I just came home from a very enjoyable dinner with the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever known. I got this surprised phone call late afternoon when I was still at the office. It was she at the other side of line. I didn’t even know she had my cell number. Apparently she got it from my sister. She told me she was in town for a meeting tomorrow and wanted to fulfill a promise to buy me dinner tonight.
It was about 3 months ago as I was reading The Financial Post one day and saw a familiar face of a picture in one of those appointment announcements. She had just been promoted to VP at a huge multinational company. I was excited to learn about the news and certainly very happy for her. That evening, I dug up her email address and sent her my congratulations, also jokingly said that she would have to buy me dinner now she’s making big bucks. The next day, she sent me a thank you reply and promised to buy me dinner next time she was in town.
**********
I knew her long before we started going to the same high school. Her older sister and mine were, and still are very best friends. Because of that, our parents also knew each other well. The first time I met her was the time that I went with my parents to see this high school play which both of our sisters were in the cast. Before the show, our parents saw the others and started chatting their ways. We were still at different middle schools at that time. I didn’t really know how to talk to her as I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever met but she was so nice and pleasant and started asking me about schools and other stuff. I also ended up sitting beside her during the show. For a 13 year old boy, I thought I was in heaven that night. I didn’t let my crush known to her for a while though.
Throughout high school, we both were always at the top of our classes but she often beat me in marks in every class including Math, my strongest subject. We were also very competitive in everything else like activity clubs, class reps, school council, drama, etc. Although we were good friends, we were never romantically involved. I went out with 2 other girls in my high school senior years and she always teased me of being drooled on by the girls without a slight hint of jealousy. I had thought about many times of asking her out, but never got enough nerve and was always afraid of being rejected. Like all the other boys in our school, we all thought she was way too pretty and smart for us and did not feel we were even in her league.
I don’t think my decision to stay at home and go to the local university had anything to do with her doing the same. I was in engineering and she took chemistry when we both went to the same university. We never officially got together but saw each other quite a bit since we both carpooled together with our sisters to go to school whenever our schedules allowed. We also seemed to run into each other a lot in all the places on campus. I believed it was her suggestion that we both volunteered to tutor some underprivileged kids on Saturday morning. A lot of times, we would go out for lunch after tutoring, but mostly with a large group of friends. By the time we got to our second year in university, our sisters had graduated and sometimes it would just be the two of us commuted to school together. One day just before Christmas, as I was dropping her off after school, I finally gathered enough courage asking her to go to the Christmas dance with me. It certainly made me feel much easier as she didn’t seemed to be surprised at all. Without any hesitation, she calmly said “sure”. Months later, she would tell me she almost laughed at me because I was so sheepish and seemed so nervous that day.
From that Christmas on, we were almost inseparable. We saw each other every day, sometimes at lunch, sometimes for just for a cup of coffee, or at library after school. We would wait until the other finished classes so we could commute back home together. By the following summer, when we went camping at Banff with a bunch of our friends, every one knew that we were a couple. Our sisters, who were best friends, were certainly ecstatic that their little brother and sister were now dating each other. Even our parents were so please that we always got invited to others’ houses for special functions. For us, we were totally in love. Over the next couple of years, we developed into a very steady relationship.
By the time we got to our final year in university, even though we were still very young, we were already planning our future together. She would stay in school and get her MBA and I would work for a few years. We were going to get married once she finished her MBA and by then I could consider going back to graduate school. We were never officially engaged or anything, but there were no doubt in our minds that was exactly what we were going to do.
After graduation, I got a job from a company in Toronto. We decided that it was too good an offer for me to turn down. She could have come to Toronto for her MBA as well, but she already accepted a very nice scholarship with the university back home. It was the first time we lived in different parts of the country. It wasn’t easy but we knew that we would be visiting each other during holidays. The first few months were especially tough for both of us. I flew home at Thanksgiving just that I could see her. I came home again for Christmas but could only stay for a few days since I did not have much vacation days. Then everything changed after Christmas.
After coming back from home for the Christmas holidays, I felt very down and missed her very much. It would be the first New Year eve that I would not be with her since we went out together. The time of the year also held special place in my heart: I kissed her the first time on a New Year eve several years before. A few of my friends at work insisted that we should go out to this party at a club on New Year eve. I went along and we met up with this group of girls who knew some of the guys in our group. One of the girls, I would call her Jen, was particularly interested in me. Jen was an aspiring actor and also a part time waitress. She was beautiful, outgoing and laughed a lot. She flirted with me all night and kept making fun of me by telling all these cowboy jokes. We danced and drank and by the end of the night, we were all snuggling up against each other, drinking our tequila and anything that brought in front of us. I even forgot to call my girl friend at 2 am which was supposed to be midnight her time. After we left the club, I walked Jen back to her apartment and I was so pissed that I simply passed out drunk on Jen’s couch while we were still talking.
The following Saturday, Jen invited me to watch her playing a role at one of the local theatres. After the show, I waited for her and we went out for a drink. That night, I slept with her. I felt very guilty in the morning, but kept seeing her later. By the time spring came, I was practically living at Jen’s apartment.
We always had this plan for her to come visit me in Toronto before she started with her summer job in Calgary. As it was getting closer to the time, I knew I needed to break up with one of the girls. I actually tried to break up with Jen first; she already knew I had a girlfriend back home who was planning to visit me in the summer. Our break-up lasted for about 10 days and we went back together again. My parents and my sister also heard about Jen from our cousin in Toronto, and my sister kept telling me I needed to make a decision. So a week before she was going to come out to Toronto, I finally wrote a letter, sent it to my sister, and asked my sister to hand it to her. It was the most deplorable thing I had ever done. She was devastated; I totally broke her heart.
My sister was getting married that summer and she already told me I should not bring Jen to the wedding caused my ex-girlfriend was going to be one of the bridesmaids. I did anyway. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have done that. I totally humiliated her in front of all the people who knew both of us. Jen and I didn’t last, before the end of the year, she broke up with me and moved to New York to pursue her acting career.
I didn’t see her for a long time after my sister’s wedding. I heard quite a lot about her though; our sisters were still best friends. I knew that after she got her MBA, she started working for this big multinational company in Calgary and was climbing up the corporate ladder very quickly. She got married about 6 years ago and of course I wasn’t invited to the wedding. The last time I saw her was at my sister’s house just before Christmas 2 years ago. It was my little niece’s 5th birthday. I happened to be home that year for Christmas. She was also visiting her family back home. She came with her husband and their baby girl who was just about 2 years old. I didn’t know whether her husband knew who I was but they were both very polite with me throughout the day. She also gave me a business card; by that time she was already the director of her department.
*********
(to be continued.......)
It was about 3 months ago as I was reading The Financial Post one day and saw a familiar face of a picture in one of those appointment announcements. She had just been promoted to VP at a huge multinational company. I was excited to learn about the news and certainly very happy for her. That evening, I dug up her email address and sent her my congratulations, also jokingly said that she would have to buy me dinner now she’s making big bucks. The next day, she sent me a thank you reply and promised to buy me dinner next time she was in town.
**********
I knew her long before we started going to the same high school. Her older sister and mine were, and still are very best friends. Because of that, our parents also knew each other well. The first time I met her was the time that I went with my parents to see this high school play which both of our sisters were in the cast. Before the show, our parents saw the others and started chatting their ways. We were still at different middle schools at that time. I didn’t really know how to talk to her as I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever met but she was so nice and pleasant and started asking me about schools and other stuff. I also ended up sitting beside her during the show. For a 13 year old boy, I thought I was in heaven that night. I didn’t let my crush known to her for a while though.
Throughout high school, we both were always at the top of our classes but she often beat me in marks in every class including Math, my strongest subject. We were also very competitive in everything else like activity clubs, class reps, school council, drama, etc. Although we were good friends, we were never romantically involved. I went out with 2 other girls in my high school senior years and she always teased me of being drooled on by the girls without a slight hint of jealousy. I had thought about many times of asking her out, but never got enough nerve and was always afraid of being rejected. Like all the other boys in our school, we all thought she was way too pretty and smart for us and did not feel we were even in her league.
I don’t think my decision to stay at home and go to the local university had anything to do with her doing the same. I was in engineering and she took chemistry when we both went to the same university. We never officially got together but saw each other quite a bit since we both carpooled together with our sisters to go to school whenever our schedules allowed. We also seemed to run into each other a lot in all the places on campus. I believed it was her suggestion that we both volunteered to tutor some underprivileged kids on Saturday morning. A lot of times, we would go out for lunch after tutoring, but mostly with a large group of friends. By the time we got to our second year in university, our sisters had graduated and sometimes it would just be the two of us commuted to school together. One day just before Christmas, as I was dropping her off after school, I finally gathered enough courage asking her to go to the Christmas dance with me. It certainly made me feel much easier as she didn’t seemed to be surprised at all. Without any hesitation, she calmly said “sure”. Months later, she would tell me she almost laughed at me because I was so sheepish and seemed so nervous that day.
From that Christmas on, we were almost inseparable. We saw each other every day, sometimes at lunch, sometimes for just for a cup of coffee, or at library after school. We would wait until the other finished classes so we could commute back home together. By the following summer, when we went camping at Banff with a bunch of our friends, every one knew that we were a couple. Our sisters, who were best friends, were certainly ecstatic that their little brother and sister were now dating each other. Even our parents were so please that we always got invited to others’ houses for special functions. For us, we were totally in love. Over the next couple of years, we developed into a very steady relationship.
By the time we got to our final year in university, even though we were still very young, we were already planning our future together. She would stay in school and get her MBA and I would work for a few years. We were going to get married once she finished her MBA and by then I could consider going back to graduate school. We were never officially engaged or anything, but there were no doubt in our minds that was exactly what we were going to do.
After graduation, I got a job from a company in Toronto. We decided that it was too good an offer for me to turn down. She could have come to Toronto for her MBA as well, but she already accepted a very nice scholarship with the university back home. It was the first time we lived in different parts of the country. It wasn’t easy but we knew that we would be visiting each other during holidays. The first few months were especially tough for both of us. I flew home at Thanksgiving just that I could see her. I came home again for Christmas but could only stay for a few days since I did not have much vacation days. Then everything changed after Christmas.
After coming back from home for the Christmas holidays, I felt very down and missed her very much. It would be the first New Year eve that I would not be with her since we went out together. The time of the year also held special place in my heart: I kissed her the first time on a New Year eve several years before. A few of my friends at work insisted that we should go out to this party at a club on New Year eve. I went along and we met up with this group of girls who knew some of the guys in our group. One of the girls, I would call her Jen, was particularly interested in me. Jen was an aspiring actor and also a part time waitress. She was beautiful, outgoing and laughed a lot. She flirted with me all night and kept making fun of me by telling all these cowboy jokes. We danced and drank and by the end of the night, we were all snuggling up against each other, drinking our tequila and anything that brought in front of us. I even forgot to call my girl friend at 2 am which was supposed to be midnight her time. After we left the club, I walked Jen back to her apartment and I was so pissed that I simply passed out drunk on Jen’s couch while we were still talking.
The following Saturday, Jen invited me to watch her playing a role at one of the local theatres. After the show, I waited for her and we went out for a drink. That night, I slept with her. I felt very guilty in the morning, but kept seeing her later. By the time spring came, I was practically living at Jen’s apartment.
We always had this plan for her to come visit me in Toronto before she started with her summer job in Calgary. As it was getting closer to the time, I knew I needed to break up with one of the girls. I actually tried to break up with Jen first; she already knew I had a girlfriend back home who was planning to visit me in the summer. Our break-up lasted for about 10 days and we went back together again. My parents and my sister also heard about Jen from our cousin in Toronto, and my sister kept telling me I needed to make a decision. So a week before she was going to come out to Toronto, I finally wrote a letter, sent it to my sister, and asked my sister to hand it to her. It was the most deplorable thing I had ever done. She was devastated; I totally broke her heart.
My sister was getting married that summer and she already told me I should not bring Jen to the wedding caused my ex-girlfriend was going to be one of the bridesmaids. I did anyway. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have done that. I totally humiliated her in front of all the people who knew both of us. Jen and I didn’t last, before the end of the year, she broke up with me and moved to New York to pursue her acting career.
I didn’t see her for a long time after my sister’s wedding. I heard quite a lot about her though; our sisters were still best friends. I knew that after she got her MBA, she started working for this big multinational company in Calgary and was climbing up the corporate ladder very quickly. She got married about 6 years ago and of course I wasn’t invited to the wedding. The last time I saw her was at my sister’s house just before Christmas 2 years ago. It was my little niece’s 5th birthday. I happened to be home that year for Christmas. She was also visiting her family back home. She came with her husband and their baby girl who was just about 2 years old. I didn’t know whether her husband knew who I was but they were both very polite with me throughout the day. She also gave me a business card; by that time she was already the director of her department.
*********
(to be continued.......)
