Hello my loves! This is probably going to be a multi-post story.
A few weeks ago, I met a guy via an online forum on which we were both posting. Eventually, it led to private messages which eventually led to us exchanging phone numbers. This led to texting and talking and video messaging and...planning to meet.
We live several hours apart. It's not like a hugely long distance, like coast to coast or 12 hours or anything like that...but it's a pretty significant drive, one we wouldn't be able to do every weekend, we'll say. Because of this, we decided mutually to meet halfway somewhere, a little bit of a romantic weekend away situation. This really seemed like a good option for us, as we could both be away from our hometowns, on equal footing, and able to be fully concentrated and invested in each other. I'm glad we decided to do this. We looked at a few different options, but ultimately decided on a quaint little Midwestern town on the water with lots of cute little spots.
Having not worked that Friday, I got to our charming Bed and Breakfast first. I got unpacked and comfortable, and then went into town to explore and pass the time. I felt nervous but excited. It was very couple-y, so I was feeling a bit lonely. After a bit, I made my way back to the BnB and shortly thereafter, I received a text message from him that he was on his way: "I'm coming for you." All of the sudden, it started to feel very real. It sort of hit me that...this was really happening.
So, I watched some TV to calm the nerves and pass the time. I got ready in the meantime at a very leisurely pace, at commercial breaks and what not. And, it really did help to keep my mind off things. If i had sat there for hours, thinking about it, I would have been a mess. Because he was getting into town on the later side, a lot of places were closed. We decided to meet at a coffee shop. So, I got all the final details done, hair up, lipstick on, and sat down to watch some more TV; shortly thereafter I received a text from him that he was about 45 minutes out. Now, I took that to mean 45 minutes-an hour out, because with traffic, not knowing directions, etc, you just never know. Here is where things went awry.
So, I was thinking 45 minutes, but could be an hour. And, I assumed that he would message me once he got to the outskirts of town, the general vicinity, to let me know he was about 10 minutes away. So, I'm all ready, watching TV, and I get the next text message....figuring it was the "10 minutes away" text message. Imagine my surprise when it was a photo of a cup of coffee, indicating he was already there. So, he was there, he didn't tell me ahead of time, and he had ordered without me. So...I was pretty upset. I thought he should have waited for me. Now, in his mind....he thought the 45 minute thing was the warning, and that he didn't need to follow it up. Now, me....45 minutes is a pretty flexible time frame, because like I said before....it could be an hour. It could be more. Only when you are actually in the area, are you looking at a concrete time frame. Also, I considered our thing more of a date situation, whereas he considered it a first meeting and that's all. Just...not a very good meeting of the minds.
But, moving on....so I am pretty ticked. I go with a major chip on my shoulder. I pull up to the coffeehouse, and it's quite busy. People sitting outside, live music blaring. So, I park my car, and take a couple of deep breaths. Even with my anger, I am still quite nervous. But, I don't want to lose my resolve either. In my mind, I had been wronged, and I didn't want to go in there and just fold like nothing was wrong. So, I take a peek in the window, and there he is, sitting at a table, reading the newspaper. And, he is beyond cuter than I had anticipated. I had seen numerous pictures of him...and video chatted...but you just never know what you are getting until you are there in person. I was pleasantly surprised, and I felt this rush of butterflies in my stomach.
So...I walk in, approach the table, and....well, nothing happens. He doesn't stand to greet me. No hug, no nothing. Strike 2. So, I sit down. I am cold. Distant. Upset. He knew I was upset, I had texted him as much, and my demeanor was confirming it. But, we talked a bit, and it slowly thawed my exterior. I was still guarded. I was still upset. But, I was calming down. He moved from across the table to right next to me so we could hear each other better. The coffee shop wasn't exactly what either of us expected. We were thinking it was going to be something quieter. So, eventually the "Let's get out of here" point comes and he offers to walk me to my car. Okay...this is a decent sign.
Except as we walk the what seems like 350 mile, but actually block and a half distance to my car, he kept a very respectable space from me. No shoulder bumping. And, the whole time, I am thinking in my head "hold my hand hold my hand hold my hand hold my hand..." and it never came. No hand holding. So, I get in my car, and he follows me back to our place. The entire drive back, my eyes are burning from these tears that weren't quite there, but just on the edge. But, my mind was just going in a million different directions, so I think it kept the tears from surfacing. I was trying to reconcile the disconnect between the guy I had been talking to for weeks who seemed so into me, so interested, and this guy who seemingly wanted nothing to do with me. It was clear that he didn't like me.
We get back to our lovely room. (It was amazing.) I still wasn't sure if I was going to cry, but my heart was racing, and I was breathing pretty heavily. So, I put on the bravest face I can, say "I'll let you get settled in" and I excuse myself. I go out to the balcony and just let the cool air wash over me. I take some deep breaths. I try to either let the tears flow or put the tears away. In the end, I didn't cry. So, I gather myself, try to be strong, and walk back in the BnB and back into our room.
He was in the bathroom, so I sat down in one of the chairs. All I knew was that here we were, in this odd situation, where I was going to be sharing a bed with a guy that didn't even like me. It was going to be a long night.
And it was.
A few weeks ago, I met a guy via an online forum on which we were both posting. Eventually, it led to private messages which eventually led to us exchanging phone numbers. This led to texting and talking and video messaging and...planning to meet.
We live several hours apart. It's not like a hugely long distance, like coast to coast or 12 hours or anything like that...but it's a pretty significant drive, one we wouldn't be able to do every weekend, we'll say. Because of this, we decided mutually to meet halfway somewhere, a little bit of a romantic weekend away situation. This really seemed like a good option for us, as we could both be away from our hometowns, on equal footing, and able to be fully concentrated and invested in each other. I'm glad we decided to do this. We looked at a few different options, but ultimately decided on a quaint little Midwestern town on the water with lots of cute little spots.
Having not worked that Friday, I got to our charming Bed and Breakfast first. I got unpacked and comfortable, and then went into town to explore and pass the time. I felt nervous but excited. It was very couple-y, so I was feeling a bit lonely. After a bit, I made my way back to the BnB and shortly thereafter, I received a text message from him that he was on his way: "I'm coming for you." All of the sudden, it started to feel very real. It sort of hit me that...this was really happening.
So, I watched some TV to calm the nerves and pass the time. I got ready in the meantime at a very leisurely pace, at commercial breaks and what not. And, it really did help to keep my mind off things. If i had sat there for hours, thinking about it, I would have been a mess. Because he was getting into town on the later side, a lot of places were closed. We decided to meet at a coffee shop. So, I got all the final details done, hair up, lipstick on, and sat down to watch some more TV; shortly thereafter I received a text from him that he was about 45 minutes out. Now, I took that to mean 45 minutes-an hour out, because with traffic, not knowing directions, etc, you just never know. Here is where things went awry.
So, I was thinking 45 minutes, but could be an hour. And, I assumed that he would message me once he got to the outskirts of town, the general vicinity, to let me know he was about 10 minutes away. So, I'm all ready, watching TV, and I get the next text message....figuring it was the "10 minutes away" text message. Imagine my surprise when it was a photo of a cup of coffee, indicating he was already there. So, he was there, he didn't tell me ahead of time, and he had ordered without me. So...I was pretty upset. I thought he should have waited for me. Now, in his mind....he thought the 45 minute thing was the warning, and that he didn't need to follow it up. Now, me....45 minutes is a pretty flexible time frame, because like I said before....it could be an hour. It could be more. Only when you are actually in the area, are you looking at a concrete time frame. Also, I considered our thing more of a date situation, whereas he considered it a first meeting and that's all. Just...not a very good meeting of the minds.
But, moving on....so I am pretty ticked. I go with a major chip on my shoulder. I pull up to the coffeehouse, and it's quite busy. People sitting outside, live music blaring. So, I park my car, and take a couple of deep breaths. Even with my anger, I am still quite nervous. But, I don't want to lose my resolve either. In my mind, I had been wronged, and I didn't want to go in there and just fold like nothing was wrong. So, I take a peek in the window, and there he is, sitting at a table, reading the newspaper. And, he is beyond cuter than I had anticipated. I had seen numerous pictures of him...and video chatted...but you just never know what you are getting until you are there in person. I was pleasantly surprised, and I felt this rush of butterflies in my stomach.
So...I walk in, approach the table, and....well, nothing happens. He doesn't stand to greet me. No hug, no nothing. Strike 2. So, I sit down. I am cold. Distant. Upset. He knew I was upset, I had texted him as much, and my demeanor was confirming it. But, we talked a bit, and it slowly thawed my exterior. I was still guarded. I was still upset. But, I was calming down. He moved from across the table to right next to me so we could hear each other better. The coffee shop wasn't exactly what either of us expected. We were thinking it was going to be something quieter. So, eventually the "Let's get out of here" point comes and he offers to walk me to my car. Okay...this is a decent sign.
Except as we walk the what seems like 350 mile, but actually block and a half distance to my car, he kept a very respectable space from me. No shoulder bumping. And, the whole time, I am thinking in my head "hold my hand hold my hand hold my hand hold my hand..." and it never came. No hand holding. So, I get in my car, and he follows me back to our place. The entire drive back, my eyes are burning from these tears that weren't quite there, but just on the edge. But, my mind was just going in a million different directions, so I think it kept the tears from surfacing. I was trying to reconcile the disconnect between the guy I had been talking to for weeks who seemed so into me, so interested, and this guy who seemingly wanted nothing to do with me. It was clear that he didn't like me.
We get back to our lovely room. (It was amazing.) I still wasn't sure if I was going to cry, but my heart was racing, and I was breathing pretty heavily. So, I put on the bravest face I can, say "I'll let you get settled in" and I excuse myself. I go out to the balcony and just let the cool air wash over me. I take some deep breaths. I try to either let the tears flow or put the tears away. In the end, I didn't cry. So, I gather myself, try to be strong, and walk back in the BnB and back into our room.
He was in the bathroom, so I sat down in one of the chairs. All I knew was that here we were, in this odd situation, where I was going to be sharing a bed with a guy that didn't even like me. It was going to be a long night.
And it was.
You know...just in case. Anyway, we welcomed the new day, and headed downstairs for breakfast. For anyone whose done the Bed and Breakfast thing, it's an interesting experience, isn't it? It's primarily couples, and you find yourself sharing breakfast with other couples and listening to other conversations. We got to know each other better, too. It was lovely to share breakfast and stories of our lives and childhoods and views of the world. This was the beginning of a running joke with us...as I prefer pre-made chocolate milk, and he considers white milk with syrup the only real chocolate milk. We both decided this point of contention might be too much for our relationship to overcome. So, we now often joke with each other about chocolate milk. 
We spent much of the afternoon the same way we did the morning. However, the conversation kind of took a much deeper turn. 
I am not sure how many times it's physically possible to say "We can't, we can't" in the span of 10-15 minutes, but I am pretty sure we broke whatever record existed. It was torturous. 
We took our sweet time walking down the stairs, and took our sweet time exiting the Bed and Breakfast. But, while we as humans are a brilliant species, we've still never mastered the ability to stop or slow down time. But, we did try to savor our last moments together nonetheless. We each loaded up our respective cars, and then shared a kiss, which led to another kiss. And another. And then, we were just pretty much full on kissing (tastefully, of course) standing outside, with my back up against my car. We enjoyed each other for a bit, and then all of the sudden this car driving down the street started honking at us, so we bust out laughing. He loved it, and screamed, "Thank you!" at them with bit of a fist pump. Myself, I think I looked down at my feet, red as a tomato. It was funny, and so worth it, but still a bit...blush-inducing. We kissed some more, but I wasn't ready to say goodbye, so I suggested we get in his car.
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