TIME SLIPS ME. Then
again, so does most events. However, I will never forget the day she arrived.
We knew each other long
before we knew each other. That was not a biblical pun either. Yet, as the
story of another cliché romance flick goes, my best friend was her oldest of
friends. He spoke of her often but as I said at the beginning most things slip me,
so, though I knew her I really didn't know her, until.
BlackBerry was the craze
that brought us together, well BlackBerry and Facebook. So, just having
purchased my slick new BlackBerry Curve and finally in the swing of “what's
trending”, I set out on a "Pin Adding" spree. To complete this task I
shamelessly resorted to Facebook which, at the time, everyone used for posting
their BlackBerry Pins. This is when I came across her.
Now don't think me a
stalker or anything because everyone I added to my BlackBerry were my
"Friends", as Facebook referred to it. Also, why would you display
your Pin if you didn't want to get added? Further to that, like I said I knew
her - even though I did not know her. So, I'm not a stalker or anything like
that.
With that said, I added her,
first as a Friend then to my contacts. It was a bit awkward at first having to
explain who I was, the fact that I'm not a stalker and how I got her Pin.
However after mentioning our mutual friend, the whipping winds ceased, the
raging seas settled and it was smooth sailing from then on.
We talk, or to be more
accurate, we messaged constantly. Day turned to night, then, night to day.
Unconcerned that we were miles apart, separated by the largest of the Oceans
and 5 hours of Daylight Savings - we talked for hours sharing stories of
ourselves and joking around every chance we could. The conversations made her
present in every way.
We quickly created our own
little memories, from my pseudo-infidelity and her reaction to it by taking the
house, the kids, and the dog. Also, her having to correct me after misspelling
"boo" with "bo" which then became "bo(o)". Yet my
personal favorite after a month and a half or constant interaction, I typed
"I l**e you bo(o)". The debate went on about that whether it was
"like" or the ever infamous emotion called "love".
Then, the day arrived and
finally we were going to meet again, for the first time. The day was long,
dragged on and seemed unending. I kept myself busy by checking if the office
clocks were functional and my watch didn't need a battery replacement until,
finally, she called.
My heart skips beats only
for The Walking Dead. Then however, Frank Darabont hadn't started development
for AMC as yet so seeing a strange local number on my phone and hearing her
voice did the trick.
She sat at the driver’s
seat of her mom’s silver ’98 Mitsubishi Lancer, pulling aside me at the
sidewalk. She stared at me with the cutest of smiles painted on her face. I
felt like Julia Roberts and she was Richard Gere, stoking me to get into her
car. Already I was crazy about her silly bravado and as Julia did in 1990, I
hopped in.
Have you ever felt the feeling of
anxiety and nervousness that makes your heart race like as if you were
participating in a triathlon, when your mouth is dry as the Sahara and if you
swallow it sticks at your throat causing the inability to speak? Well, that was
me. Wait, that's an exaggeration. However, seeing her for the first time,
talking to her for the first time and finally able to touch her - for the first
time - was definitely something anxiety and nervousness could pay testament to.
Time slips me. Then again, so
does most events. However, I will never forget the day she arrived.
Olsfred James 2015©
The night is silent
