December 20 was our first date. He was sharp, charming, debonair… exactly what I wanted to find in a man. We went to dinner and had a few drinks. Our conversation was enthralling and neither of us could stop smiling.
The restaurant was closing up for the night, so he paid the check and we went out to my car. We kissed, fooled around a bit, and made plans to see each other again. While we sat in the car, he asked if I had a date for New Years. I explained to him that not only did I not have a date for New Years, but that I had NEVER had a date for New Years. Although I had been married for the last 3 New Years Eves, we never had a date or went anywhere.He suggested we check out the Tampa Aquarium. On New Year’s Eve, they have a very expensive black tie dinner and a cruise up the bay to watch the New Years Fireworks. I explained that I didn’t need anything that fancy, but he said we would do that or just be together, go to Universal or something.
The next day we chatted all day. Tuesday night, he came over to my house. We made plans to see each other Christmas day. Christmas night he came over and we spent time together. When we weren’t together, we were texting each other.
Monday morning, he sent me a text asking me to come to his house. I jumped in my car and headed over.
“Where am I going?” I asked.
“Head towards Disney on I-4” was his answer.
“Okay, then?”
“I’ll let you know when you get there.”
“Oh it’s a piece mail trip! Fun!”
I started to drive.
“Get off at the 535 exit, head north.” He texted.
“Okay”
A few minutes I was on the 535 and texted him “Where do I go now?”
No Answer.
5 minutes later I called him. No Answer.
10 Minutes later. “Where am I going??”
NO ANSWER.
I pulled over into the parking lot at the 7-11 when he finally answered me.
“I’m sorry baby. I just got called in to work. Some other time.”
I put the car in drive and headed to the gym. Should have known then the relationship was doomed. The next day he asked me to come by where he worked to see him. When I did, he was too busy to see me.
We continued to text and get along. I asked him whether we were going to Tampa or Universal and he just kept saying he hadn’t decided yet. I bought a new evening gown just in case.
New Years Eve, around 2pm, he texted me to ask me what I was up to. I told him I was getting my nails done. Not another word for the rest of the day.
I kept texting him, calling, about every 2 hours or so, asking what was going on but never got an answer. He was updating his facebook account (via his blackberry) from the Ale House where he was watching the hockey game. The hockey game ended at 10:45pm. I never heard from him. At a quarter to midnight, I crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep. I heard my neighbors all celebrating the coming of the new year. I simply buried my face in the pillow and cried.
Over the next week or so I went about my business, returned the $200 evening gown I had bought, and lived my day to day life. On January 8th, he sent me an email. “Hey I dropped my phone in the water at work and lost all my contacts. Call or text me”
I simply replied, “Oh, Eric, you disappoint me. I expected some lavish story about how you were abducted by aliens outside the Ale House after the hockey game and you come back with an excuse like that? Give me a break.”
He replied “I know I hurt you and I am so, so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?”
I can’t say I ever forgave him, but I did let him back into my life. About 2 weeks later, he sent me a picture of him on the Tampa Bay with the words “Wish you were here.” I was at Universal Studios, so I took a picture of the Universal Globe and sent it to him, responding “But then who would be here?”
He replied “I miss you.”
“Thanks”
“I want to be with you.”
“You want to see me? When?”
“Always. I’ve been thinking about it. We should get married.”
“Youre crazy.”
“Nope. Serious,”
“Dummy. I’m still married.”
“After your divorce then”
“Crazy.”
“I’m serious. I don’t want to live without you. Marry me.”
“No.”
We continued to chat on and off, , but I always took it as just a friendship and not a relationship. In March, he asked me to lunch. We sat outside Panera and he told me that he was moving back to Buffalo for a little while to make some money so that “we would be set for life.”
I said, “Oh… ‘We’ as in ‘you and Hannah?” (His daughter)
He replied “No. ‘We” as in ‘you and me’.”
I tried to explain that we’re not a couple and wouldn’t be until I felt I could trust him. And in order to trust him, I needed to know what happened New Years Eve. I got no answer. We parted ways and he moved back to Buffalo. We kept in touch via Facebook while he was up there, and he would often comment on my pictures or send me private messages. In April, he came to visit and asked me to dinner. I made plans to see him, but once again, he stood me up.
You’re probably thinking to yourself “Why are you doing this to yourself?” The answer is I don’t know. I just kept trusting this guy.
The following night he said he had some issues with his schedule the day before, but would I like to come watch the hockey game with him? I did, and it was a complete “eat your heart out” situation. I wouldn’t let him touch me. He was going crazy, because any other time we were together we would sit and he would hold me. Not this time.
He went back to Buffalo to continue working on his business, and when I headed home for my 20th HS reunion, he asked me to come see him. I didn’t, but not because I hated him or anything; it was just a very busy weekend.
In September, he moved back to Orlando. He asked me to meet him out for dinner and I did. We sat at dinner, his arms around my waist, him kissing my cheek and hugging on me… we ate, had a couple of beers, and he started to smile and sighed a satisfied sigh. “What’s that for?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’m just thinking about last New Year’s Eve”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” he answered, his eyes distantly staring into a satisfied space. “I was thinking about how we sat at my apartment.”
I didn’t interrupt.
“Don’t you remember? We were on the back porch, my arms around you, and we watched the Disney fireworks light up the sky.”
I didn’t say a word.
“Then we went inside and made love.”
I paused.
For a Bit.
A LOOOOONG bit.
He looked at me and said, “Hmmm. That was nice. Don’t you remember?”
I glared at him. “Eric. Who the F--- do you think I am?”
“What?”
“YOU F---ING STOOD ME UP ON NEW YEARS EVE!”
“No I didn’t. We went to my house.”
“Oh my God. Are you kidding me???? YOU STOOD ME UP!”
“No, that wasn’t this past New Years! That was the New Years before! “
“I was married the new years before.”
“No… wait…. What?”
I said good night and walked out. We never spoke again.
