Naruto and a Lego Nexo Knight, characters from two different anime shows, fuel up an hour before Monday’s soccer practice with egg and bacon sandwiches and by climbing trees outside Wellfleet’s Flying Fish Café.
Flying Fish Café
THIS THING CALLED LOVE
A Hermit, a Dancer, and a Vintage Romance
Casey Clark and Desirée Revoir fill each other’s dance cards
Casey Clark grew up in Provincetown, and Desirée Revoir is from the other end of the Cape: Sandwich. He left Cape Cod to pursue a career in acting and filmmaking in New York City, and recently returned here to write a book and find solitude. She has lived here her entire life. They met a year ago at a children’s Halloween party at the Flying Fish Café in Wellfleet, though they don’t have children themselves.
“I was wrangling my nephew,” Clark says. “Des said, ‘You’re an uncle? I’m an auntie!’ ”
Revoir laughs. “That was my pickup line. I saw Casey walk in and thought, oh… It was love at first sight.”
Clark takes her hand. “I was in hermit mode,” he says. “But the thought of her kept plaguing me after the party; I knew I needed her number.”
Revoir is 37 and recently single after a long relationship. Clark says, “On our first date, it came up that I was born in ’73 and I saw her face.”
“Yeah, I was a bit shocked,” Revoir says, cutting in. “But Casey looks great for a 46-year-old.”
“Well, thanks,” Clark says. They both laugh. Revoir actually loves everything to do with the ’60s and ’70s and has a large vintage clothing collection. In fact, she was wearing a vintage dress at the party.
“Ah, that dress!” Clark says.
“It’s long, bright green and purple,” Revoir says. “I would have to say, I stood out a little bit, but I was just being myself. Halloween is an opportunity for me to wear my vintage clothes, but I wasn’t dressed up as anything. To me, it’s just a beautiful dress that caught the eye of a wonderful man.”
Clark doesn’t disagree. “Afterwards, I kept asking, ‘Who was that woman in the dress?’ We’d introduced ourselves, but I’m horrible with names, so I couldn’t remember her name. Even more than the dress, though, I remember the conversation we were having,” he says. The subject: they both do ocean plunges year-round on the Cape using Wim Hof’s breathing technique for cold water submersion. “I don’t meet many people who are into that,” Clark says.
Their first date was a walk at Fort Hill in Eastham, followed by lunch at the Canteen in Provincetown. “I kissed him,” Revoir says. “I took the initiative.”
“And here’s a Cape Cod detail,” Clark adds. “By the time she got home, she got a call from one of her friends who had seen us smooching.” They both laugh again. “That was 20 minutes later, and the news was already spreading.”
Mutual interests have bolstered their romance. “Even things that wouldn’t have interested me before are fun to do with Des,” Clark says. “Like dressing in vintage clothing.”
Revoir smiles knowingly. “I’ve got boxes of vintage clothing at home, and I got him to wear these bell bottoms out, with dollar signs on the butt cheeks,” she says. “He dips me on the dance floor and people say, ‘You two are so cute.’ ”
Being with Revoir has helped Clark write his novel. She works as a project coordinator for an independently owned solar energy company, and he writes nine to five.
“We have our eyes and ears and our hearts open to the world,” Revoir says.
“The other night,” Clark says, “it was full moon, and we went out to Head of the Meadow. A pack of coyotes went loping by us.”
The couple are going on their first trip together this month, to a wedding in Las Vegas. Could it inspire them to do the same?
“We may get married one day,” Revoir says.
Clark looks at her with delight. “Wow! Last time we talked about marriage, you said, ‘In Vegas, don’t get me drunk and marry me.’ ”
Revoir laughs. “I don’t need a ring or kids or a house,” she says. “We just have so much fun together.”