Six + Nine More = Fifteen Years Ago

Near the end of my senior year in high school, I got a job at Subway near campus. It was evident that the guy who managed the place, a BYU co-ed, only hired girls and then would try to date them. David knew that this place was always staffed with young eligible females, none too ugly, because his ex-girlfriend Zeebo had worked there before I did.


The first time I saw David was when he came in (to check out girls and to eat) and I was the one making his sub. The way he leaned over the high counter and smiled down to me was more than just praise for my artistic sandwich skills.


My first impression of him was 1.) tall (utmost importance), 2.) kind of wild (why are you staring at me?), and 3.) nice eyes, nice lips. He sat down to eat and I ran upstairs to change out of my uniform since it was the end of my shift. I hurried, wanting him to still be there.


I noticed that he was watching me as I stood by some windows waiting for my ride. The windows were kind of like a mirror so I stared at him staring at me. When my ride pulled up, I ran out and he went to the window to see who picked me up. He was pleased that it was my mom and not a boyfriend type.



The next time he came into the shop, I quickly went back behind the counter where he couldn't see me. I was too shy and not at all good with flirting. My co-worker came and told me that there's was a guy out there who wanted to talk to me.


I stayed back there pretending to work until after the third or forth encouragement to go talk to him. I finally peaked around and said hi and we made an awkward attempt at conversation that sounded like: Oh, you're starting at BYU too? What classes are you taking? And then he asked me for my number so I wrote it on a napkin.



I had never done that before. No one had ever actually asked me for my number either. I was seventeen and though I had dated in high school, I was very inexperienced with guys that were forward like that. I had never even kissed a boy (I don't count kissing Nathan in 7th grade as kissing).



I was a little disappointed by how long it took for David to call me. And then once he did, we couldn't go out right away because I was going out of town with my family for my parent's honeymoon (because they had just remarried--long story).



While I was gone, David took the liberty to find out where I lived and hang out in the park behind my house. I think he was just anticipating my return and not being creepy.


After dinner on our first date, David came back to my house and we sat very close talking and reading poems. At the back door, saying good night, David leaned in to kiss me.



Whoa! I turned quickly and he kissed me on my cheek just above my jawline. I grasped both his arms at his elbows to keep him from leaning in again and I admitted that I had never kissed before and wanted to take it slow. He was easy going and didn't even seem to mind the thwarted kiss.





When he left, he was so ecstatic for some reason that he went cruising down University Avenue with his music blaring, singing at the top of his lungs. He tried to take off a button-up shirt he had on over his T-shirt but pulled it off behind him before he undid the buttons on the sleeves. This trapped both his arms, nearly killing himself and the convertible he had borrowed for the date.



After that first thwarted kiss, David really did take it easy and he didn't try to kiss me again for four months until I was practically begging for it. I had made a long list when I was a young called "Kaerlig's Nevers". Included on the list besides never swear, never have a boyfriend in high school, never drink, never watch R rated movies, was never kiss until I am 18. Don't ask me what possessed me to make such a list. I'm not sure. I updated my nevers every so often throughout my adolescence and I actually kept them. Weird.


That October, I turned 18 and was ready and waiting for David to lean in and kiss me again but he never tried until the end of the December. It was worth waiting for.






That is the story of how David and I met.

Happy 9th Anniversary David.