Was It a Big Mistake?

Yes, I do realize it's obnoxious to speak about yourself in the third person. But, it's how I've decided to deal with some parts of my story. Parts that feel as if they are from another lifetime. Though you don't have to have read it all to read this part, in case you want to, it started when I moved to a place I'd only been before for a few hours the day after I turned 22 HERE and then moved on to being flooded out by a hurricane less than two months later HERE. Ten days later, I met someone I had an instant connection with. Apparently, based on comments, it might be a little bit too much to handle if you are reading this before breakfast, but you can check that out HERE.

He walked her back downstairs as the sun was beginning to rise. At her car, they turned and faced each other. He leaned down so their foreheads were touching, his hands on the sides of her neck.


"I can't believe I found you," he whispered. "I hate that I have to go out in the field today. I'll call you when I get back. Ten days."


They kissed and lingered as long as possible, but she finally had to leave.


As she drove off base, alone, she had the biggest smile on her face. It was like a fairy tale. The set-up, the gorgeous guy, the instant connection. And then the night they had just spent together....


But, as she drove, the smile faded and the color drained from her face.


She didn't really know him. He didn't know her. He was going to be unreachable for the next ten days.


She wondered if she'd been played. He had the best excuse for not calling her soon. What if while he was out in the field, he thought about it and decided that he didn't want this to be anything more?


The only thing she could think to do was to try not to think about it at all. At least she knew that he wasn't lying about leaving that day, since Tonya's husband was leaving, too.


But, while she was out and about anyway, she decided to go to the store and get a phone and an answering machine. She had given him the phone number to her place, which was currently unlivable, due to the hurricane.Her phone and answering machine had been destroyed. She wasn't even sure exactly where she would be living when he would get back, so she gave him her home number.


He might not be the only one trying to reach her; that phone and answering machine were completely practical to buy right this second. And of course she needed to go set them up right then, too. Just in case.


She would like to remind you that this story is taking place in 1999, when cell phones were not common.


Pushing him out of her mind seemed like the logical thing to do.


But, she couldn't do it.


One minute, she would be swept up thinking of the romance of it all.


The next, she would be convinced that she would never hear from him again.


She tried to convince herself that she wouldn't care if she didn't hear from him again. That she could chalk it up to an incredible life experience, a memory she could have of a time when her life was like something out of a romance novel, if even for just a night.


He wasn't going to call.


It would be okay.


She would be okay.


As the ten days slowly began to pass, she kept her head held high and pretended not to care. Even when Tonya would mention wishing the days would pass faster so that her husband would be home.


Every day, she went by her place under the pretense of checking on the progress of the repairs from the hurricane damage. But, it was that message light that really had her attention.


On the tenth day, she and Tonya made plans to meet back at the school at 5 in order to get their cheerleaders ready for the game. Even though she tried to hide how anxious she was feeling, Tonya must have known because she said, "I don't think the guys will be back until later tonight."


Thankful for the distraction of the night's game and knowing that she shouldn't expect to hear anything from him until later that night or even the next day, she ran by her place quickly after school.


She held her breath as she pressed play on her answering machine and then let out a shriek when she heard his voice. His voice telling her that he missed her, that she was all he could think about when he was gone, that he wished he was talking to her and not her machine, and that he wanted to see her that night. And then he left his number.


Unable to play it cool for any longer than it took her to take a few deep breaths, she called him. It seemed their first night together wasn't just some sort of fluke. They really did share some sort of instant connection.


She had to disappoint him- and herself- and tell him that she couldn't see him that night, that she had to be there to coach the cheerleaders with Tonya. After all, if he was back, so was Tonya's husband, and yet her friend wasn't going to skip out of the game to spend time with her husband. So, it wouldn't be fair for her to skip out, either.


But, oh, how she wanted to. Middle school cheerleading? That's not important. At all. And compared to this, it was completely pointless. But, they agreed to meet the next night.


She hung up the phone, feeling both disappointed and excited.


At the game, Tonya passed on the information from her husband that X had called her the second they got back to the shop. He didn't even go back to his barracks to drop off his things or shower first.  And that he had talked about her all the time out in the field.


"I think it was love at first sight for him," Tonya laughed. And then, after carefully watching her friend's reaction, added, "For you, too."