STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

When I was a freshman in high school I was friends with a guy we'll cay "D". He had a crush on me and once called me up to invite me on a date to go rock climbing, but at the time I was not interested in him. I guess you could say he was much more worldly and down to earth than I was at the time. Anyhow, as we reached senior year, we never saw eachother, which is slightly odd because my school had a small population and campus. We didn't even see eachother at prom or graduation, and only the seniors were a part of these events!

Fastforward to just before New Years. I am working at my restaurant and another hostess calls up "Walker, party of two". I say hello to the pretty older woman and ask her to follow me to the table. As I finish, a taller guy whose back had been to me turns around and his jaw drops as he says, "Oh my god, Antonia?" I instantly recognize him even though he has facial hair and is about five inches taller now... "D? Wow, this is so cool". We chat for a moment, exchange contact information, and I have the waitress send him and his mom my favorite dessert. Sort of as a parting gift as I wasn't intending to see him before he went back home to Vancouver for school.

A day or two later I get a message from him telling me that he wants to hang out a little before he goes home. I forget to return his call and New Years rolls around and I go out with some friends from work to a bar. I am not a bar girl and proof of this is in the fact that I have only drank a handful of times since I turned 21 in June. So, here I am at a bar trying to act cool and like I go out all the time. My friends buy me a few drinks and I get a little tipsy- the normally over friendly me becomes even more friendly and at midnight I am walking around giving everyone a kiss on the cheek and saying "Happy New Years". What the hell, that was the most action I had gotten in a month! Anyway, as I am coming back from the bathroom, I tap a guy on the back and he turns around as I say, "Happy Ne--- D!" Of all the places we both could have been on New Years, we were both at the same bar. Me, who never goes to bars and him, whose friends chose the place. The bar is starting to clear out and we all decide to find a party, which didn't happen. He ended up back at my apartment and fell asleep with me. We just kissed and nothing else.

A day or two later, we want to see eachother again. We decide to watch a movie at my place, go out to dinner, and then go see his mom (I know how hard it is to come home for a short time and feel compelled to give everyone an equal amount of your time, so I wanted him to spend his last night in town with his mom too). His mom (who I had just met a few days earlier) and I instantly hit it off and she pulls me aside and says, "Antonia, I always go to visit D in Vancouver for his birthday, and this year I would really like to take you with me". I ask her if she thinks he would be a little angry with her and she says she wouldn't invite me if she didn't think he'd love it. Get this... his birthday is two days after I am let out for Spring Break, which means if everything works out, I would get to spend a week or more with him/them!

This guy has it all. He is intelligent- he was an academic scholar at our school and his dad and grandfather both went to Harvard. He is handsome- longer wavy hair, tall, strong hands. He is well traveled- lived in Portugal from 2 yrs to 9 yrs and speaks fluent Portuguese. He is artistic- his black and white photography could be compared to the likes of Ansel Adams and at a gallery opening featuring his work, medium sized photographs sold for $250! He is athletic- he is a longboarder and is a rider for a top company in Canada. He cooks and loves food- such a silly requirement for a partner, but one that I feel is important as I don't cook and he encourages me to explore new foods.

How is it that I meet the perfect guy when I am struggling to stay single and remain celibate? I want to avoid falling in love with him because I have a tenedency to get involved way too fast, which results in heartbreak. I just find it odd that we ran into eachother two times completely unexpectedly. This is especially odd because he said he has been back every summer and winter break since we graduated from high school in 2001- this is the only time I have not had a boyfriend since graduation! THEN, the other day he calls to tell me that while on a snow boarding trip he ran into a close friend of mine from high school who I spent many a day with and went to formal with! This happened in a tiny town in a tiny bar and through this friend he was reminded of me.

Sorry for the long story, I just love how this all worked out without me trying to have control over any of the circumstances. Any advice for me or any stories to share about your own random "love" encounters? Here's some photos of the bitchin' piece of man candy as my mom says: