He was here, the man who Ray had told me would show up

Our second date was the beginning of a dream I never wanted to wake up from.  Bill came to my house to pick me up and we went to see the movie Matchstick Men with Nicholas Cage. I don't remember a thing about the movie, but I remember we were the only ones in the theater and we acted like two teenagers in love.  Afterwards we headed to O'Charley's for a bite to eat.  

Bill ordered Quesidillas. I had never had one, but tried them which was so unlike me to try any kind of new food.  We sat and talked about every thing, but nothing important.  There was just that feeling of comfort, knowing you were sitting with a long lost friend and the conversation came so easy.

We came back to my house and sat on the couch, cuddling as we continued to talk about our life and our past.  Hours just melted when we were together.  It was Bill's  "weekend" and he didn't have to get up to go to work the next day, but I did.  We sat on the couch, knowing the night was going to have to end, but not wanting it to. "What are you thinking" I asked as he sat there in the dim lighted room.

"I wonder what it would be like waking up next to you in the morning?"  Any other man, I would have had some sarcastic rebuttal for such a lame pick  up line, but in my gut, this wasn't a pick up line. History was made and we were never apart from that evening on.

Our schedules were crazy.  I was working long hours and Bill had been opening up a new restaurant in Avon, Smokey Bones. He was the General Manager of that location and he was determined to make it a successful opening. He had arranged his schedule so that he could get a Saturday night off.

I had tickets to see Bill Cosby, thanks to my status with my employer, tickets were coming in left and right. Bill would always call me before we were going any where to tell me what he was wearing.  I chuckled because I had  never met someone who wanted to make sure one of us was not dressed more casual than the other. Our evening with Bill Cosby was perfect.  

It started in Broad Ripple, we were dressed up for our evening out.  Strolling down the sidewalks, he walked by every restaurant scanning the menus posted outside.  He wanted to be sure I was going to enjoy where ever we ate.  He took charge, he'd walk in to the establishment and ask for their menu, we'd scan it and would decide whether to stay or go.  I don't mind fancy restaurants, but I prefer the hole in the wall or small pubs.  We ended up at the Corner Pub for a pork tenderloin sandwich, it wasn't where we ate, or the show we were about to see, it was about being with each other and feeling like we didn't  have a care in the world. The date started Saturday night and ended Sunday morning when he had to go to work.

My soul was glowing with happiness. My feet hadn't touched the ground since I had met Bill.  My assistant, Chris had noticed how my whole demeanor had lightened up.  I told her I had met someone very special, so we went to the restaurant for dinner, he had been having a bad week and had no idea I was coming.  He stopped by our table often to check on us and as always, we would be grinning from ear to ear.  We were coming up on our first weekend where we would both be off. Bill had planned a get away. All I knew was to be at his house Friday night, the rest was left up to  him.

I found a sitter for Precious and headed to his home.  It was the first time I had been there. He had placed a vase full of colorful yellow and orange fresh cut flowers on the dining room table for me.  Candles glowing, the table set like it was for a special moment in time. He had grilled steaks, made Au Gratin potatoes, green beans and "mistake bread" with brie cheese. Again, on a normal day, I would have only eaten the steak, but he had made this dinner for me and although I had had other men cook for me, he made it romantic with the flowers, table setting, candles and just the attention to detail he had given this moment in time for me.

We got up early the next morning. It was a beautiful sunny fall day.  He had washed and polished his Mustang convertible so that we could drive with the top down and soak in the sun.  He had planned a day in Brown County, Nashville, Indiana.  We arrived about the time the stores were to open and started browsing.  We were oblivious to any one around us, we were just so entwined in one another.  We discovered we had the same taste in every thing. We shopped the same way, we didn't spend hours looking at nothing, we entered a store and knew within seconds whether we walked further or moved on.

Lunch time was here and we ate at the Ordinary and ordered Burgers. We talked about how natural it was being together and how we had never experienced this before.  We had both been in love before, we had both been married twice before, but we had never felt this connection that we were experiencing.

We drove down to Bloomington, he wanted to show me parts of his life, memories he had of a time before.  Driving back we talked about our life, continuing to learn so much about one another, but also realizing our lives had been parallel several times.  He had been working at the restaurant in the Detroit area that I had eaten lunch at often when I trained in Southfield.  He had lived in the Chicago area when I lived there and we both moved back to Indiana about the same time.  It was destiny that we were to meet some day.

We got back to his home and he had listened to me. He knew I loved cookies, so he baked them for me.  We rented the movie Chicago and he made a home made pizza.  We snuggled on the couch and just enjoyed the serenity of two people who felt so comfortable with each other.

Sunday, he surprised me again, he had listened to me as we had shared so much about one another over the last couple of weeks.  He got up early and went to the store to buy me the Sunday paper.  I love Sunday mornings, getting up and reading the paper.  He made homemade cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast, feeding me as I read the paper.  He brought out photo albums to share his life story with me, before me were pictures of the cutest little boy who had grown in to this handsome man.  I really felt like I was dreaming and I didn't want to wake up.

I met his brother Ned that evening and both of his daughters. He had invited them over for grilled burgers.  The weekend was coming to an end and I didn't want to go. I had to go pick up Precious though.  I drove home, my  heart filled with admiration for this man who was sweeping me off my feet.

He called me when I got home to make sure I was safe and we spoke again about how easy this was, how right it felt.  I laid in bed that evening reliving the whole weekend.  He was every thing Ray had told me that summer that I would find in a man some day and to think I had doubted him.