Curse Lingers

Should I even be upset?

I mean I should have known what would happen next.

Ok, This is the deal Mr. Cupid. Since you must know; I was riding in the car with a friend, his wife and their daughter, whom I call my niece. We were going to her gymnastic class for the afternoon.

My phone rings, and its a private number. I never answer these type of calls. But it was past business hours, so it couldn't be a stupid temp agency. I hope it's not this dumb girl I used to talk to, calling from her job. It could have been a creditor, but I was ready if it was.

I answer the phone, and to my surprise, it was the voice of a girl. I didn't recognize this voice. Get this...she was calling to discuss a time where she and I could meet. Very strange.

Now, I wasn't desperate, and I definitely was not looking to start anything new. But. There's always a but, right? My sister was trying to hook me up with one of her friends, her new roommate. I should not have answered the call.

Well we talked briefly and decided that it would be nice to see each other. In about 5 minutes, I was clued in about the type of music she was into, we matched in that department. She was a working model. That was enough for a date.

I was very curious about how she looked. She said she couldn't send me a pic. Oh God. Whatever, it didn't matter. I was busy so I told her I would connect with her later.

Later that night, I had made my way to the hospital where my younger brother had made a new home, due to a rare disease. I got in about 30 minutes before visiting hours had began. So I sat in the waiting room, and decided to call the mystery model chick. She didn't answer. Of course not. I left a message. She called back and informed me that she was in the gym when I called. She said she'd call back in 5 minutes, and she was almost home.

I sat and waited. 30 minutes had passed. Something had me glued to my seat, it was the book "The Inferno"; great book, very hard to comprehend though. 35 minutes later she called. This conversation was great. I actually do not like talking on the phone unless it's very brief. Well, there was something about her that intrigued me. I felt like I could learn some things from her.

We talked about music, life, and our ideal partners. We chose to meet that following Saturday. I still hadn't seen a picture of her, but she kept telling me she believed she was great catch. What the eff does that even mean? But still, I was convinced that even if she looked halfway decent, she would indeed be a great catch.

My phone began to beep, the battery was dying. We had been on the phone now for 3 hours. I had not even made it into my brother's room yet. I knew he would understand. I told her that when the phone died, I'd call her back from a payphone. So in 2 minutes we were connected again. 3 minutes passed, and again time was up. She star 69'd the payphone! And by the end of that conversation I knew I could not wait 3 more days to see her.

I did make it into the hospital room. I spent 2 hours speaking to my brother, reading, and then taking a quick nap. While I was leaving, I powered up the phone, and a text came through. It was her asking if I was awake. This was approximately 5:35 in the a.m. I was able to send and receive 3 more messages before the phone died again.

I drove quickly back home and plugged in my phone. I responded to her last message. If there were symptoms of falling for someone, then I admit I had a few. We continued texting for 2 hours. I'd take brief micro naps in between messages when my phone didn't buzz right away.

I would read a few of the messages to you, but after what happened, I decided to erase them all. Basically we wrote about how mutually intrigued we were. She had told me she couldn't sleep because I was on her mind heavy. I told her I couldn't wait to kiss and hold her. To which she replied "I want that badly!"

I had not even thought of the fact that we had never even met. Let alone that I still hadn't even seen a picture. And by the way, my sister had shown her pictures of me already.

Maybe an hour had passed, and I was awakened by a text that read, " I need to hear you."

We talked for a few minutes, and concluded we weren't going to wait til Saturday which was 3 days away. I was so nervous, I couldn't sleep, and it was 10:00 am, and I had been up since the previous day.

We decided to meet at 4:00 pm, same day. I made myself a mixed CD, and watched a movie while I got ready for our first date.

I felt amazing. I got her flowers and I stood still at our meeting spot. She let me know she was on her way. I adjusted again, and posted up against a wall. The SF Library. I remember looking up a busy street, and when she appeared I knew it was her. Tunnel vision. With all of the people walking up that street in San Francisco, I knew it was her. Brown Skirt, green sweater, short haircut, not too short. Perfect. She had practiced this walk indeed, flawless. I watched her pull out her phone, and mine began to ring. She closed hers, as she noticed me pulling mine out. I walked up to her.

We agreed to eat lunch first. We did some window shopping while we waited on our restaurant reservations. We walked and talked and I got comfortable enough to hold her waist, or put my arm around her. I felt comfortable with her already.

After eating and browsing through a few more stores, including a vintage clothes store and a record store, we drove to the beach. I'm not into nature the way I was when I was a child. But this amazing woman got me there without tying me up.

We sat in the car and talked more. I felt myself growing closer to her as I rubbed her stomach, played in her hair, and held her hand. This date was movie perfect.

I kept getting thrown off by thoughts of when and where our first kiss would be. In the car she had hinted that I could go for it. It wasn't the right time though.

Let's take a break...Back to my 35 year old self. I wrote this when I was 24, And as I am typing this up, I'm on the edge of my seat too. I realize now I don't remember what happened exactly, it's all coming back to me though...

Continue...24 again...

I just wanted to hold her. We finally made it out of the car after the sun had gone down. We walked along the beach. Straight up movie. The wind was strong, and cold, but it felt right being there with her. I was comfortable, and slowly losing my mind and heart to this woman.

I remember her proclaiming, "Here come some memories." She was right. We ran from the tide a few times, we played, and laughed like children. And then it happened. I wrapped my arms around her, and held her closer to me. She let me know she was warm, and I nestled my head into her neck as if to say thank you.

I looked at her and said "I have something to get you warmer." Then I kissed her. She kissed me. Right there on the beach! I know I've seen this scene in a movie! Haven't you? We kissed like we didn't need air. Actually that is how good the kiss was.

After that I knew I wanted to see how far this new feeling could go. All I could do was hold her. It hadn't even been a full day, yet she had already erased remnants of previous "situationships". She stopped me dead in my tracks, she was wonderful.

We left the beach, I let her jump on my back. I carried her to the car. I wasn't even worried about sand in my shoes or my socks being wet. I was already planning future dates.

The next destination would be my sister's job. We were going to pick her up. She had about 2 hours left. The ride got interesting when we began eating candy. I offered to open her Starbursts that we had picked up earlier. It was a special edition blue icy one. I commenced to put the candy in her mouth. She stopped me and told me to feed it to her with my lips. OK! It was definitely on! And we were approaching a red light! For the rest of the night, Starbursts became my favorite candy.

Let me get descriptive. Cupid? Are you there? OK cool.

I held the square in my two front teeth. She leaned in and our lips met again. They were eager and confused. With the candy in between, should they bite, suck, or lick? Needless to say the candy fell out of the equation, for a second. By the time it was put back in to play, we had reached another light... the game was on again. We had perfected the candy kiss. Now though, I'll probably stay away from Starbursts for awhile.

We made it to the job, and hung out for a bit until my sister had gotten off work. While we were there so many little things happened that assured me this wasn't a one time thing.

Short list:

1. She was rubbing my head in the lobby as we waited.
2. While I stood off to the side at one point, she walked up to me hugged me, and buried her face into my chest.
3. Every time my phone rang she showed concern.

I was in love. Yes. I said it. I was feeling great, and I told her "thanks for calling me."

We walked to the store, and it felt like we were now a couple. We couldn't keep our hands or lips off of each other walking up the street. Maybe this was all a dream. I never thought of that. Cupid, was I sleep this whole time, on some Fight Club shit? No? Ok.

We made it back, some foreign dudes needed help finding their car, so we helped. They couldn'tremember which garage they had parked in. We actually drove them around for 15 minutes. Maybe it was selfish, but I didn't feel like sharing her yet.

We took a break, and I rubbed her shoulders and asked if she was ok. She was. She asked me the same question. So was I. We kissed again, an innocent, "I like you kiss." The dudes never found their car, at least not that night.

It was now time for her to drop me off at the train station where I would pick my car up, drive home with loud music about love, and smile, and be happy for the rest of my days. We kissed and said goodbye.

As much as I wish I could lie and say that a few days later we went on another date. Or, A few weeks later we became a couple. Or six months later we had our six-month-aversary. Or a year has passed and we were still happily together. I can't. I have to tell you the truth. I sent her a text the next morning, and she never responded. The End.

Do you really need more? Sure whatever. Ok.

I called, no response.

Saturday, came, I tried again. She never responded. Honestly it was unbelievable. Sunday came, I went to church, turned the phone off, turned it on, no text. I turned it off while I visited my brother. I left, still no text. I think this was the first case of being ghosted. Hmm.

Each time I powered my little flip phone on, I just knew I'd have a text from her. And each time nothing. Still an empty feeling that was growing more. Wow! Was it a dream? I mean really, I hadn't slept for 2 days, was I losing it? Of course not, my name is not Jack, and I don't know any Tyler Durdens. So Mr. Cupid what was going on?

Monday came and I was in a coffee shop, I tried to reach out again. I don't remember what I said, but I will never forget what her reply was. "Sorry, I don't want to date!" With the exclamation point!

Huh?!

OK, what happened between the time she dropped me off and that next morning. Was she joking? Why hadn't my sister told me anything? They were roommates. Was that even her that sent the text? She must have lost her phone, and some rude person found it and responded.

How does someone visit heaven, and stay on their best behavior, then get kicked out forever.

I would never claim to be cursed, but Cupid, I need an explanation. At least this time. If there is nothing you can do, do you still try? We never spoke again. Cupid, just let her know that I apologize for anything I did or didn't do. And if I am forgiven please lift this lingering curse.

Ok I'm 35 now, I was 24 when I wrote this. Somebody loves me, I love somebody, but we are not in love, and we are not committed. The curse has been weakened, because, well, she's a freaking sorceress. And she has amazing unexplainable powers. But it still lingers.

*update, I spoke with my sister after I finished typing this up*

"What happened to that girl you hooked me up with?"

"She's in LA now, working on tv shows, she has a thing for foreign dudes. She's been in a relationship with this guy for years now."