Construction Boy Meets Fashion Girl - Part 4 of 5

Yes, this regular Sunday post will now be extended to 5 parts. I realized as I was writing this post that the story didn't end with this night. So you'll be blessed with a 5th post in the how-we-met story. Enjoy.

The "Date"

The wayback machine needs to be set for August 24, 2005 for this story.

So, when we ended our phone conversation, we decided to meet up on the date above to get drinks and hang out, catching up on old times. The plan was for him to pick me up at my place, and go to a bar called Sundance close to my house for some beers.

I had chosen August 24 because I had taken the day off work, as well as the next day. I had taken it off because I thought I had a concert to attend - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and the Black Crowes. I gave Z (see part 2 of this series for details on him) those tickets for his birthday, but then we broke up and he kept them. (But we had bought Dave Matthews Band tickets, and I got those. Duh. I'm a bigger fan.) I spent the day running errands and figuring out an outfit to wear that night. Even though we were meeting as friends, I still wanted to look cute. Hell, I hadn't seen this guy in 6 years and wanted to make a good impression.

The plan was for him to pick me up around 7pm. I didn't eat dinner as I thought we would grab a bite before we hit the bar. He called around 6:30 and said he was running late - he had gotten off work late and just needed to shower and change, and he'd be on his way. No biggie, I said. See you when you get here.

He called again around 7:30pm to say he was leaving now. I remember thinking - what guy takes an HOUR to shower and change? Geez....I was getting irritated. I remember almost calling off the night.

He finally showed up at 8pm. I greeted him at the door, gave him a big hug, and we talked for a minute. He was cuter than I remembered.....but we were just friends. As you recall, I had just gotten my heart ripped out of my chest and stomped on - I was not looking for anything at this point.

He helped me into his truck, a lifted F-150 (a gentleman-ly thing to do), and we were off. On his stereo was the new Fall Out Boy album. At the time, I was in LOVE with that band and mildly impressed that he knew who they were too. We had a conversation about music on the ride to the bar - we discussed the new Green Day album, whether or not the new Fall Out Boy was better than their first album (verdict - the first one is MUCH better), and how he had just seen this band called Gym Class Heroes that was pretty cool. I had never heard of them, but he convinced me they were amazing. (I checked them out the next day - yes, they were pretty good!)

We got to the bar and went inside. The place was pretty empty, just a few other people, but then again, it was a Wednesday night. We sat at the bar and each ordered a beer - me, a Killian's Irish Red; him, a Bud Light. I remember making fun of his beer choice, and he made fun of me right back for mine. This guy was funny.

We sat at the bar for the next couple of hours, drinking and talking about high school, who we still kept in touch with from high school, our jobs, our families, our friends, etc. We continued to drink as we chatted. (Back then, I could drink like no other). There was never a lull in the conversation - I was having a great time. It was nice to be with someone that hadn't been around during my crazy college days, my heartbreaks, my stupidity.......someone who knew me when I was an innocent teenager.

I found out that he worked for his Dad's roofing company (hence the nickname in this story "Construction Boy"), lived in Elk Grove with his brother and a friend, liked to go to Tahoe, was very close with his family, and loved live music.

Then he asked if I was dating anyone. I replied no, but did tell him that I had just gotten out of a relationship that ended badly and wasn't looking to date anytime soon. I asked him the same question. He said he had just started dating a girl that lived in the Bay Area, that they had hung out a couple times but it was nothing serious. I asked some questions about how they met and stuff, to keep the conversation going. Keep in mind that dating him was the last thing on my mind....I had just been burned badly and didn't want to date for a LONG time.

He got up to use the bathroom. The MINUTE he walked away, I was approached and hit on by some drunk guy that had been sitting across the bar. I kept telling the guy that I wasn't interested, but he wouldn't leave me alone. When Mike came back, he told the guy to go away and leave me alone. Drunk guy mumbled a few words and walked away. Mike asked if I was okay, and looked a little annoyed that I had gotten hit on so soon. I thought it was cute that he was so bothered by this little incident.

The second time he got up to use the bathroom, I got hit on by another drunk guy AND his even-drunker friend. Wow, these two were hilarious....they had no idea what they were saying, and I played along just to mess with them. Mike came back and looked REALLY annoyed this time, and told the guys to piss off. They did. He asked if I got hit on a lot, which was funny because this had never happened before, so I said no. He looked at me like he didn't believe me.

But seriously folks, I NEVER got hit on at bars. Ever. At parties, yes. At work, yes. At bars, no.

It came to be about 1am, and we decided to leave the bar. And by the way, at this point, we were each 5-7 beers deep and pretty buzzed (I hadn't eaten since lunch), and probably shouldn't have driven home. (We both realize now that we were stupid and completely irresponsible that night, and we regret the decision to drive). Call a cab when buzzed, folks. Buzzed driving is drunk driving.

Anyway, we arrive safely at my house. Because we were buzzed, I invited him in to hang out for an hour so he could sober up enough to drive back to his home in Elk Grove. We went to my room with big glasses of water and some chips, turned on the TV, and sat, ate, and talked some more.

Around 2:30am, he felt good enough to drive home. We talked in my room some more, and then I said he'd better go.......and out of nowhere, we kissed. I swear it was out of nowhere, probably in mid-sentence. But even in my semi-buzzed state, it felt right.

I walked him to the door, where he gave me a hug. We talked about hanging out another time. I made him promise to text me when he got home (my guilty conscience about him driving buzzed was getting to me), and wished him a good night. I closed the door and heard him drive away.

About 30 minutes later he text me saying he made it home, and how he had fun with me. I text him back saying that I had fun with him and it was good to catch up. I went to bed but couldn't sleep.

I had lots of random thoughts going through my head - I was newly single and didn't want to date, he was seeing someone so I felt guilty that we kissed, but there was something about him that just felt right. I couldn't tell if it was the beer or not....so I dismissed the thoughts and went to sleep.

But who knew that the next time I saw him would make a huge impact?

To be continued.............

Random note: I about died of happiness when I saw that MODG commented on one of my posts. I heart you, MODG....thanks for reading my humble little blog. :-) If you don't know MODG, her blog is on my list to the right...."Martinis or Diaper Genies".