The Cup that Repeats on You

Hello! It’s the History Man here. The picnic at the mansion guy. The one who thought taking an Italian girl to an Italian restaurant in a shopping center would be acceptable. The one who dropped the ball and let a good girl get away. The one who, like Kim, still believes in love.

I believe in second chances, happy endings, living happily ever after, that sort of thing. I do. I like when things work out, good people come back in your life, or life takes an unexpectedly pleasant turn. Maybe I’ve seen too many 1950’s romantic comedies. Maybe I listen to the Sirius love channel too much. Life truly is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when trolling through the usual profiles on OkCupid when I find……wait. Is it her? The only girl who ever held the car door open for me? The girl I kissed on the boardwalk over Ralph’s Ices? The girl I dropped the ball with? Let’s peek. She looks as beautiful as I remember. Hopefully she won’t send me an angry message, not that I don’t deserve it. After all, I screwed up not once, but twice. Disappeared without so much as an explanation. Can’t say I’m proud of my behavior, but I have learned so much about myself since then and have really grown as a person. Cool! She peeked back. We start talking again, and that “zing” that was there last year hasn’t left at all.

We agree to meet on Thursday night at the same Greek place we met last year. After a crazy day at work, I ask if we can meet at the location closer to where I live. Not all that gentlemanly (I know) but of all people in this universe, I knew she’d understand. I’m not just saying this, but Kim really does have compassion, a heart, and a soul like no one I’ve ever met before. She just has this way about her that is so damn appealing. I get ready - favorite shirt, favorite date jeans (yes, I do have a pair of those, don’t laugh), date shoes (no, I’m not breaking any dating fashion trends), trusty old black leather jacket that I think gives me an edge but probably makes me look creepy. I’m all set.

Am I really seeing her again? Wow. Butterflies, how’ve you been?

She gets out of the car, and it’s a total shock: Radically different hair. What was bleach blonde and all the way down her back is now sleek golden brown and up to her ears! It becomes her somehow, it seems to make her even freer, more liberated, as if a weight has (literally and figuratively) been lifted from her. I tend to change after a big breakup, I grow a beard, shave the beard, rearrange the furniture, make a big purchase, that sort of thing.

OK, ok…..stop rambling about hair….how did the date go? Actually, as amazing as I thought it would be. Stop rolling your eyes, I mean it. I’m funny, she’s laughing, the chemistry is still there, and the food is still good. I made her a cd (yes a cd) of break up songs. She comments that I seem more confident, and there is a gleam in her eye (I hope it was a gleam and not an eyelash). We catch up, flirt like hell (man I love that), and it in many ways felt as if no time has passed since our last date the year before. You know the one? Where I made her try Red Mango and she almost puked?

Of course, the 800 pound gorilla was in the room, so I did ask about…..him. Chip? Kip? Kit? Why is he nicknamed after the Knight Rider car? As you all know from my e-mail, something similar happened to me when I was engaged an eternity ago, so when I said my heart went out to her…….I meant it. It did, it does, in every possible way. As she filled me in on Knight Rider car boy, the sordid details, what happened in the end, two things occurred to me: 1) she dodged the biggest bullet one could possibly dodge. How dumb could this guy be? 2) Kim is a uniquely genuine soul. I’d KILL for a girlfriend as good as she was to him. I really would. It’s what I’ve been looking for my whole entire life! (And yes, could have had with her last year had I not been an idiot, but I’m here with her now aren’t I?)

Many people claim to be the ultimate catch, right? The ultimate boyfriend, the ultimate girlfriend. Few actually come through on such lofty promises. Kim does. It’s as simple as that. What have I learned from my missteps last year? That I am not going to let such an amazing girl get away again. No fucking way.

Just like that, the date is over and I walk her to her car. Hmmm…..should I kiss her? I kind of want to. I kind of really want to. She did say she doesn’t kiss on the first date, but technically speaking this isn’t really a first date, it’s kind of like the fifth, just with a year and a half in between. Right? Can I not count the other dates; do those kind of things expire, like gift cards? I decide to be respectful, Kim is just not any other date, or cup, or anything like that. She’s worth waiting for and I have the feeling that the third time might just be the charm with us.

Guest blogged by Dan (#61 / 94)