The Best Worst Date

We met like a lot of people do. At work. When you spend most of your time working, there’s no opportunity to meet anybody else. He probably won’t admit it, but he noticed me first. I was too busy trying to be polite and friendly with everyone to even notice someone having an extra interest in me. I’m not going to lie; he played the game the right way. Like a pro. At first, he just said “Hi” and “we’ll talk later.” Well that made me interested because what could we talk about and why me. I hadn’t even initiated a conversation. From there, he proceeded to work just far enough away from me, so I’d know he was there, but not close enough to have a conversation. Then the day ended, and we never did speak to each other. Most people probably wouldn’t think anything of it, but not me. I’m curious, always have been. It just wouldn’t leave my mind. It would run circles around my head when I least expected it. I needed to find a casual way to figure out what was up with that guy.

A few days later, I saw him again. “You said something about talking the other day and I never saw you again. Rude.” I chuckled.

“Yeah sorry about that, I got busy with work and then something else came up. I’ll make it up to you sometime though.” I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.

“Well I’m going to hold you to that promise.” I winked at him.

I’m the type of person that likes having fun and joking around with people. I get accused of flirting from time to time and yeah, I guess I can see where sometimes maybe I flirt with others, but its in fun really. I just don’t see the need to be serious all the time. I just try to enjoy life.

A few weeks later, we were put on a big project together. The project was longer than other ones, so we knew we’d have a decent amount of time working together. Honestly, I didn’t want to seem like I was interested or anything. I had recently ended one of the most difficult relationships I had ever been in and I wasn’t looking to start a new one. It was hard because my ex was trying all his tricks to get me back and sometimes its just hard to be alone and it’s a little scary. I think that’s why most people go back to their exes, especially after a short break up. I also realized I had a lot to work on for myself in order to be any good for anyone else if and/or when I decided to date again. That didn’t mean I couldn’t make a new friend though. Friends are good to have when they treat you right.

“Why do you look so blue today?” the message he typed popped up on my screen.

“Oh, just thinking about the relationship I was just in.” Who says that to someone? Why am I so awkward sometimes?

“Wanna talk about it.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t want to trouble you with pointless things.”

“Sometimes its just good to have someone to listen. Everyone deserves that at least.”

“That’s sweet of you but really its ok. It was just a really crappy relationship and I need to learn from it and move on.”

“Would you rather I change the subject and take your mind off it. He probably didn’t deserve you anyway.”

“No, he definitely didn’t. and yeah sure what you got?”

We continued messaging for the duration of the project, whenever we were bored at meetings or had down time. At the end, we went out with everyone to the bar to celebrate and had a really good time. He was easy to talk to. I couldn’t help but wonder if it “was too good to be true”. I mean my defenses were already up because of my breakup anyway, but it was easy.

“You think you’re gonna be up for a relationship?” he asked me one day.

“I’m going to need some time. I have a lot I need to sort out from that last relationship and honestly I won’t be good for either one of us right now.” I replied.

“That’s ok. Take your time. I can wait.”

Let’s be real, that’s usually the last words of any potential relationship. He couldn’t wait, nobody ever can. We’re all human after all. I didn’t want to wait either, but I also didn’t want to screw up something that could be good, because I rushed into it. Well he gently pushed and prodded and before we knew it, we were hanging out more and more and even had little nicknames for each other. Bottom line, we were dating. I finally teased him one day “So when are you going to take me on a real first date?”

“You want to go on one? I’m ok with that. When? Where?”

“How about tomorrow at The Brewery? Its not fancy or anything, but the food is pretty good and its not far away.” I suggested.

When we got there, it was raining. Not the pouring down you don’t even want to get out of the car type of rain, but the its raining just enough you know you’re going be miserable it’s just going to take a little while kind of rain. So, not a great start to our official first date. There was also no place to park in the garage near the restaurant, so we ended up parking in the uncovered lot and walking through the rain to get to the restaurant.

The restaurant was not very busy when we arrived, so we didn’t have to wait too long to be seated or to order our food. We had calamari for an appetizer and talked and laughed as we waited for the main course. I had ordered crab cakes, and he had gotten a burger and fries. As the food was delivered, I noticed the rain start to pick up outside. I was facing the floor to ceiling windows of the restaurant and had a front row seat to the outside. It had also gotten dark outside. I was preoccupied with the weather and hadn’t touched my food yet. Next thing I knew, a siren was going off. It was one of those long steady tone sirens like the one from The Wizard of Oz before Dorothy and Toto were taken away from Kansas in the tornado.

The wind outside had picked up and leaves and trash were blowing down the street in big piles and gusts. The tree branches were bending, and the power had gone off for the whole block. It was summertime, so it should have been light outside, but it had gotten so dark, you couldn’t help but notice when the power went out. There was enough light like an early morning before sunrise where its still dark, but you can see fairly well for several feet around you. He noticed I hadn’t even touched my food, so he switched to my side of the table and sat next to me to try to calm me down. I told him I had a rational, irrational fear of tornados. “Well, it’s a good thing, its just a little wind and not a tornado.” He said. “Why don’t we just get our food to go and head home and eat it some other time.” I appreciated him for that, but to be honest I didn’t even know if I’d be able to go outside, it seemed even less safe than where we were, safe inside, away from the wind.

He called the waiter over but couldn’t pay because the machines were down and neither one of us had brought cash. So, he left a business card with the waiter and said he’d be back to pay for the dinner when the power came back on. It was really the only option for anyone because the weather didn’t look like it was going to settle down so power could be restored any time soon. He held my hand tight and kept close for the walk back to the car, probably because he knew I was still a little scared from the weather.

“So much for a nice first date.” I said.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, we can try again some other time if you want.”

“No, it’s ok, this will be a good story to tell one day. Our first date, you learned I am terrified of wind and refuse to eat when it’s out of control. Who knew you could learn such secrets just by going on a date?” I really wasn’t up for anything the rest of the night, but he stayed, and we watched movies on the couch until I was able to calm down and go to sleep.

That was the worst date I had ever been on, especially for a first one. It wasn’t ruined by normal nerves and anxiousness, which was present despite the time we had already spent together, but it was ruined by the weather and a little fear I have always had of it. Despite all of that, I would not change that first date for a minute. That worst, first date happened years ago, but I do not have any ending to this story. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was one event that led to a life together that we would not change for anything. This love story has no ending because it is still going and every day, we still enjoy each other just as much as we did when we first began this journey together.