Not having to choose

I quickly spotted Tyler at the meeting that night. He was talking with someone else in another part of the room. I had been chatting with a girl who had gone to the same college as me.

I mentioned to her, “So there’s this guy I met at one of these meetings, and we’ve been on a few dates. He’s here tonight, and I don’t know how much I should talk to him. I mean, it’s just been a few dates.” She didn’t have any advice for me. I stood with her and her group of friends (including Whitney from Fairytale Beginning) who had also gone to my college. We grabbed our free drinks from the bar and stood in a circle chatting, while I watched Tyler out of the corner of my eye. Then, when I wasn’t looking, he came up behind me.

We hugged hello, and he said, “Oh my gosh, I couldn’t get away from that lady! I had to make something up to get away.” I laughed, and then went off with him. We sipped our free drinks and walked around chatting until the speaker came on. I suddenly realized we matched. We were wearing black peacoats, dark green sweaters, blue jeans, and black shoes.  How dorky, and yet so cute. A professional photographer was there to take photos of everyone.

While the speaker was presenting, I also noticed we both have brown hair and blue eyes. I loved it. Clare and I joke that people with brown hair and blue eyes are superior to others, so I immediately texted her to let her know. Tyler and I rubbed our arms against each other a few times and he would wink at me. This felt like another reminder of high school dating.

After the speaker had finished and the meeting was wrapping up, he asked if I wanted to grab dinner somewhere close by. I agreed, and we ended up at Hooter’s, the only place open within walking distance. We told funny stories from our high school and college years of dating gone wrong and parties. He told me we needed to plan a date soon. Afterward he walked me back to my car, kissed me, and said, “Bye, sweetheart.”

I called Chris on the drive home and we talked about our upcoming date for the next night. I invited him to stay the night after the date.

I emailed Sophie at work the next day and told her I was starting to understand how she feels about her new boyfriend. They had met in November and quickly fell in love. I wrote, “I understood how you felt about him before, but now that I’ve been around Chris having all these feelings, I REALLY understand how you feel.” I wasn’t having those feelings with Tyler. I just enjoyed spending time with him, and he made me laugh. I liked that he worked in my same career field because it was fun to be able to chat about it with him. I told Sophie I liked how both of the guys are close with their families, and how I could act as if I was in high school again with both of them.

I wrote to her, “This is all a lot of fun. I don’t mind the not having to choose because I know both of them may be moving this year. So there’s no point in making a decision. I would choose Chris, of course, if I had to choose. But I may as well have fun with Tyler. He’s great to be around, and he’s most likely to stick around here, or at least be in Texas.”

Chris felt like what I wanted out of a partner though. I wanted to spend lots and lots of time with him because it felt so good. I tried telling myself I would enjoy my time with him even more if I wasn’t with him all the time. I wanted to do everything with him though, any activity possible. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) He had said to me that he was excited because everything we do together is a new experience.

I was starting to look at his photos on Facebook, and think to myself, “Awww, that’s my love,” although we hadn’t said that to each other. I wanted to take photos with him.

Chris and I emailed that day as well and finally decided on our date: a play at The Pocket Sandwich Theater in Dallas. It was his idea, and I loved it. I loved that he wanted to go out and do new things. I couldn’t wait to see him, hug him, and kiss him.

I told him, “I’ve always wanted to go to plays but no one has ever wanted to go. You kick ass.”

I showed photos of Chris to two of my female coworkers, and they agreed that he was adorable.

After work I immediately headed home to shower and get ready for the date. I met Chris at his house and we drove together to the theater. We decided to have dinner beforehand at a Mexican restaurant within walking distance. We drank margaritas with our dinner and chatted about his move. I was already wishing he would stay. He talked about his college plans up there. I started thinking to myself that maybe I could move to Seattle. After all, my company has an office there. He would first be moving to a town that was 90 minutes north of Seattle to live with his friends already up there and complete his basics at a community college. After the basics, he wanted to get into a genetics program at the University of Washington in Seattle. I couldn’t believe I was already imagining ways to move up there and be with him. That seemed crazy.

We walked back to the theater holding hands, as I dreamed of being in Washington with him. When we got into the theater, they gave us a container of popcorn and led us to a booth. This theater gives popcorn to you for either eating or throwing at the actors. After ordering a pitcher of sangria, we started pelting each other with the popcorn, and ended up taking our first photo together.

The play was hilarious. We cracked up all the way through. During intermission, we commenced again with our popcorn war and he spilled sangria on his crotch. I was dying laughing, and enjoying the hell out of this evening. It was an amazing date.