FALLING IN LOVE

There had never been a period in my

life, however brief, where I’d spent as much time primping and grooming myself as I

did when I worked at Sirloin Stockade. Diana of course, was the sole reason behind

this phenomenon as everything had to look and smell just right for her. Working

with Diana, as you might’ve already suspected, was like a dream come true for me as

I couldn’t wait to wake up each and every morning knowing Diana was going to be a

part of my upcoming day. I loved...and I mean absolutely loved, going to work and

hearing the sound of her voice as I playfully watched her ponytail bounce and sway

as she gracefully walked back and forth throughout the entirety of the

restaurant.

Every moment I saw her, was like seeing her for the first time.

God was she beautiful.

It was also nothing short of a

miracle when my acne riddled and nuclear explosion of a facial complexion

mysteriously cleared up just hours before Diana and I would eventually meet for the

very first time. Even to this day I’ve never had better looking facial skin than I

did at the time. I have no real logical or reasonable explanation for it other than

it just magically disappeared the night before Diana and I met as hard as it may

seem to believe. It was also just as hard to believe and fully comprehend why Diana

was spending so much of her time with me, an extremely dorky and ugly looking

nineteen year old geek, rather than some of her more attractive and much better

looking male coworkers.

Whenever I fell behind or needed

assistance at work, which was quite often and sometimes done on purpose by me, Diana

would always be close by and ready to help me at a moment’s notice. I just assumed

she was probably keeping a watchful eye on me because I was a horrible waiter who

needed constant supervision and attention all the time. The future, however, would

provide me with an altogether different explanation.

During the first week of the

restaurant’s opening, something happened to me I still find hard to believe even to

this day as it was by far, the biggest surprise of my life and one I’ll never be

able to forget. It singlehandedly changed the direction and course of my life and

steered me upon a darkened path I’ve never been able to return from. It’s tormented

and haunted me all of my days since.

This unforgettable and twilight-zone-

of-a-moment occurred when Diana approached me at work one evening, completely out of

the blue, and asked me what I was I doing later on. Somehow and quite miraculously,

I managed to keep upright as I mumbled out the incredibly stupid words, “I don’t

know.” Diana, who I think was somewhat surprised by my non-answer and lack of

enthusiasm, hesitated for a moment before she coyly informed me she was staying at

the Comfort Inn Hotel in Downers Grove (Illinois) along with the rest of the

training crew from the restaurant as I stood in front of her gazing at her as if she

was a little green alien from outer space. She then went on to tell me, as I

continued to stare at her in complete shock, “You should come over,” and me being

the moron I am responded with, “What’s there to do over there, do they have a

pool?” “There’s a Jacuzzi,” she sheepishly smiled at me and said just shortly

before our conversation was rudely interrupted because of something work related

though I don’t remember what it was. The restaurant could’ve been on fire for all I

cared. I was in the middle of a lifelong dream, to hell with everything else.

Five seconds later...

“Oh sweet Jesus, oh God, what have I

done?” “You stupid, stupid, stupid, idiot…what was I thinking?” “Why didn’t I just

say yes?” The sheer and utter stupidity of my overall demeanor and conversation

with Diana hit me like a ten pound brick the second she hesitantly turned and walked

away from me and sadly, it could have just cost me the opportunity of a lifetime.

But even amidst all my regret, sorrow, and inner crying, there had never been a

single moment in my entire life where I was filled with as much hope and optimism as

I was shortly after Diana had asked me to come over. I felt like Rudolph the red

nosed reindeer right after he discovered the doe he liked also liked him in return.

Especially when he began flying through the air screaming, “I’m cute…I’m cute…she

thinks I’m cute!” Unfortunately, that feeling wasn’t all Rudolph and I had in

common as we both had physical flaws yet to be discovered by the females of our

affection. In Rudolph’s case, it was a big shiny red nose and in my case, it was

some big shiny red zits.

Thank goodness Diana still asked me

if I wanted to come over before either of us left work for the day because I

certainly wouldn’t have even though she made the first move. Fortunately for me,

however, there were no screw ups or brain farts the second time around as I calmly

responded with a yeah when she asked me, once again, if I wanted to come over. The

images and fantasies I created during the remaining few hours of my workday were as

vivid and imaginative as anything I’d ever dreamed before. Was tonight the night

I’d lose my virginity or was she only asking me over as a friend I wondered. Did

she invite other coworkers to join us as well? Perhaps she was just simply trying

to be nice to me because of how pathetic I looked and acted at work though I guess

it didn’t really matter since all I really cared about was seeing her again I

repeatedly tried to convince myself.

Now a normal person would have

showered and cleaned up before heading to a beautiful woman’s hotel room but not I…

nope…I decided to go to my friend’s house to do some good old fashioned bragging.

This woefully pathetic occurrence must have happened on either a Friday or Saturday

night because two of my closest friends and I usually got together on these so

called wild party nights to play Nintendo baseball at my buddy’s house, or his

parent’s house I should say, and that’s exactly where I found them that night. I

was so excited and eager to tell them an amazingly hot and beautiful looking woman

had invited me to her hotel room, I didn’t even lie to them and say she wanted to

have sex with me. Instead, for one of the few times in my life, I told them the

truth and I didn’t know who else would be there and what, if anything, we’d

eventually end up doing.

I was so awestruck and dumbfounded

whenever Diana spoke to me, I would seemingly forget everything she said to me,

including the directions to her hotel earlier in the day. Luckily for me, I was

able to remember the name of her hotel and what town it was in so I could call ahead

for directions. So like a beloved but unproven king slowly riding atop a beautiful

stallion towards the lowered drawbridge of his Camelot-like castle, while in the

midst of a kaleidoscopic downpour of colorful and swirling flower pedals and

thunderous applause, I unknowingly became the king of my own destiny by bolting out

of the safety and comfort of my adoring kingdom and out unto the unknown frontier to

conquer and slay a mysterious and dangerous looking dragon that could forever define

and shape my legacy as a man, metaphorically speaking that is. So after receiving

congratulatory goodbyes, envious stares, and good luck wishes from my best of

buddies, off I went to Diana’s hotel room on what I had hoped would be the night of

nights for me. Would Diana tell me she liked me? Would I get to kiss or even have

sex with her? The hopeful nervousness I felt on my journey towards Diana’s hotel

room that night was something I’d never experienced before, at least not to that

degree, and I didn’t even know if she liked me at all. Maybe I was nothing more

than a sympathetic coworker to her?

Even though I didn’t really know

anything about Diana, it felt like I’d been waiting for her my entire life, almost

as if I had dreamed her into my existence. Everything about her was perfection to

me, like a fantasy come true.

I’d fallen in love for the very first time.