Four Years A Bride: The First Date

Alex and I had a strange start.  He was kind of a stalker, and after that email, he would text me frequently to get to know me more, something that I found more annoying than anything.  I hate using my cell phone.  More often than not, I forget I have the damn thing.

But he wanted to date me, and I had to give him credit, he did not give up.

Never gonna give you up

When it came close to the first date, two of my coworkers stated that they wanted to see who it was that I was going to go on a date with.  They were convinced he was a serial killer, but when I said the date was in his dorm, they calmed down.  You see, on a military base, if you yell SARC, ten people will come to your aid and whomever you’re yelling SARC about will automatically be detained until further investigation.  Kind of, guilty until proven innocent for sexual assault.

Which was perfect since I was going to be hanging out in his bedroom for our date.

He asked me to drive to his dorm, which was around a quarter of a mile away.  It was in Alaska, in the middle of winter, and I told him that if he wanted to go out with me, he’d walk to the bowling center to meet me.  Twenty minutes later he walked in the door and asked me if I was ready to go.

“Hang on, my friends want to meet you,” I had told him.  He walked right over to them and started talking to them.

“Hey there!  I’m taking this beautiful girl to my dorm to cook her some stir fry and watch a movie, is that okay with you?”

To say the least, my friends were stunned.  They had expected him to be fairly nonchalant and just give a wave, but he called me beautiful, he sort of asked their permission, and he told them exactly what was planned.  They approved.

They were shocked he was so gentlemanly

So we got into my car and went to the commissary to get the stuff needed for chicken stir fry, when we ran into a girl Alex had recently taken on a date.  She was a year younger than me and when she saw Alex with me, she started to send him nasty texts and gave me a dirty look.  He informed me that after a week of dating she was trying to make plans with him that were six months to a year in advance.  I couldn’t help but laugh, calling him a heart breaker.

We got to his dorm and I sat in his kitchen, watching him cook, while he told me about himself.  I saw that he was better looking than I had first realized, that he was just really forward because he’s just.. well, very forward.  He was the third of seven kids total in his family, his parents were divorced when he was six years old, same as me, he was raised everywhere, he went to culinary school before he was in the military, and he wanted to be a responsible adult.

I couldn’t help but respect him more and more throughout the entire date.

When he finished cooking the food, he leaned in, less than an inch from my face, and I think he was going to say something snarky, but I kissed him instead.  Just a peck, but it surprised both of us.

That night, we watched “Yes Man,” where he explicitly pointed out the scene where Jim Carrey said, “Your furniture looks great form the yard.”  And since I had been working so much that week, halfway through the movie I ended up falling asleep.  I woke up under the covers, Alex wearing a pair of pajama bottoms, and his arm around me.

“I didn’t want to wake you up, is it okay if I just hold you?” he had asked me sweetly.

I told him sure and passed out.  The next morning he gave me coffee in bed and I dropped him off at work, and I went to my job at the deli, thinking about that really weird date.

The day before our second date, he went to the bowling center to get a bite to eat.  I had told my coworkers about the date and when he walked in, my friend E ran up to him and said, “ARE YOU LEAH’S BOYFRIEND NOW?!”

He was shocked at her outward display of curiosity, and he responded the only way he could think to.

“Oh I hope so.  I really like her.”

She texted me and told me that, and I felt better.  When I saw him the next day, I had him recount that conversation.  After he told it to me, he turned to me and said, “So, am I being hopeful?  Are you my girlfriend?  Please be my girlfriend.”

That was December 10^th, 2010.  And I said yes.  So we were dating.

 

Fear not, how I ended up getting a wedding ring will be next in this saga.  What was your first date like with your significant other?  Was it awkward or awesome?  Let me know in the comments!