The Right Guy at the Worst Possible Time, Part II
Romantic Soliloquies: “Lessons of Love and Relationships”
Continued from The Right Guy at the Worst Possible Time, part I.
He uses words like “super” and “likewise” that makes me giggle. I remember thinking:
“Who uses words like that anymore?”
The Beginning
Charlie and I clicked immediately. Our instant chemistry was intense. We bonded over a mutual love of psychological thrillers, well, movies in general. It was almost a game of who could keep their hands off the other longer whenever we would go to the video rental. We decided it was because of the anticipation for what ‘was to come’ once we finally got home. More often than not, the movie wouldn’t be half way through before we would find ourselves horizontal in heavy kissing and wandering hands.
We were inseparable! Everyone who saw us together said we were the picture of “True Love” or at least to my Aunt we were.
He used to write me letters of song lyrics from his favorite heavy metal bands and serenade me various songs from the radio during every car ride.
He taught me all about football too. He was a die hard Bills fan! He had a thing about rooting for the underdog. When we watched together, at the beginning of each game I would guess which team would win. By the end of my first season he was so impressed with me that somehow I was only wrong three times! He adored me for loving something that he loved.
He let me paint one of his finger nails once. He had stopped by for a bit before his shift at work, and I was painting my nails on the kitchen island. It was a nice lavender shade that he let me put a single thin coat on his pointer finger — he even let me take a picture for posterity! Later he said:
“The guys would not stop teasing me at work!”
It was so refreshing
For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was myself again. Charlie knew how to make me laugh if I was having a bad day. He knew just how to tickle me when he noticed I was in my head. He knew how to send tingles down my side when he kissed that perfect spot on the nape of my neck. He was so patient and gentle with me after I explained to him what had happened with my HSH.
When we were finally… together… It was the purest form of intimacy that I had ever experienced (in my extremely limited experience).
I don’t remember the first time we said “I love you”, but I remember the build up to it. And once we said it, it was like the most natural thing. He would pull me in close against his chest to dance in the light of the open kitchen. We would slide around on the linoleum to our song: Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be”… It was the last line of the chorus that both spoke to us:
“I’ll be the greatest fan of your life.”
Looking back, everything about us was so cliché. But I loved every minute!
The Plot Twist
Not even two weeks into our relationship, Charlie’s mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. She was gone three months later.
I watched from a front row seat while his world was turned upside down. I was devastated for him and his family. I was devastated for his withering mother, who had insisted I call her “mom” when I first met her. I was so in love with Charlie and his family that I felt the pain of loosing her as my own.
I tried not to push him to talk about his feelings because I knew he needed time to process. Charlie was an affectionate guy, but he had difficulty expressing himself sometimes in words. Especially when it came to his emotions. Since we started dating he made it a point to mention that he sometimes had to have his alone time. I understood and respected that. So I tried to give him the space so he would want to come to me when he was ready to talk.
The funeral for Charlie’s mom was a beautiful ceremony, so many people who had loved his mom came to pay their respects. It was breathtaking to me to watch so many people flood in who had the fondest memories of her and of this family. I remember driving to her ‘Celebration of Life’ afterwards and that was the first time I wanted to say:
“I love you!”
And the moment I knew I wanted to be apart of his family forever.
Another Plot Twist
It was Father’s Day. A few months after Charlie’s mother’s passing… He went to the mailbox and there was one piece of mail particularly interesting. It had no stamp or return address, so he figured someone had personally dropped it in his box. It was a Father’s Day card. His own high school hottie had dropped off a Father’s Day card for him.
Charlie had told me about her before. He told me that she had gotten pregnant right after they broke up. Word on the street though it could have been any number of guys’ kid though. He said that he had tried to get paternity as soon as he knew she was pregnant, but she had always been the one to refuse. She was married shortly after the baby was born, so he didn’t think to push the issue any further.
A few days after the card had arrived, he was served with a court summons for paternity testing.
Getting ready for court was incredibly scary. I could tell Charlie was nervous. I was trying to hold myself together and be strong for him; but I was really freaking out on the inside.
As we stepped into the court room, I caught a glimpse of the little girl and knew instantly — she was without a doubt Charlie’s daughter.
Charlie’s ex girlfriend could have been very pretty. A few inches taller than me, she had brown hair and brown eyes. She had a quintessential female hourglass figure even after having a baby. Her personality was what, in my opinion, made her quite unattractive though.
The three of us and the girl were waiting for the elevator to take us to the lab for Charlie to be swabbed. While we waited, the way she blushed staring at him(unacknowledging my presence completely) was like this had been her plan all along. He was polite though to keep things civil while ignoring her blatant, inappropriate flirting. He was trying to be respectful of me as well as the young child among us.
Charlie and I were both silent on the drive back home. Neither of us knew what to say.
… to be continued.
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This is an anonymous blog, personal details have been changed to protect the author and participating parties’ privacy…
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