Hi seddit.

I've been a lurker on seddit for quite some time now (few months), and made an account to post this.

I'm 21(M), recent college graduate. I moved recently from the north to the southern parts of the US soon after my graduation for my job.

I hadn't been really interested in dating or relationships in college -- I was quite content with just spending time with friends. I work out often, am not bad looking, dress well, social, but never had been interested in dating too much. I have 25% of my friends are girls and they mention throughout college about me being single and how I should find someone. I always turned down the idea, and thought it too much a hassle. I was very happy about my social life in college and didn't feel the need for a gf.

Moving to a new state, however, was a strange transition where I had to start my social life anew. I even started contemplating the idea of starting a relationship.

One day one of my clients (40F) noted how young I was for my profession (I am running a semi-successful start-up with 8 or so employees and I guess it was strange for her to see someone so young managing a company) and inquired how I got to where I am now.

I told her I moved here from Chicago, trying to balance work and social life (I work from 7am-9pm M-F and 10am-7pm on Sundays -- I hold two jobs atm), and basically said I don't know anyone here at all.

She seemed interested in my background and was more or less impressed by it. (I come from an Asian community and graduated from a rather good school. She was also Asian and seemed to like the fact I came from an elite school - I know it's very superficial, but that's how Asian moms are.)

A week later she says she is an aunt of a girl in college, 21F. She texts me some pictures of that girl, she is like a 9/10 beauty.

The said girl was single and looking for a bf.

The lady says she talked to her about me and said she'd be interested in meeting me for a date. She asked me if I wanted to see her.

I thought to my self: why the hell not. So I agreed.

I've met plenty of girls 1-on-1 before, taken them out to dinner, shopping, etc. without any romantic interest in mind (just as friends in college) so I wasn't too nervous about it. Naturally, I thought it would be just the same as before.

Day before the date, I actually found myself a little nervous. This was the first time I was meeting a girl with a romantic relationship in mind.

I chose a small Korean cafe to meet up at to grab some coffee and chat.

I was planning on talking to her for about an hour and leaving.

We ended up talking for a good 4 hours.

I guess that's my first question. Is that normal on first dates?

I have never had such a long conversation with someone I met for the first over coffee.

I kept thinking to myself, "man we've been talking for a long time, isn't she bored yet? I wonder how much longer we're going to be talking, should I try to change locations?".

I even mentioned how late the night was getting to let her leave if she wanted to, but she made nothing of it.

She told me she had to leave at 6:00 to meet a friend, but ended up leaving at 7:00.

Don't get me wrong, she was a delight to have. She was laughing every 5 minutes, and we talked on and on about things.

I didn't initiate kino too much, knowing she was from a conservative background. Also, I'm not looking to escalate things physically too quickly, tbh I'm a bit nervous about the things regular sedditors are able to pull off (k-closing, f-closing, etc).

I texted her after getting home.

I asked if she reached home safely, if she had lots to study for still, to do well on her finals, and that we should do dinner next time.

All her responses were positive. She said "okie :)" to the dinner.

We won't be seeing each other until after Christmas break since we are both going away for the holidays. I'm planning on meeting her early January.

I was just wondering if I was going about this whole thing the right way. I read a lot of things about friendzoning in the subreddit, and was wondering if I am leading things that way (I'm still not too sure what friendzoning is, but I think I kinda get it). She knows I was meeting her as a date and a potential bf, not as a friend.

What am I supposed to do from here? Did I approach the first date properly? How should I maintain contact with her? -- Should I even text her again before setting up a time to meet? How can I know if she has interest in me as a romantic partner? I'm planning on going to an art-museum together --> dinner --> bar for the next date (she's an art major), are there better second date ideas?

-- truth be told, I'm a bit nervous and excited about the whole thing. It's my first time stepping into the world of dating, so I understand I may screw things up, still there'll be plenty of other chances.

Some side notes on the date:

She seemed to tease me on my taste in older things (music, hobbies, etc) She mentioned how silly she seemed talking about herself She did about 70% of the talking, I mostly just asked questions. I kept good eye contact. The couple times I looked away, she seemed to be bit bothered by it and look wherever I turned my gaze away to. She mentioned needing her personal space and was more or less introverted. She used to party and drink a bit when she was a freshman, now she likes to spend her off days more quietly at home.

TL;DR: Went on very first, first date. I think it went well. Don't know what to do from here.