The road from the main highway into Beaver Creek Park seemed to go on forever; and with each second he drove, his sense of anticipation grew. "What will this be like?" he wondered. "I can't wait to see her; to know if the chemistry we have shared online will carry over to real life." Looking into the car's rearview mirror, anxious eyes looked back at him. Today he felt forty. "I only hope that I don't disappoint her," he thought to himself.
As he pulled into the parking lot of the conference center, he looked to see if she had already arrived. He had driven pretty hard to get here fifteen minutes early because he liked the thought of being able to spend a couple of minutes catching his breath and calming down. Looking around, he looked for the car she had described to him, but he didn't see it. "Good, I'm here first," he thought.
He walked to the conference center and found an open door. He had apparently stumbled into some sort of geologists' conference so he tried to make himself inconspicuous. He found the rest room and, as he splashed water on his face, he tried to reassure himself that it was going to be alright. Again he looked into the mirror. Wearing a yellow polo with navy blue shorts and boat shoes felt comfortable to him, much more so than the suit and tie he spent so much time in. The thought cross his mind more than once the thought to run back to his car and drive away, but his desire to see her outweighed his fear of rejection.
One thing he had learned from the internet about Beaver Creek was that there were supposed to be wonderful views of the river from the back of the conference center. Avoiding the crowd, he went back outside and walked around to the back of the center. Whoever "they" were, they were right. The view of the river was awesome and, for the briefest of moments, he forgot why he was there. As he stared out at the river, he wondered yet again if he was making a mistake. His thoughts were interrupted by the voice he had waited so long to hear.
"Excuse me, are you Will?" she asked. Turning around he couldn't help but smile. She stood there in khaki shorts with a white pullover and sandals. He knew what she looked like of course, but to see her in real life rather than a scanned picture made him smile. Her smile in response to his seemed to indicate that she wasn't disappointed with his appearance either. The first impression test had been taken by both and they had each passed with flying colors.
What do you say to someone you feel like you know so well and yet have never met in real life? This was the question that occupied the next five minutes or so. There was a tender, innocent hug and standing side-by-side they looked out over the river and made small talk. "Did you have any trouble finding the place?" she asked.
"Oh no," he replied, "Everything was where you said it would be."
"Did you have any trouble getting away from everyone at home?" he asked.
"Nah, it was fine. I just told everyone I had some things to do in town and they never blinked twice."
The awkwardness was becoming quite real now and he was afraid that maybe she was wishing she were somewhere else. For her part, she was becoming concerned that maybe she was somehow a disappointment to him. She wasn't, of course, but the silence did nothing to reassure her.
It was then that the geologists decided to take a break from their conference. People began to stream out of the conference center to join them to admire the view. It was, she thought, the last thing they needed so she decided to take a leap of faith and nervously whispered to him, "Would you like to get out of here?"
"Absolutely," he replied with a smile that reassured her that everything was just fine.
"Why don't we go to one of the pavilions they have here? It would give us a place to talk without so many people being around," she suggested.
"Fine by me," he answered. She offered to drive and let him leave his car there.
For the first time in their conversation, his flirty nature that she enjoyed so much reared its ugly head as he said, "Ohhh, I love a woman who takes control."
Surprising herself, she smiled at him and said, "Oh baby, you ain't seen nothing yet!" They both giggled and got into her car.
She drove to one of the more isolated shelters, and once they got out of the car he came over and took her by the hand. The ice had been broken. Physical contact had been made. Their touch on served to affirm the connection they had experience in all of their chatting. They walked to the shelter and sat side-by-side on top of one of the picnic tables holding hands all the while. The next few minutes were also awkward as they both wore silly grins and looked into each other's eyes. The tension now was not one of fear, but rather one of anticipation. Each of them was filled with a longing but neither wanted to be perceived as being too forward.
Suddenly, he stopped the small talk by asking, "Am I what you thought I would be?"
"Yes," she said, "am I?"
Leaning forward, he answered, "Uh huhhhh." It was then that she realized he was intending to kiss her.
Practically leaping to meet him, her heart pounding, she leaned forward as well. Unfortunately, they bumped their heads. Embarrassed beyond belief, each drew away from the other.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Don't apologize," she responded, "You just startled me is all. What do you say we try that again?" She couldn't believe she was being so forward with him, but it all seemed so right.