LB, Chapter 7

(To read Chapter 6, click HERE.)

"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I called April and told her all about him coming down a week and a half early. :) I was super duper excited! Later, when I talked to her, she said, "I told Jeff about him coming down and he said, 'He's driving six hours to take her to a 2 hour movie? He must REALLY like her!' " I said, "I hope so!" :) As Wednesday drew nearer, he told me he'd be in town around noon. I was SO excited. When Wednesday finally rolled around, I couldn't think about anything else. Luckily it was my last work day before Christmas break and I had worked it out so I only had to work 2 hours that morning. Let's be perfectly honest--I got nothing done that day (although no one else was really doing anything either). I was totally worthless. And I didn't care one little bit.

When I was about to head into work, he texted me and said the roads were bad, so he'd have to go the long way, meaning he'd be a little later than anticipated. I felt SO bad! Basically he told me he would have to drive almost all the way to Seattle before coming down here, making an already long trip almost twice as long. I was torn between telling him he didn't have to come and REAAAAAALY wanting him to come. I worried if I told him not to come, he'd think I didn't want him to come, which was the opposite of true. So I thought about it for awhile and finally texted him back, saying, "No worries! Do what you need to do--just be safe!"

I got back to my apartment after work around noon and tried not to go completely crazy while I waited for him to get to town. Finally I put on "White Christmas" and tried to pretend it was just a normal day (yeah, right!). Mostly I tried to calm my crazy nerves, which were totally on edge. I had finally calmed down a little when he knocked on the door. (So much for being calm!)

He gave me a big hug at the door and came in. I was sooooo excited! And totally nervous. He came in and sat down while Allee tried to lick him to death. We kind of awkwardly watched a few minutes of "White Christmas," until I pulled myself together and asked him if he was hungry. He said yes, so we shook off the awkwardness and headed out to get some lunch. We had a really nice lunch at Panera, talked for awhile, then walked over to the movie theater.

Now, let's be honest. At this point in a relationship, why do you go see a movie with a date? To hold their hand, right? So, truthfully, I was hoping, hoping, hoping this was what would happen, which probably contributed to the slight nervous, awkward tension I felt between us.

He bought our tickets and we went in. I wish I could tell you the movie was great (which I think it was...), but honestly, I was more than a little distracted. I seriously felt like the awkward teenager who is trying to get the boy to hold her hand...but I was trying to do it without being totally obvious and awkward. Finally--FINALLY--about 2/3 of the way through the movie he reached over and grabbed my hand. *Phew!* It was the confirmation I needed that I wasn't making this whole thing up in my head. Much of the awkwardness immediately melted away, so I readjusted and put my head on his shoulder, and we spent the rest of the movie that way, holding hands. It was perfect. :)

The movie ended about 5:30, and we walked out, hand-in-hand, and headed back through the mall toward the car. I couldn't stop smiling, even though I knew our time together must be drawing to a close, since he'd have to be heading back to Yakima before it got too late.

You can imagine my suprise when we got outside and he said cheerfully, "Now what do you want to do?"

To be continued...

(To continue to Chapter 8, click HERE.)