2007, that’s when it all began. The tall, dark and handsome guy who was the reason I spent a good portion of my income on groceries, did something that forced me into that dirty ring of passive romantics that most of us have secretly and innocently dabbled with, but not many have delved into as far as I did. Let me back track…
The developing crush reared its ugly head on so many occasions that my ex and I even joked about how this guy at the grocery store was my “fake boyfriend”. One day, while desperately reaching for a box of dog treats on the tip-top shelf, handsome stranger reached up and brought the box down for me. I was shocked, he smelled so good, like dude soap, not cologne or B.O. or anything musky-strange, but soap! Clean and refreshing! That was the last straw, I had to find out what his name was. For months I had acted like a giddy school girl wandering the aisles every time I was in there, hoping to run into him and it never occurred to me to check for a name tag…
So the quest began, god forbid I actually strike up a conversation with him! I was newly single and had zero game/social skills. I turned to social media, the safety net for the socially awkward. By the way, it is incredibly difficult to find someone on any of those social networking sites if you KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM! His place of employment was all I had to work with. I won’t give away my secrets but I finally found him, and after a week or so, got the courage up to ask him to be my friend. Yup, I was that girl. Never talked to him, wasn’t even sure if he would recognize me or think anything of me, but I extended the virtual handshake anyway.
One hot summer day after a grueling match of no-rules volleyball with the pals, we decided to haul our sweaty asses down to Grumpy’s for a cocktail and a round of Staraoke with the lovely Arzu. While standing on the patio looking like a sweaty mess, Ted appeared out of nowhere, walking toward the bar. I almost peed my pants! What good/terrible luck! I had been hanging out at that bar for years on a very regular basis, and I had never, ever, ever seen Ted there! Of course he shows up on a day when I look like I’m melting in the same clothes I had been wearing the entire weekend…
Well, drinks run dry and eventually I had to do the walk of shame past him to get to the bar (I didn’t know he had accepted my MySpace request at that time). I tried my hardest to keep my eyes on the ground and not look at him, but I peeked, and he was looking at me AND he said hi!
We ended up striking up a conversation after my drink was refilled, but we weren’t in the clear yet. Alicia, bestest bestie in the world, was determined to get rid of him. Always the protector, she was convinced he was trouble and I was just going to have my heart smashed. She pulled out all of her how-to-scare-a-guy-off tricks, but it did the opposite, Ted thought it was hilarious!
Several drinks later, phone numbers were exchanged and a brief make-out session took place in front of everyone. I think I held my breath until he called me a day or two later!
Who would have thought that what started out as an innocent fling with an expected expiration date of the end-of-summer, would turn into the most amazing love I could have ever imagined. Aww!
-Shaylyn