An Experience. That sums up Sven's and my first meeting. The road to Amarillo was long and rocky. For him.
Sven had called me several times during the night the morning we were to meet. The thought was that since his journey is ideally shorter than mine time-wise, he'd arrive before I did, but, theoretically he wouldn't have to wait long, if at all, for me to arrive due to my driving style. That's not what happened. Remember, Sven had gotten a cell phone, which would definitely come in handy taking a trip, but somehow the previous night had misplaced it (he's since found it). Lovely. Luckily, I'd already mapped out an exact meeting point and approximate meeting time for us, so unless he had a hard time with directions, there should still be no issues with our plans. That's what I thought. Since he'd become cellularly impaired, he'd purchased a calling card to use at pay phones so that he'd be able to communicate with me while we were on the road. I didn't realize that he'd be stopping every hour to update me on his location, but the gesture was sweet, to say the least. Sven was insistent on beginning his journey approximate 2 1/2 hours before I began mine, which in my mind, that would put him waiting for me longer than I'd originally wanted, but considering his lack of road knowledge, that would slow him down a bit, and we were yet looking at arriving about the same time.
I arrived in Amarillo at the meeting point at my intended time. Sven had called me an hour previous informing me that he'd had a fender bender at a gas station (he'd backed into another vehicle), was wrapping up the finalities with that, but would be along shortly. Good grief! Whatever. In my mind, "shortly" meant maybe 30 minutes or so, but it turned into almost 2 hours. Irritation began to creep in, and doubts about the whole ordeal began to set in. "He left 2 hours before me, so he should have been here by now. What the hell?" He wasn't good with estimating the distance of his whereabouts, nor the estimated time of arrival, I was PMSing and hungry (I'd decided to wait to eat), and was ready to just call the whole thing off. Before he arrived, I'd considered just leaving and heading back to Oklahoma, but decided against it, because if he really was on his way (the different phone numbers he was calling me from told me that he in fact was really travelling), then that would be extremely rude of me to do with no way of contacting him to let him know. I'm a firm believer in karma, so I decided to continue to wait, and try not to let my aggravation get the best of me. Sven called one last time to let me know he was on the outskirts of Amarillo, and would be at the meeting point soon. Yeah, Dude, that's what you said over an hour ago. But, at least he had the consideration to call, so that eased me a bit.
I'm glad I did wait. When he pulled into the parkinglot, I instantly knew who he was. We'd forgotten to discuss the color of our vehicles, but I knew what he drove, and he knew what I drove, and I was the only idiot sitting in an otherwise empty lot, so spotting each other wasn't an issue. Funny as hell is the only term I can use to describe the situation when I saw his car. It looked like someone had done a bad wax job on it, as there were all sorts of crazy swirls and white rings on the dark color. What the hell? I was too annoyed to laugh, but he was smiling from ear to ear. Well, at least he looks better in person than all of the pictures I'd seen. His movements were awkward as he parked and got out of his car, glancing at me the whole time (I didn't even bother getting out to hug him), I told him to park his car in another spot (where it had no possibility of being towed) and come get in with me so we could go get something to eat. He was already 2 1/2 hours late, my hormones were raging, I was starving, and wasn't in the mood for friendly "firsts". He was still very chipper when he got into my car and tried introductions, and was apologizing immensely. I stopped him and told him "I'm hungry, and my hormones are out of whack, so let's get something to eat so I can settle down before we try this so I won't snap at you, okay?" He was surprisingly calm and agreed. I wasn't in the mood for his upbeat attitude at that moment, but I felt a little bad that even though we'd been talking on the phone and emailing for the better part of a month, my attitude probably wasn't coming across as a positive first impression. He rolled with it, though, and maintained that spark that he'd had.
We arrived at the restaurant, and once I got a little food in my stomach, I settled down a bit. Sven, as I learned quickly, is the type that will do what it takes to make a woman that he's into happy, and that's one of the first things I noticed when he took off his hat at the table. He'd told me before that he preferred to keep his hair cut buzzed, all of his recent pictures that I'd seen had him with a buzz cut, but he had just one picture of him having long hair from a few years back. I guess he got the hint of my preference from me complimenting that particular picture so much that he'd started letting his hair grow out (I hadn't known that his hair is dark blond). Hmm. I had to smile when I saw that, and I knew right then and there, that this man is special. My attitude changed completely at that moment, and instantly, the atmosphere became more serene. Our meal was extremely pleasant, we laughed, we talked, we shared. We even have it in common to notice little things about fellow diners that we joke about. Yeah, I'm going to like him, I thought. He has piercingly gorgeous funny-colored eyes (can't quite determine if they're green or blue), and eyelashes just long and curly enough to compliment them. Between his funny accent, his slow-yet-precise English words pronunciation, his awkward ways, his sense of humor, his chivalry, and his eagerness to want to please me, I think this one is different from any others I'd ever dealt with...including Allen. The bonus is, he's extremely attractive. Tall, handsome, and hot. Pictures don't do him justice on any level.
We left the restaurant and decided to explore Amarillo, as neither of us had ever been there before and knew absolutely nothing about it. He was patient with me when I discovered the mall and had to do some shoe shopping. That was an extra brownie point for him. I felt comfortable enough by that time to grab his hand. His reciprocation in the comfort of that move let me know he'd possibly been toying with the aspect of taking mine, but probably wasn't sure what I'd think or how I'd react (I later found out that was the case). Our time in Amarillo ended entirely too soon, and we had to go our respective ways...he had to be at work early the next morning. When I took him back to his car, we shared a short passionate kiss, a long meaningful hug, said our goodbyes, and agreed to be in touch soon.
I was still a bit unsure what was to become of this situation when I left, but I reminded myself that I'd just let things flow as they may. I'd added him to Facebook, so when I arrived home, I posted the message on his wall "if you're reading this, that means you've arrived home safely. Thank you for everything. I miss you and can't wait to see you again". I wasn't sure how he'd react to that (his ex-wife is on his page), but when he replied "home, yes. and I can't wait either", I knew then he was really into me and didn't care who saw what we exchanged between each other on Facebook. The kicker was a few days later when I received a card in the mail.
"Thank You. You just being you makes all the difference. It took me some time to pick this card out, and those words say exactly what I want them too. Our time together was amazing, and I look forward to many more times like that"
Yep, he's a keeper. I was so excited by receiving that, I immediately called my mom gushing to her about it. Not only was I not expecting that, but the sincerity behind the words and the fact that he took the time out to do something like that really hit a spot with me. Conversations progressed between us, and I moved into a whole other level of comfort with him. He'd started asking me about progressing our relationship. I admitted to him that I really like him, it felt right, but there was a bit of hesitation on my part. I was truly scared. He understood and verbalized his summation that because of things feeling right with other guys in the past, but then blowing up in my face, he could see how I'd feel that way. He assured me that there was no pressure, but when I was ready, he'd be ready.
2012 was already underway, but there was one last thing I had to do.
"Happy New Year, Allen. I'm glad to see you're over your fear of commitment and finally found someone that makes you happy and is worth your 'friends' respecting. Happy for you :)"
"Happy New Year, R. I am happy thanks. I hope you are well and ready for a new year :)"
"I'm very well. Thanks. So far 2012 has been phenomenal to me, and I'm excited to see how the rest of it goes =)"
Good. At least he's responding. I'd just proceed with what I needed to say and get it over with.
"I don't want a response to this, just had to clear you out of my head and heart in 2012. You hurt me bad for dumping me because of me feeling disrespected. And more because the new girls get the respect I didn't. The 'love' shown between you and your 'friends' when we were together, the constant texts from them when we'd be together, I didn't know where I stood. 2 weeks before your status change with this girl you said you're scared of commitment, yet I never knew where I stood with you and then you couldn't tell me what I was to you. All of that. Please don't do this new girl like that. I wish you the best"
And just like that, I released Allen. Now, I can see where things take me with Sven. I don't ever want to put him in a place where the "other men's" indiscretions affect my views of him. So far, he's proven himself different. I determined I was ready to move forward into a relationship with him. We changed our status' on Facebook (OMG, guys I hadn't heard from in ages came out of the woodwork when that happened!), we've both got pictures of us together on our profile pictures, and I'm enjoying him treating me like the queen that I was meant to be treated as. His mother and I are friends on Facebook as well, and we check in with each other from time to time. She's a wonderful woman, and makes sure Sven is behaving like she raised him to. I think that's funny, and cute, but it means alot, because he and his mother are extremely close, and I know that a man that's close to his mother will treat his woman right. I don't think I'll have any worries in that department at all. Now, all he has to do is get used to me being me, and me treating him like the king that he'd never been treated like (it amazes me that his ex-wife was so lacksidaisy with their marriage), and deserves to be treated like. We take turns visiting each other every 2 weeks, and he's even mentioned selling his house, transferring with his job, and moving to Oklahoma eventually. I know it's been a short time, but he obviously knows what he wants, I know what I want, and we'll see if we accomplish our goals together. We're enjoying getting to know each other, and loving every minute of it. I don't know where we'll end up, how things are going to play out, only God knows, but for now, I'm willing to sit back and find out. We will see.
People of blogsville, I appreciate you journeying with me thus far, through the highs and lows of my dating life. There have been several others that have played a role in my life that weren't worth mentioning here (very insignificant people), but you've gotten the jest of why I am how I am, and ever striving to be a better girl. I can't say this will be the last entry (you never know what the future holds), but as for now, I'm going to lavish in the joy of Sven's and my relationship. I'm happy again.
In the meantime, I wish and bid you all well......until my next blog entry.......
R
No comments:
Post a Comment