Note: if you haven't already, read Falling for Fran Part 1, which is the prequel to this story.
After a whirlwind weekend together shortly after first meeting, Fran had to go back home to England and I had to finish up my final semester in college. We had vowed to stay in touch, which was not as easy to do back then in the early 90s as it has become more recently. We managed to do so pretty well through my graduation but, the more time that passed, the less we were in touch. Eventually, our writing reduced to just a few times a year then to nothing as we both went on with our lives. I know for me it wasn't a conscious thing but I also always felt tortured because I never expected to see her again.
I found a job and started working then ended up getting my own apartment and stopped seeing the English girls around so there was one less reminder. I dated and slept with other women but I never did find someone who I clicked with the way I had with Fran. I don't think I ever consciously compared anyone to her but I'm sure it was somewhere in the back of my mind. The weird thing is that, though I didn't feel like it at the time, when I looked back on this time years later, it really did seem like I was just going through the motions.
Things changed in a big way one night while I was home alone watching TV. I'm not even sure why I was watching what I was watching other than maybe divine intervention or something. I almost flew out of my chair when I saw a very familiar face and heard a very familiar voice. If there had been any doubt, the text on the screen identifying the woman providing commentary read "Fran Scott, Scientist." I was suddenly frantically trying to figure out what exactly I was watching while scrambling for a blank video tape. This was before the days of pausing or rewinding live TV or on-screen channel guides but I did manage to not only record the rest of the show but also found another showing and set my VCR to record it again. Once the episode I was watching had ended, I went through the credits on the videotape and made a couple of notes then went back and watched Fran's appearances a couple more times.
By this point, the Internet was more of a thing but still not quite as ubiquitous as it is today. I got online and started searching for information about the show and about Fran and, after following a trail of electronic breadcrumbs, I finally found an email address for her. I don't even know how much time I spent crafting the perfect email while thinking that she was probably, if not married, at least in a relationship. I knew how awesome she was so I knew there were probably a lot of other guys who had figured it out, too. At the same time, I was pretty sure she was still in England so it wasn't like I thought we'd be declaring our love for each other and picking up where we'd left off. This is why I agonized over what to write but, even though seeing her had made me an emotional wreck, I had to initiate contact as soon as possible. When I finally sent off the email, I figured out what time it was in England and assumed she'd be in bed and wouldn't see it for several hours at least. I then went to bed myself but slept poorly.
When I finally got out of bed the next morning after trying to delay it for as long as possible, the first thing I did was turn on my computer. It was earlier than I usually got up to get ready for work so I had the time to check my email and I was not disappointed. There was a response from Fran and it was not only long but she had made no effort to play it cool like I had; as I read her email, I could almost feel her enthusiasm emanating from the screen. I read it several times before responding, this time without agonizing over every sentence, and we ended up exchanging several emails over the course of the day. Had there been some commercial instant messaging application back then, I'm sure we'd have spent the day chatting but, instead, we sent each other multiple long, detailed emails.
This continued for a couple of days before Fran asked a question that essentially took things to the next level. We had both already revealed that we were currently unattached romantically so this may have influenced her decision though I suspected that she had given it a lot of thought beforehand. She shared with me that there was going to be an awards ceremony where she would be a recipient of one of the awards. It was a pretty big deal in her industry and would be quite a gala so she was wondering if there was any possibility that I'd be interested in escorting her and, if so, did I think that I would have enough time to coordinate a visit. I was absolutely interested in attending with her and promised to immediately start looking into the logistics of a trip to England on short notice. I already had a passport because of some potential overseas work that had never ended up materializing and I had plenty of Paid Time Off since I still lived in New Jersey so most of my vacationing was just heading down the shore. I checked our project schedules at work then paid a visit to my boss, who was pretty cool and already didn't think I took nearly enough time off. He encouraged me to take as much time as I wanted, especially when I revealed that I was considering a trip to England.
Although we did have the fledgling Internet, it wasn't as useful as it eventually ended up being, meaning in this case that I couldn't just open up a travel or airline website and see all of my options for flying to England. Fortunately, we still had travel agencies and travel agents with physical storefronts in a lot of places and I happened to be familiar with one who had been in the business for years. She was the mom of a good friend of mine so I called and asked when would be a good time to come in. We scheduled an appointment but she also took down the basics of what I was looking for so she do some preliminary research. Something else occurred to me that I'd have to check whether it would work with my timeline and, once again, I was fortunate to have a friend from college who could help me figure that out.
My friend's mom helped me book an itinerary that worked really well and didn't break my bank. I'd explained why I was going to England so, when she asked about booking a hotel and I said it wasn't necessary, she gave me a knowing smile. Fran had told me that I would in no way be staying in a hotel when we hadn't seen each other in so long, though she did warn me that her apartment (or "flat" actually) was on the small side, though not as small as my dorm room had been. Although I never verified it, I was pretty certain that there was just one bedroom and one bed and that we'd be sharing it.
The other thing that I'd checked with that other friend about was whether I could get a tuxedo in time for my trip. She worked in fashion and had a lot of contacts in the garment district in New York City so she hooked me up with some people who could get me set up in time, as long as I wasn't concerned about a big name brand. As an engineer, this was definitely not a concern for me; I was more interested in a well-made product that would fit well and be comfortable. They really took care of me and, once it had been tailored, it looked so good that I took a stack of their business cards because I expected a lot of people to be asking about it. One of the women at this company confidently predicted that I'd be getting married in the same tux, the implication being that it would be to Fran.
I didn't tell Fran about the tux but we did coordinate what I did need to bring and what I wouldn't need. The nice people who hooked me up with the tux also gave me very clear, detailed instructions for packing it so it wouldn't end up wrinkled. When the big day finally arrived, I had a friend drive me to the airport and was allowing another friend to stay at my place while I was gone so everything was covered. I tried to sleep on the flight, and managed to just a little, but I was just too excited to get there and see Fran again. She was picking me up and was going to meet me inside the airport once I'd made it through Customs.