I usually get home from work before Tina so I had plenty of time to get ready. Of course once I was ready I had to kill a little time until she got home. Once I heard the garage door start to open I took one last look at myself in the bathroom mirror, straightened my tie and then headed down the stairs.

I couldn’t have asked for a better set up. Tina was at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me as I came down. She took in the suit and tie and said:

“I didn’t know we were going out tonight.”

“We aren’t.”

“If we aren’t going out why are you dressed up?”

“Because I’m going out.”

“What’s going on here Billy?”

“I have a date. I’d love to chat, but I’m running late. I’m not sure what time I’ll be home so don’t wait up.”

“You have a date? With who?”

By then I was at the front door and as I opened it I heard “Just a god damned minute William! We have to ta...” and I went out and closed the door before I could hear the rest of what she said. Fortunately Silverado extended cab truck wouldn’t fit in the garage which cut down on the time she could get to me. Also I guess the shock of things caught her off guard enough to slow her down some as I was already in the truck with the motor running by the time she came out the door yelling:

“God damn it Billy; get your ass back here!”

I just smile as I backed down the drive, turned left and pointed the truck toward the condo where my date for the evening lived. I guess a little back story here is in order.

I met Tina Marie Clauson during my senior year at Metro State. I was a Business Management major and the class was Management Decision Analysis. The class was full and the only empty seat was next to me. The instructor walked in followed by a girl who headed for the only empty seat.

I know that most people (ones that I knew anyway) think that love at first sight is just a figure of speech and there ain’t no such animal, but my first look at the girl had me thinking “She’s the one.” I hadn’t even spoken my first word to her and I was already wondering if I had enough money to get her an engagement ring.

She sat down, looked at me and said “Good morning.” It is now I thought, but before I could reply Bivens called the class to order. I don’t think I heard half of what he said during that class because the raven haired beauty sitting next to me had almost all of my attention.

When the class let out I was right behind the girl and from Bivens rollcall I knew her name was Tina. Once out in the hall I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention and when she turned to me I said:

“Hi. I’m Bill Dalton. I know this should take place under more romantic circumstances, but I don’t want to waste a lot of time. Will you marry me?”

She laughed and said “I don’t know yet if I will or if I won’t, but I might, just might mind you, agree to a date if properly asked.”

“Are you free this evening?”

“It just so happens that I am.”

“Would you like to have dinner with me this evening?”

“I think that I’d like that.”

We found out we both had classes that let out at eleven forty-five and we agreed to meet in the student cafeteria for lunch. Over lunch I found out the reason I’d never seen her before on campus was she had gone to a community college and this was her first term at Metro. We swapped information and I found out she was an only child and both of her parents worked. She was an Accounting major and her goal was to become a CPA, her favorite color was blue and she liked almost all music except rap noise. She refused to call it music.

She found out I was also an only child and a Business Management major to prepare me for taking over the family business when my father finally decided to retire. I had no color preference and I agreed with her about rap. We arranged for me to pick her up at six and then we headed off to our afternoon classes.

Our date went well although she did laugh at me a lot. Mostly I suppose because she wasn’t taking me serious when I asked the size of her finger and what she would like in the way of an engagement ring. I asked what she would like in the way of a wedding and did we have to wait until after we both graduated to tie the knot.

As I drove her home I told her I was dead serious. “When I first saw you I knew without a doubt that you are the one I’m supposed to be with. Face it; the fates, karma or whoever is in charge saw to it that you would take the same class I was taking and that the only empty chair in the room would be next to me. We are meant to be and you need to accept it.”

“You are being silly. We hardly know each other.”

“That’s why we need to keep dating so you can learn all there is to know about me. I’ve already told my parents that I’ve met their future daughter in law and they can’t wait to meet you. How about we have dinner with them this coming Friday?”

“I don’t think so. You are moving a little too fast for me.”

“That’s because I know we are meant to be and I want to get on with our lives together.”

“Well you might be sure, but I’m not and until I get to know you one hell of a lot better I’m not committing to anything. You are cute and I like your going after what you want attitude, but I’m not a rush into it sort of person. I’m going to want to see what else is out there before making any major decisions.”

I was unhappy at hearing that, but I knew, just absolutely knew that we were meant to be so I was going to hang in there.

Over the next three months maybe every third time I would ask Tina out she told me sorry, but she already had a date for that day or evening. As the Christmas holidays approached I decided to drop things where Tina was concerned until after the first of the year. I hadn’t lost interest, it was more along the lines of self-preservation. I knew Tina dated other guys, but I’d never seen her with another guy and I damned sure didn’t want to.

My thinking was that if I asked her to go to say Joe’s party with me and she said that she already had a date for that night I could go to the party stag, but she would avoid the party knowing I’d be there. Was that an example of fuzzy thinking? Hell no, that was an example of stupid thinking. Like she wouldn’t go to the party anyway A college student with a 3.78 GPA and I was that stupid?

There was a party at my fraternity house and I asked Tina to go with me and she told me she already had a date for that night. I went stag and forty minutes into the party Tina came in with Jake Cohorn. It was bad enough seeing her on the arm of someone else, but Jake Cohorn? You could not find a more obnoxious asshole if you searched the whole world over. I couldn’t take it. I had to leave five minutes after they got there. I saw Tina looking at me as I left. I decided to just skip all of the holiday parties for the rest of the year.

That didn’t work out either.

My Uncle Paul and Aunt Peggy came to visit and they had my cousin Rachel with them. I got talked into taking Rachel to a party at my frat house. I didn’t want to; I really, really didn’t want to, but how are you supposed to resist the pressure put on you by your mom and dad and your aunt and uncle?

On the way to the party Rachel asked me why I was so reluctant. “Are you ashamed to be seen with me?”

“Good Lord no. You are seriously hot and you know it.”

Then I told her what the situation was.

“So if she’s there point her out to me. She doesn’t know I’m your cousin so I’ll hang all over you and see if we can’t make her jealous.”

“I doubt she’ll even give a damn.”

“Won’t hurt to try.”

Wouldn’t you just know it? Not only was Tina at the party, but she was looking straight at us as we walked into the room. Rachel heard my sharp intake of breath and she figured it out.

“Where is she?”

“Straight ahead, next to the wall in the blue dress.”

Rachel looked at me and gave me a dazzling smile and tightened her grip on my arm. Ignoring Tina I introduced Rachel to my frat brothers and their dates. Maybe twenty minutes after we arrived Tina came up to us and said:

“Hi Bill; introduce me to your friend.”

I introduced them to each other and then Tina stunned me when she asked Rachel “Are you trying to steal my man?”

Rachel laughed and said “If he was your man honey he would be here with you instead of me. Come on sweetie; show me around” and she pulled us away from Tina.

It was a fun party and we had a good time. Rachel attracted a lot of attention. A few of my frat brothers, knowing of the way I felt about Tina, asked me if I had anything going with Rachel and I told them no and that she was just a date for the party. In effect what I did was give them permission to ask her out.

Just before we left I had to go to the bathroom and when I came out I found Tina waiting for me.

“I meant it you know.”

“Meant what?”

“That you are my man. If you had asked me I would be at this party with you.”

“I didn’t ask you because the last three times I asked you out you turned me down because you already had a date. I got tired of hearing no so I’ve stopped asking. Excuse me, but I need to go find my date” and I walked away from her.

On the way home Rachel said “Your frat brothers are a bunch of back stabbing assholes.”

“Why is that?”

“Even though I was your date they kept hitting on me.”

“They aren’t assholes. They know how hung up I am on Tina and they asked me if I had anything going with you and when I said no they asked me if I would mind if they tried their luck and I told them to have at it.”

“I wish I would have known that. There are a couple I would have said yes to.”

I hung a U-turn and she asked me what I was doing. “Getting you back to the party to see if those couple are still there.”

Once there I turned her loose and went down to the game room and played pool until she came and got me and said she was ready to go (one of those she would have said yes to was Ed Catron and they ended up getting married).

The next morning I got a call from Tina asking me if I would meet her for lunch at the Village Inn. Curiosity made me say yes. She was already there and seated in a booth when I arrived. I took the seat across from her and before I could say a word Tina said:

“I know what I want for Christmas.”

“What?”

“An engagement ring. You once asked me what my ring size was. I don’t know, but when we leave here we can Go to Zales and find out.”

“Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why the sudden change?”

“I’ve dated enough guys to be able to compare and you come out on top.”

“Seriously?”

“That and the stunt you pulled with your cousin woke me up to the fact that I might lose you to someone else.”

“How did you know she was my cousin?”

“She told me.”

“She told you? How did that come about?

“She noticed me casting nervous glances your way and figured that I was upset seeing you there with her so she came up to me and told me not to worry, that she was your cousin and not someone trying to steal my man.”

“Just to clear things up it was not a stunt I pulled” and I explained my reluctance to even go to the party because I might see her there with a date and how everybody pushed me into taking Rachel to the party.