What it's like to date a hotshot: seeing a guy who's higher up on the social food chain shouldn't make you feel like any less of a catch. One young woman explains.(ONLY IN COSMO)

Congressmen in Washington are like male movie stars in Hollywood: They're everywhere, they're always shorter in person ... and yet everyone is still totally impressed with them.

As a government major at Georgetown University, I was a shameless political groupie. I tracked the rarest of species in our nation's capital--the young, unmarried, good-looking politician. I only found one. Two years before, he had been named one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. Like a teenager with a crush on Brad Pitt, I taped the photo to my desk, where it stayed (embarrassingly) for eight months. Of course, I never actually expected to meet him.

Fate Intervenes

While out to dinner with friends one night, I spied him at the table next to mine and courageously introduced myself. I was 21; he was turning 32 that evening. A junior in college, I had never dated a guy older than 24, let alone one with such a formidable resume: Ivy League school, law degree, a prestigious political family, and--oh yeah--an office on Capitol Hill with 20 staffers.

I didn't realize it then, but I had already fallen into the insidious "he's better than me" trap. By putting him on a pedestal, I was unconsciously telling myself that I wasn't worthy. In the following months, I would realize how misguided that mind-set was.

Our five-minute chat turned into an entire evening of flirting when he invited me along as he celebrated his birthday. We went from the restaurant to a swanky hotel bar. He kissed me good night that evening, and I practically fainted from excitement (or was it the champagne?). I never thought I'd talk to him again. But I was wrong: He called the next week and the week after.

In Over My Head?