot, sweet, charming appropriately predatorial British boy drives a MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE ... CONVERTIBLE!

So I thought to myself (AGAIN) "Mary don't be so judgemental." Well that would have even been okay, if it weren't for the fact that he kept referencing "how cool his cahhh is." I'm not even exaggerating when I say that he worked it into any conversation. "I don't mind driving , because I have such a COOL CAHHH." "This sushi is really great. It'd be better in my cahh." (Okay, he didn't say the last part, but you get what I mean, right?)

The next day I was in my Tita Mary's cube rehashing the date, and when I got to the "cool cahh" part of the evening, my fears were confirmed. She gave me the side tilt "ehhh, not the best we were looking for" face.

Well being the determed girl that I am, I agreed to go out with him again. I mean, so what if he was in love with his cheesy car. He's British. We went to a movie and again had a nice time, but then were iming at work and he said "I'm listening to Gloria Estefan's 'Anything for You.' When I was younger I used to cry whenever I heard this song."

You might not know this about me, but I have a huge distaste for Gloria Estefan, and all her music. I know the woman's been through a lot, but "Come on baby do that conga," is never appropriate. It's just not something I could deal with -- a true non-negotiable, deal breaker. I immediately ran to my Maryleine's cube, then to my Larry's cube, unsure of how I would break this to them. Because, honestly, admitting it to them, meant not only that he has bad taste in music, but I'm judgemental. I was oddly freaked and they both felt I was overreacting. But I just couldn't help myself. I am open-minded and can deal with a lot, but not a cheeseball. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so good at reading people, that I wasn't so specific in what I want.

I also forgot to mention that he lived at a Holiday Inn for 7 months and would hang out at Marie Callendar's on the weekend. With all of that combined, I just couldn't do it. No matter how cute he was, it just wasn't going to happen.

There would be no more rides in his cool cahh.