My story starts 10 years ago when I was still in high school. I came back from Christmas break and there was this beautiful girl in my class. She looked like an angel. Her brown hair and blue eyes and that smile drew me to her like a bug to a light. We began talking and became great friends over the next year and a half, till our graduation. I wasn't the coolest person in school, but I did play football and had several friends. However, when I got up the nerve to ask her to our senior prom her answer didn't really surprise me.
She simply said, "NO!" I had heard that before. Well we remained friends, and I went off to college in South Carolina. While in school we kept in touch with regular phone calls during my freshman year. Then they stopped. Oh well I figured it was just like any other high school friend they are great to have for that time but then it is over. She did manage to call me a couple times when I was home for a holiday or two. But time passed and I stopped hearing from her. I picked up through the grape vine that she was married so I tried to stop thinking about her, but it was hard. I met several women while in college and came close to getting hitched a few times but something just wasn't right.
So time went by and I graduated college and after a very nasty breakup which involved a house I had bought, but that is another story for another time. So I called my parents and they opened their arms like always and let me come home till I got back on my feet. I was working as a manager at a local auto parts store. Not the life I had dreamed of. Anyway I ran into her at the store one day. I wasn't even going to speak because I wasn't sure if she remembered me. Well she must have because she spoke first, "Hey there stranger, how are you?"
"Hey, I'm good, you look great!" as I think to myself, "Who is this adorable little girl with you?"
Apparently she read my because she said, "Honey meet mommy's friend from high school, you know the one I told you about?"
With the cutest grin I have ever seen she looked at me and said, "Hi Eugene!"
She knew my name, needless to say this little 2 yr. old impressed me. So we chatted there in the store for a couple minutes and I found out that she was still married, not happily but married. So I told her to call me and maybe we could get together sometime or at least catch up over the phone. We talked almost every night while her husband was out running around screwing anything that walked and doing every drug in our town. Well he found out that we had been talking and got pissed so I stopped calling her because I didn't want to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. During this time, I had gotten pissed at my boss and decided to join the Navy. I have a degree in marine science so I figured I could go in and become an officer. Instead I decided to choose a job in the intelligence field. Shortly after joining the Navy I received a letter from her and I wrote back. My letter never reached her, thanks to her step-dad. So another year and a half goes by without me knowing she hadn't received the letter. Then one day I get a call and it's her. We begin to talk and after a few minutes I found out that she was going through the big D. I thought here's my chance, then I thought better and decided that I didn't want to be the rebound relationship so I didn't mention my feelings for her again. But then she asked me a question I will never forget, "Are you interested in dating anyone?"
Boy was I, I had waited 10 long years to hear her say something along those lines. So I answered, "I guess I wouldn't mind giving it a try. What do you say we get together when I come home on leave in a month?"