The Beginning of the End

2019 for me has not started out exactly how I wanted it to. For the first time in three years, I will be going into this year single. It actually happened, my worst desire and that small thought of doubt that was always in the back of my mind became a reality. Yes, the girl I loved for almost three years broke up with me on New Year’s Day.

05/08/2016—The Beginning

I was still attending college in Iowa, with just a couple of weeks left before I go home for summer break. I was up early on a Sunday morning and getting a group project done for a class. Now keep in mind, all this year, I focused on myself and dedicated to getting into shape and didn’t worry about anything else. My confidence was rising every day. Anyways, I got done with the project around two PM and headed back to my dorm room. I found my roommate in his usual spot just playing video games.

I walk in and ask him, "Are you hungry?"

His response was, "Yeah."

We got ready to go out to eat. Here’s the thing, we didn’t decide on any specific location. We just got in his car and he just drove straight to Taco Bell. I am a real laid back guy so I didn’t care that we didn’t agree on any specific place to go eat. Now I’m here thinking we might just go through the drive-thru and head back to our dorm, but he pulls into the parking to go inside. Alright, again, no problem. As we walk in, we start walking up to the cashier to put in our order.

The girl behind the cash register said, "Esmeralda will be right out to help you."

And that’s when I first saw her, this petite gorgeous girl came from the back. I instantly couldn’t take my eyes off her. My roommate was ahead of me and ordered his food and sat down at a nearby table. As I walk up to her, I couldn’t stop smiling, she smiled back but it could’ve been she was just being friendly. I was kind of nervous to order so I ended up stuttering a little bit, but she laughed it off. I placed my order and went to go sit down. Nope, didn’t have the guts to ask her anything. As I sat down I waited for the food to be done, while waiting, I still couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Just thinking to myself how cute she was. She was taking peoples' orders and on this one order she was trying to help a customer show something on the menu and since she was shorter, she had to jump up and point, I thought it was cute and funny.

Then I told my roommate, "What do you think about the girl at the cashier?"

He was like, "Yeah, man, go for it."

They eventually called my number to get the food, as I walked up I noticed Esmeralda, or Esme for short, was handing me the food, and then she said, "I hope you like it, it’s the best burrito I ever rolled."

I just smiled and went back to the table.

We finished eating and it was now or never. I walked up to the counter and asked her for a pen and she just stood there staring at me confused.

It was about 20 seconds of just staring at each other awkwardly before I repeated myself, "A pen?"

And she responded, "Oh, yeah," and smiled.

I grabbed my receipt and wrote down my number and handed it to her before walking out. As I started walking out, I accidentally ran into a railing.

She laughed and said, "There’s a railing there, watch out."

I responded, "Yeah, see that now," and laughed until I walked out.

What does all this tell you, it was destined to be. To start off, I could’ve just gone to go eat at the cafeteria but didn’t, I could’ve gone to any of the other 500 restaurants, but went to Taco Bell without any indication or agreement. There was another girl at the cashier and then Esme came out from the back. May just be a coincidence but, a great coincidence. I only had a couple of weeks school left and gave her my number, if she texted me, great, if she didn’t, oh well. I lived three hours away and wouldn’t be seeing her if she didn’t text me. Surprisingly, she texted me later that night.

You do not understand how happy and shocked I was that this gorgeous girl had messaged me. But now what? I was leaving in less than a week to head back home for summer vacation. Well as we kept talking, I told her that I was leaving for the summer, but before I left, I made sure to go see her one more time. I drove to three different places before finally agreeing to meet at her house. As I pulled up, she walked out with her friend. All I could do was smile and hug her. We talked for about an hour and I had to leave before it got too late. The drive was about three hours from where I lived and the University I was attending. I said my goodbyes and drove home.

Part two coming soon.