The Love Story, Part 2

We waited a week for our date, and I though I thought several times about calling it off, I stuck with my original resolve to have some kind of social life. 

When he picked me up, we were able to talk quite easily.  He had planned a double date with his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend, and we headed to their apartment to eat dinner.  Normally, dinner with one person I only slightly know and two that are strangers would make me panic, but it was surprisingly easy to laugh and joke with them. 

After dinner, they had decided to take us to "Quick Wits" a clean, comedy-sports troupe in downtown SLC.  The comedy act itself was hysterical, but I got a little distracted when Tom decided to put his arm around me and lightly scratch my back.  What did he think he was doing, anyway?  I didn't even know him!

But it was on the way home that things really started getting interesting.  I wish that we would have somehow had a tape recorder or video camera, so I could review how in detail this all unfolded.  But from my admittedly fuzzy memory, here's roughly how the conversation went down:

Him: "You know, I'm really tired of playing the dating games, so I'm just going to tell you something straight out.  I like you. I really like you."

Me: (After scraping my jaw up off the floor...) "Well, I like you too."

Him: "You're the kind of person I could imagine spending the rest of my life with."

Yes, he actually said that.  At that point, I wasn't sure if I was flattered or horrified.  We had a good time together, he was easy to talk to, but I definitely wasn't positive this was the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with! 

We kept talking.  The backyard of the house I lived in at the time had a huge parking area in the back of the house, so we parked and talked some more.  He is a huge country music fan, and had his car stocked with all manner of country love songs.  He played several of them for me, including "I Can Love You Like That" and "I Love the Way You Love Me" by John Michael Montgomery.  And yes, he sang along. 

It's hard to describe what I was feeling at that point.  I was incredulous that I was sitting there with a boy that I hardly knew who was singing me love songs, when a week before I was swearing off romance, dating, and the opposite sex all together.  I thought of the brochures for graduate schools that were laying on the floor of my bedroom, and the audition trip I was planning.  But I couldn't deny that he was treating me the way I had always wanted to be treated, (I mean, really, what girl doesn't want to be serenaded with love songs?) and that I was amazed that he was going out on such a limb.  And the more we talked, the more I liked him.  So many of the things we valued and wanted were so similar; it surprised me how in sync we were with our goals and desires. 

We talked for a while longer, and I kept insisting that he was crazy: no one could possibly know, after one date, what he was professing to know.  But as late night talking often does, talking led to, well, kissing.

But here's the most important thing for all of you reading this to know:

He kissed me first!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we've been arguing about this, good-naturedly, for the entirety of our marriage.  But since you're all reading my blog, it's important for you to know the truth.  All that happened was that I stopped talking for a minute and leaned towards him and he did the rest.  He insists that I did the kissing first, but I know that when we get to heaven and we get to have a DVD playback of our lives, it will show the real truth and the argument can be settled once and for all.

More to come...