Its been an interesting week, which I realized today, but I was chastised today for failing to finish the story about the former girlfriend---hey, ya know...God forbid I should try an enlighten you people with some culture regarding the great actor John Cusack!
So my birthday is approaching and I know something is amiss. After checking with my friend Nance, I find out that Kimberly is planning a surprise visit to celebrate my b-day. So Nance invites me out to Alexander's, where they have a delicious mashed potatoes by the way, and I sit at the table playing stupid--no jokes thank you--and Kimberly walks in while I play stunned and amazed. So we basically spend the evening together and have a wonderful time. Now, at this point, I have to say that I was pretty much....totally in love. Or...maybe it was the whole infatuation thing. Or maybe it was the idea of loving being in love. (Okay, okay--I'm going all Doctor Phil on you here) I loved telling someone that I loved them and having them tell me back (don't laugh---Mrs Me # 2 didn't like doing that). We came back to my apartment and prepared for an evening....ALONE. That wasn't an easy thing to do when visiting her because of her two little girls and her roommate. It was a terrific night--very romantic in a Lifetime for women channel type of way.
The next morning (HA! You thought you were going to get all the graphic details, didn't you??) we actually went down to the beach and watched the sunrise. No shit, really. It was right out of a...dare I say.....John Cusack movie! She left and I was seriously beginning to think that I had done something amazing....that I had found someone that I wanted to get married too and I wasn't even divorced from the beloved Mrs Me # 2 yet---eeeww the joy.
Then we decided to go on a cruise. As an employee of Disney, she would receive like 50% off for the Disney cruise. We would sail to lovely Nassau and to Disney's private island. So it was like a 4 day cruise and other than it was football season and I had a jones for some football it was a great time. I drank like a fish (I know, a stunning development). But the best part was the little present she gave me.
Before we went we had been shopping at the mall....well, let's just say that she knew that I had a certain proclivity for women who wear boots. Hey, you got your fetish, I got mine pal. Especially the ones that come up around the knee. Oh daddy.
So, quite frankly...she does the old....ya know....dress up thing for her man. Called me back to the room and when I got there she was wearing a negligee and those boots. Holy crap, let's just say that there wasn't only a bad moon rising that night my friend--there were other things too.
So we had an amazing time--especially with those boots--and when we got off the boat I started thinking how this could easily, despite some problems that I was at the time willing to overlook, and when we headed back to her place.
And then things started going downhill......
We got back to her house, and her ex-husband was there. In her apartment. In her bed asleep. He had agreed (how magnimous of him) to watch his kids while she was away on the cruise--at his place. But here he was. Not only in her place, but in her bed...the one that WE had slept in. She was NOT happy.
And he comes out half asleep, all "what's the big deal?". Suddenly I was caught in the midst of some pretty heavy post marital discord. So, in the words of the legendary dean of wrestling Gordon Solie, I decided to "beat a hasty retreat".
So I'm making my dignified exit, trying to put a wrap on a wonderful long weekend, and all that she's got on her mind is her shitty ex-husband. Let's just say that my goodbye kiss seemed a tad anti-climatic.
And the relationship we had for about 2 or 3 months--the one where we seemed just crazy in love--was over. Not because of me. Not because of her. It just went into the shit, and I think the reason it did was because of her lousy ex. I think that morning we walked into her apartment and he was there, she was reminded how shitty her marriage was and the relationship was...how shitty he had treated her, leaving her and their girls high and dry....and she started thinking about how getting involved with me, or maybe anyone...was a really bad idea.
I went up to see my parents for Thanksgiving, and we had made plans for her and the girls to join us for the holiday dinner. She had talked about what she was going make to bring and all sort of other things. And I arrived at my parents on the night before the holiday and called her to see what time she would be over....and all of a sudden she tells me that she's not coming. I went from being upset, to mad, to sad, to pissed off....to not understanding....it was like my emotions were on fast forward.
And then I did something really, really stupid in hindsight. I put my mom on the phone, thinking that maybe she would change her mind about coming. When my mom handed me the phone back, she unloaded on me for putting her on the spot.
UGH! It was a really crappy night. I ended up going back to Lauderdale on the day after Thanksgiving I was so miserable. I tried to patch things up, to make it work again....but I suppose conditions weren't right. So right around New Year's, we made the decision to end the relationship. I told her that I wanted her to know one thing. I told her that one day, eventually she would realize that she had made a mistake in not trying to make the relationship work, that maybe we had been right for one another and we could've got past our differences and really made it work.
So I moved on....had a few more relationships (and oh boy--those stories will be forthcoming)....and then about 6 months later I met Kim, who would become my wife. Kimberly and I still maintained friendly contact, occasionally dropping each other a note and saying hello. And then....one day about a year and a half later, I got an email from Kimberly. I opened it up and read:
"You were right. I made a mistake."
Sometimes, as they say, victory is its own reward.
Later,
Jeff
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment