Well, I finally did it. I actually went over to the "young lady" at work and asked about the date. OK, so it took me from 9 - 11AM to build up the cajones to actually make it over to her desk. There were at least three or four times that I was within two steps from her and spun on my heels. It's amazing how she has turned a 41 year old man into a 14 year old teenager asking a girl out for the first time.

I used a work relation situation to break the ice. Then, I made "my move".

"I was going to call you this weekend", I said.

"You know, I was going to call you, too", she replied. She went on to tell me what it was. However, I couldn't hear her over the loud whooshing sound and the distracting white light of hearing a positive response from her. Once the blood returned to my head and my ears were working again I was able to continue.

I swallowed the dried out basketball which was lodged in my throat, "It had dawned on me that we haven't been having much good luck trying to get together here on Mondays".

"I was thinking the same thing", she answered.

WHOOSH!

Apparently, she couldn't tell I was shaking more than a jello factory on the San Andreas. "I was wondering if you'd be up for some kind of alternative?"

She smiled that smile which wounds me and said, "Sure, that would be great."

She went on to explain that weekdays are sometime difficult between work and taking care of her son. Made sense to me. We decided that weekends would be better. Again, the fates seemed
against us because of my plans to go to Orlando this coming weekend. So, we made our same tentative plans, this time for the next weekend.

I walked away, smiling and happy. Then all I could hear was my supervisor and Cheryl berating me for letting a prefect opportunity slip through my fingers. Everything the both of them had told me was absolutely true. She was interested, she continued to be interested, she kept on opening the door for opportunities for me. I was an idiot!

I was determined not to fail today.

“You know, I always remember the good stuff to say about five minutes after the end of a conversation. Want to hear it?”

“As long as it’s something good.” There was that smile again. Luckily, my eyesight was not affected by the whooshing.

I suggested possibly doing lunch together outside of work. She immediately countered with the fact that she had an hour-long lunch coming to her. Again, opening another door of opportunity. I was beginning to enjoy the whooshing sound.

I had done it. My heart was still beating. The sun was still in the sky. And a beautiful, young girl was seemingly eager to go out with me. Today was a victory on many levels. It was 6 years ago to the day that things started developing with a girl I almost ended up marrying. A long, ugly story which has haunted me for years. I was determined not to let that memory overshadow what happened today. I think I was so determined because of how strong a hold the past was having on me. I am bigger than a bad memory.

The one good thing I will take from that memory, and others in my life, is to learn and grow from them. Maybe, just maybe, if this turns into a “relationship” I can do the right things to make it one for the books.

Well, let’s get lunch out of the way first.