One Night

I thought he was a ladies' man. After all, he'd dated all the other single young women in the office, except for me. But to be fair, I wasn't "available" when I worked there. And it was not a large company.

I left for other pursuits. Via a complicated, circuitous route, I left that job and the city, only to find myself in the same city and at the same company one year later. This time, I wouldn't be around for long. I was delivering a two-day training workshop as a consultant.

That's when I saw him again. This time, I was available, enjoying a life of freedom, flirtations, and brief romances. {Well, maybe it wasn't quite as exciting as I just made it seem, but I was free.} I fully expected him to ask me out. He'd better have asked me out! With the reputation I'd given him in my mind, I knew there had to be something very wrong with me if he didn't.

Sixteen years ago tonight, we had our first date.

I thought it would be an only date. Just the fact that he asked me out satisfied me. I didn't know if we actually had anything in common. And anyway, I was moving to another city the following week. A long-distance relationship wasn't part of the plan.

The thing is - it was magical! And he was - wow! One date turned into two, then three in a row. By Monday, I was in an agonizing giddy state. I couldn't concentrate on work. I couldn't hold down a bite to eat. I felt nauseated. And I knew. 

I knew I wasn't sick. But No! This couldn't be happening. According to my plan, I had three to five more years of those flirtations and brief romances ahead of me. Love was not in the plan for the near future. Not at all.

But when I closed my eyes, he was all I saw. When I tried to work, my mind instead replayed every intoxicating moment of our three days. My stomach flipped and flopped whenever I thought of him. He was everything. I was a goner.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Our beautiful history.