It was a clear and pleasant afternoon when I headed for my job with a catering company. "It'll be a nice evening for an outdoor show" I thought to myself as I drove to meet the rest of my co-workers. The show was in York, which was an hour away, but I was excited because the performer was Toby Keith, and since I loved country music, I hoped that after we finished catering the dinner for the band and crew, I might catch some of the show.
We arrived about 1 pm and began setting up. I looked around, but saw no sign of Toby or his band yet. When it came time to serve, he and his band arrived. "Wow!" I thought to myself, "he's HUGE!" Standing 6'4" and probably about 230 lbs, he towered over almost everyone else around him.
I was putting the finishing touches on the tables when I looked up and noticed him looking right at me! He smiled and winked, melting me to the point where my knees almost gave out on me on the spot. "Man, it's too bad he's married..." I thought to myself as I regained my composure and continued with my duties.
Everyone was enjoying the meal and chatting amongst themselves, and I decided to go around asking if anyone needed refills on their drinks. I got to Toby's table and I asked if anyone needed anything. He looked up at me and said "I guess you're not on the menu, are you?" I was half flustered and half upset, because I remembered this guy was married, and I wasn't about to be anyone's mistress. I replied rudely "A married man shouldn't be talking like that!" and walked away.
"It's probably none of my business, but I just don't understand how people can act like that when they have a family at home....I may have over-stepped my bounds, and I might get in trouble for it, but I don't care." I said to Cindy, one of the other caterers. Cindy said "Yeah, but IS he married? I don't see a ring." "yes, as far as I remember, he is." I replied back to her.
The dinner was over and we were cleaning up when I spotted one of the band members walking up to me. He said "Hey, I understand why you reacted the way you did, but just for the record, Toby's been divorced almost a year now." I felt the redness begin in my throat and work it's way up to my face as I said "You're kidding...oh my God, I am so sorry..I didn't know that." Then he said "And also, I've never seen him outrageously flirt with anyone like that before..he hasn't dated anyone since the divorce." "How do I apologize to him?" I asked. "You can do it right now" he said as he motioned behind me. I turned around and he was walking through the corridor that led to the dressing rooms backstage. He saw me looking at him and came toward me. "I owe you an apology" I said, stammering my words as I motioned over to the guy I just talked to, "he told me everything, and I can't say enough how sorry I am. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please let me know." "What are you doing after the show?" he replied. My heart almost jumped out of my chest. "Nothing really, I live about an hour from here, so I was just going to head home..." "How about going out for coffee or something later?" My heart was pounding out of control by now as I said "yeah, sure...ok" Grinning like an idiot at the same time. He went over to his road manager and filled him in and told him to look for me after the show. He looked at me and smiled and said "sure, I'll do that" and then mumbled something else to Toby, which he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He came back over to me and said "cool, then it's a date?" I said "sure" He said "I'll see you after the show then" he reached down and squeezed my hand, smiled and walked away.
I went back to the dining area and helped finish cleaning up, my mind definitely not on what I was doing, because I threw away the candlestick holders and the silverware when I heard Cindy shout "GINNY, what are you doing?!?!" She laughed and said "I know what your problem is, I saw you talking to him, what happened?" I told her we were going out for coffee later and she said "NO WAY!!!" All I could do was smile.
"Are we done here? I REALLY need a cigarette right now." I said after putting the last of the equipment in the truck. I had quit a few months earlier, but up until now, I hadn't had a situation come up that I needed one to calm down. She laughed and said "yeah, let's go."
After our break we finished everything else, changed out of our messy uniforms, and stood backstage and watched the show, which was excellent. But of course I couldn't wait till it was over.
Afterward, Cindy said "It's a good thing you drove yourself tonight, have fun and try to behave, ok?" I just rolled my eyes as she left, leaving me to wander around backstage until I found his road manager. He called out and said that Toby has to meet with his fan club, which wouldn't take too long. So I just occupied myself by reading a newspaper, and before long I heard a voice say "Hey! There you are! He had on a different pair of jeans, and a henley shirt, which was pleasingly unbuttoned, and his hair was wet. The scent of his cologne drifted through the air as he approached me. "I hope you weren't waiting long, I had to take a quick shower." I said "no, not at all." He said "Are we ready?" All I could do was smile. He put his arm around me and led me out the back doors, where a rented Explorer was waiting.
We drove to a Waffle House not too far away, where we sat for the next 3 hours just talking about anything and everything. He told me about his kids, and why his marriage failed. She was convinced he was cheating on her while he was away, which he said he had never done. But his word wasn't good enough, and her self-created suspicions escalated until he couldn't take it anymore. "That's what struck me about you." He said, "because when you told me off thinking I was married, that proved to me what kind of person you were." His smile was warm as he took my hand and squeezed it. "Oh my gosh! it's going on 4am!!" I said "wow! Yes it is! I better get going!"
He had a look of disappointment in his eyes for a moment but then he asked if he could see me again. I said "sure, but when?" He said "I'll make the time, don't you worry about that." He drove me back to the fairgrounds for my car and gave me his phone numbers, his home, office and cell phone. I gave him my home, cell and work numbers. Before we parted ways, we were standing facing each other, and he reached out and wrapped his arms around me in the most wonderful hug I could ever remember. He kissed me on the cheek very softly and said "I'll talk to you soon, ok?" I said "ok" and got into my car. He headed back to his hotel and I headed home, not remembering much of the drive.
I slept surprisingly well, not waking up until I heard the phone ringing. I realized it was 11:30am and jumped up to answer it. A deep sexy voice on the other end said "good morning!" I had to shake myself into consciousness before I realized who it was. I said "oh my God, Hi!" He said "How are you? Did I wake you?" I said "Don't worry about it, I slept way too long already, but if a certain person hadn't kept me out all night, I wouldn't have!" He just laughed and said "So I guess you're too tired for what I have to ask you..." I said "What?" "What are you doing today?" He asked. I said that I didn't have any plans, and he said "Would you like to go out for lunch and maybe a movie or something? I don't have to leave until tomorrow." I said "Sure, I'd love to, but I just got up, I have to shower and everything." He said "That's fine, It'll take me about an hour or so to get there, isn't that how far you said you live from here?" I said yes, and gave him directions to my place. We hung up, and I got ready.
"I just can't believe this is happening" I thought to myself as I slipped on a pair of jeans and a sweater. I fixed my hair and was putting on a little makeup when I heard a truck pull into the driveway. I looked, and it was him. My stomach did a triple somersault as I ran upstairs to get my shoes and ran back down. He knocked on the door and I answered, waving him in. He greeted me with a bouquet of flowers and a hug. He was dressed in a pair of well-fitting black jeans and a t-shirt, with a button down shirt over it.