The Beginning of a Love Story

My wife and I have a sort of funny little love story beginning...  

An inconspicuous beginning, really.  

It was the Summer of 2002.  I was moving into the on-campus apartments, just about to start law school. My family was with me, and as we're moving my stuff into the apartment, one heavy box at a time in the unbearable heat of Virginia, I look up and see these two women, sitting on the porch of their apartment, waving to us. Oh, how nice, I thought, cute girls waving to us, not offering to help or anything like that. But waving, so I guess they figure that's nice. Sweet.

Not a "Hey, do you need help?" or "Hi, can we help you carry some boxes?" or "What can we do help?"

Just a wave.

Anyway...

A few days later, a law school friend asked me to go with her to a little get-together with some people she met.  Oh, here we are at the Apartment of the Welcoming-Ladies-Who-Didn't-Offer-To-Help-Me-Move-In.  So, I then meet these girls, who both turn out to be nice and fun, despite their unhelpfulness. 

Fast-forward a few weeks, and these girls and I are going everywhere together (except when one has play rehearsal... I bet you can which one that is...)  I start getting interested in one of them, the asking-out-on-a-date kind of interest (hint, it's not the one who's at play rehearsal all the time), and the other one I'm starting to think of as a best friend since I find I can talk to her about anything.



Meanwhile, we're all still hanging out together all the time, and people are starting to ask questions about this situation. (I found this out later through the play-rehearsal-girl). It's funny because they don't think that I'm interested in the one that I was trying to date, they think that I'm actually interested in the one that is quickly becoming my best friend.



(This just goes to show you that your subconscious will sometimes be more evident more to others than yourself.)  

The thing is that my best friend and I have such a great chemistry, it's impossible to ignore.  We connect so well, we feel at ease, and people who watch us interact think that we're dating.



As you may imagine, this scenario is kind of like shaking up a can of soda... it's only calm until someone pops the lid.  And the lid did pop eventually. There is an argument between me and the girl I am interested in dating.  My "best friend" takes her "side" (yeah, they're roommates, whatever), and I'm left trying to wipe up all the soda off the wall.



So a few days later, I get a call... from my friend!  Oh, wait, not an apology or a how are you doing... she wants to know if I'll still be in her scene for her directing class (which her roommate is in, also, by the way)... okay, okay.  I committed, I'm still in, I tell her.  Things are fine, if not a little strained at our in-class performance, but Best Friend gets a decent grade so that's good, I guess.



Young and dating

So, now Best Friend and I are sort of back to normal when a thought hits me. If I were to date someone else, I would lose my Best Friend. It would be inevitable that me and play-rehearsal-girl would eventually cease to be. We would drift away from one another, our own lives pulling us apart. But what if I don't want to be pulled apart from her? What if I don't want this girl out of my life? 

I must make a decision, and I do, one my life has been leading me to ever since I met her. I decided to tell her I liked her, and that I didn't want her out of my life.

 I bet you can guess what her response was... eventually. (That may be another post!)

(To read my wife's version of events, read this post.)