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[ June 16, 2014 ]
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Met a cute girl today at the coffee shop. When I was taking her order, I realized she had no idea what the sizes were called. She struggled between using the terms "venti" and "grande," using them interchangeably. I got really confused. Then it got worse and she stuttered all the way through her order.
Disregarding the initial confusion, it was really cute and funny. Most people who visit us already knew what they wanted. Once a day, I even get an order from a customer dictating what degree the coffee should be heated in.
On the other hand, she seemed like she was still figuring shit out. Watching her flush and babble like that kind of made my day. I realized a second too late that I was chuckling. The pretty girl glared at me, which made me giggle even harder. At that point, I was just trying not to keel over in laughter. It didn't help that she seemed to have a strong personality β from what I could tell, at least. The disparity between her cool alt-girl fashion and her awkward flush was really a sight.
When I handed her the cup, I obviously apologized and told her I meant no malice. How I laughed because it was genuinely funny.... and cute.
Guess what? She gave me her phone number. I've been scared the whole day to ring her, but writing this is slowly giving me the courage. So yeah, I hope it goes well. ___________________________
[ July 24, 2014 ]
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Her name is Cathy.
And things have been going pretty well. Extremely well, actually. She's sweet, kind, and really cool. Maybe a little bit too cool. She's independent and never seems to need any help. She's stubborn, argumentative, but not in a fiery way. In fact, Cathy reminds me of snow.
Some people might say she's a little distant and frigid. And I understand them.
But sometimes, there are these.... moments where the walls around her soften. And I get to see her the way she would've been if she had a normal childhood. I'm not going to talk about it in full detail, but let's just say her father was a bad person.
But yeah. We're taking it slow. Just dating casually like people my age apparently do, but I really do like her, and she wouldn't be with me if she didn't feel the same way. Maybe. I hope she does.
We're just gonna see how this goes.
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[ September 8, 2014 ]
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I'm in love with her.
Fuck
. I'm so fucking in love with her. She lights up my day, no matter how terrible. A single "What's up?" from her sends me spiraling. I can't even sleep or eat properly without thinking about her.
I don't want to scare her off. Should I take a step back?
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[ September 17, 2014 ]
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We got into a huge fight. It was all pretty intense, but it led to our first night sleeping together.
I genuinely can't imagine anything feeling better. Any adjective you can attach to the sex, it was that and much more. For the first time in the past few months, she completely opened up to me. Completely bare and flawed.
And I love her all the more for it β contrary to what she thinks.
I hope she knows that.
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[ January 3, 2015 ]
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We spent Christmas in my house. My mom and dad invited the usual β my aunts and uncles. Their kids, my cousins. All of them.
Cathy met most of my extended family. They absolutely adored her. Even Carla, one of my meanest aunts, toasted and welcomed her to the family. I could tell she was flustered when it happened.
I knew she was unfamiliar with this kind of atmosphere, so I never left her side. Without a single word, I held her hand through it all.
When the day was about to end and I was taking her back to her dorm, she squeezed my hand three times. That was our unspoken code. Each beat stood for the three words of a certain phrase.
I squeezed it back.
For New Year's Eve, we visited her place. It was supposed to be a surprise, which we quickly regretted.
Her mom was with a guy. Apparently, she was working for him.
He didn't stay. He said he only visited to give Eliza, Cathy's mom, a project he needed done right after the holidays. And that he had to go back to his wife who was waiting for him at home.
We all knew that wasn't why he was there. It was New Year's Eve. No boss visits their employee on this day without anything going on.
After saying goodbye, he shook our hands and said it was nice to meet us. Then he left.
The rest of the day was pretty awkward. The two of them stayed silent almost the entire meal. Since it was snowing, we were forced to sleep over. I could hear them arguing in the middle of the night.
The next morning, Cathy made it very clear she wanted to leave already. She looked extremely worn out, which was understandable considering the mother and daughter duo yelled at each other for hours on end. As we headed home, she still wasn't telling me anything.
So I just kept quiet, pretending I had slept through it all.
Cathy will tell me when she's ready. I trust she will.
I squeezed her hands three times. A rare smile caught on her face. She squeezed back.
We're going to be okay.
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[ May 21, 2015 ]
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I graduated college and officially moved out of my parents' house. I say officially because I lived in the school dorms for the entirety of college anyway. I was barely around the house.
But yeah, I started hunting for jobs.
Cathy graduated about a month after I did. She was a lot more successful academically. She ended the year at the top of her class. I couldn't be prouder. At a younger age than I did, too. I'm sure she'll make a great environmental lawyer, which is what she always wanted to be.
Her mom was also there. Along with a man. Different than the one we met in New Year's Eve. Suddenly, I understood why Cathy was angry at her mom her whole life.
And while I don't presume to understand how lonely Eliza was, having so many unstable relationships with men while your daughter grew up wasn't the right thing to do as a mother.
I could see it bothered Cathy to see her mom with yet another guy on her special day.
No words came to mind. So I simply held her hand, squeezing it three times. She squeezed back, but she only got up to two.
In the end, she let go. Told me in a forced smile that she couldn't be with me today because her batch had a celebration dinner planned. I reassured her it was okay. If anything, it would do her good to be away from me and her mom for now. I could tell seeing her mom's new boyfriend drove her near the edge.
Plus, tonight wasn't about me. I told her to have fun.