(You know how I usually like to warn you when posts are a bit lengthy?! Here is your warning, but I promise you this is also very entertaining!)
It was Saturday night - March 23, 2008. I was out at Dave and Buster’s in Bethesda, MD with a girlfriend from work and two of her friends. My other co-worker, Patrick, was out with one of his friends who was in town at Ned Devine’s in Herndon, VA. We decided to join parties since I lived in Reston, VA and would be headed back that way anyway. I, in my sober state, met up with Patrick and a few of his friends, in their non-sober state. It was 1:15 am on Sunday morning.
One of those said friends was Brian Hendricks.
I had heard about the infamous Brian through quick blurbs from Patrick at work. I knew that he lived in Scotland (Patrick and his wife Becky went to visit him, so I heard about the trip) and I knew that he had moved back to the states (meaning Columbus, OH, not northern VA). Other than that, I didn’t really know much about him. Brian and Patrick had been texted me all night to get me to meet up with them. (Thanks to Patrick for handing out my digits, oh, so easily, to Brian.) Brian had “extended the truth” all night with some of his texts, claiming he was "in town from Scotland", but I was quick to call him out, so he knew from the get go that I was not to be messed with.
Because it was so late in the night, and I was the only one in any state to drive, Patrick asked me if I would be willing to drive he and Brian back to Patrick’s, where Brian was staying the night. I was willing.
On our way out of the door, Patrick whispered to me nonchalantly, “My friend wants to get with you.”
This is almost where our story ended.
I rolled my eyes, thinking to myself, “Who does this Brian character think he is? He thinks can just roll into any town and get with whoever he wants to?” He was about to get a rude awakening if he was even thinking about putting the moves on me.
I dropped Patrick and Brian off and was invited in for a beer. Once again, since it was Saturday night , and since I had been out but not drinking…I was willing.
I went inside. We all headed to Patrick’s basement so as not to wake Patrick’s wife and his three month old baby, Noah, and we all cracked open a beer.
Two minutes later, Patrick went to bed claiming he was “tired”. I thought this was some sort of set up, and I was not pleased.
There were two couches in Patrick’s basement that formed an ‘L’. Brian sat down on one. I sat on the furthest away point on the other couch. You literally could not have sat on the other couch and been further away...
...We stayed up for hours and talked and talked and laughed and talked into the wee hours of the morn. And he didn't put any moves on me!
At one point, I started getting a bit chilly. Brian grabbed a blanket and walked over to me. That was my queue to high tail it outta there. Since we both already had each others digits from texting the night before, we said our goodbyes and nice to meet yous and hope to see you soons and let's keep in touches and went to our separate beds. I want to say it was 6:30 or so in the morning... It was Easter morning.
I learned that Brian was in town for four more days after the night that we met. Brian suggested that we try to meet up again (as friends, of course) while he was in town, but I had a little clearing up to do with Patrick before I agreed to such a thing. Even though Brian had pretty much proven to me that he was not out to just get in my pants, I still wanted to make sure that there was nothing even remotely said similar to what Patrick had told me.
I got my answer at work on Tuesday. Patrick apologized and said that Brian would never say such a thing. I was still a bit leary, wondering if this was still part of the guy code that I, obviously, was not privy to. I decided to go with my gut and trust Brian (and Patrick), and Brian and I decided to meet up again at the Harp & Fiddle in Bethesda, MD.
Once again, we talked and laughed and drank and talked. We also pulled a fast one on Patrick for nearly ruining the entire relationship from the get go. (Everything was done in good fun though!) We had yet another fantastic time together, but in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but remind myself that he was going back to Ohio, and I was staying here in northern Virginia.
We decided to keep in touch. Over the next couple of months we talked on the phone, we emailed, and we texted back and forth. That was until the beginning of May where Brian decided to come into town for Patrick and Becky's annual flip cup party. (I would later find out that the main reason he came into town was to see me, but for now I believed he was there to prove his master flip cup skills!)
We set a date - our first date - on the Friday night before the party. It was May 2, and I was very excited to see Brian. Brian was very excited to see me and, boy, did he pull out all of the stops: he brought flowers, a t-shirt for our flip cup team, and a bottle of Dom Perignon that he had been given! It was fun for both of us! We shared some champagne and had a fancy dinner at McCormick & Schmick's at Reston Town Center.
And this is where our adventure really started!
We made it official the weekend of May 16th, my first weekend visit to Ohio. It was then that I started looking for jobs in Ohio. It would be nearly a year later that I would officially receive an offer to move, but we made sure to get together as much as possible within those 12 months.
Believe it or not, we didn't drive to see each other once. We always worked out a way to fly so we could always spend as much time as possible together! It was always hard to say goodbye, but we made it work and I believe it made us stronger, brought us closer, and helped us cherish those special times that we were together.
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| First Comes Love: 14 months of dating! |
We dated for 14 months...and then we went to Jamaica! ... :)
