[The story of my Psycho Ex-, Part #1]
And now the news. The VERY latest news is that I think I have fallen in Love again! Here’s how it happened…
The week after I got back from Australia, I received a phone call from Fred, a friend of mine from high school and college. I hadn’t seen Fred in about 8 years, so the phone call sort of came out of the blue. He wanted to know what I was up to, and when I was planning to go home next. (My parents live in Belleville, about 200 km east of Toronto.)
The Victoria Day long weekend was coming up, so I told Fred I would be home then. “Good,” he said. “We’re taking you out for dinner Saturday night.” The we referred to Fred, his girlfriend, and a date for me. I wasn’t really looking forward to the date, because I knew what Fred’s taste in women was like, and it wasn’t the greatest.
Well, Saturday night came around. They picked me up at my parents’ place at about 5 o’clock, and we went out to dinner. Fred’s girlfriend, Terry, was driving. As I got into the car, I was introduced to “Mel”, my date for the evening, sitting in the back seat. Both of them were smoking. Strike one against her!
Part way through dinner, it was explained to me that Fred had to go to work at 7 o’clock. That meant I was going out for drinks with Terry and Mel. Once we dropped Fred off, we went to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. When we finished our ice cream– Terry was licking and sucking her cone suggestively– we stopped in at Cheers (which used to be Zack’s) so Mel could use the washroom.
Nothing was happening there, so we got back in the car and went to O’Toole’s. Mel wasn’t too keen on going there, mainly because she expected her ex-boyfriend to be there.
But we went anyway, and had some beer, and got to know each other better. Mel and I were sitting beside each other in a booth near the washrooms, and Terry was sitting in a chair across from us. I soon found out that Mel has three tattoos. I can’t stand tattoos! Strike two against her!
Terry kept teasing us and coaxing us into something, saying that we were expected to use the spare bedroom at her place later. Mel and I started touching, and holding hands under the table. Then Terry got up to go to the washroom. “I want to see you kissing by the time I get back.” We didn’t. So when Terry came back, she stood behind us (there was an aisle behind out seats) and said, “I don’t see anything…!” So Mel and I looked at each other, and then kissed. Our first kiss!
She denies it now, but the way they were talking, even though we had just met, Mel and I were already married with a daughter on the way.
Later that weekend, on the Holiday Monday, I went over to Terry’s to see Mel again. At one point, Mel and I were sitting on the couch making goo-goo eyes and kissy-faces at each other. Terry was getting sick watching us, so at her insistence, we went upstairs to the spare bedroom so we could be alone, and we had our first really passionate kissing session!
Jamie, a long-time friend of mine from Belleville, was shocked that Mel and I were already kissing! So was I, but that’s one of the things that makes this an interesting experience. In spite of all the strikes against her (her four-year-old son was Number Three!), I still found myself wanting to spend time with her.
Mel said I was the first man ever who was able to make her blush. I could even do it to her over the phone, and could tell by the sound of her voice that her face was turning beet red.
In July, Mel moved from Belleville to Burlington. It was still a Long Distance Romance, but not quite as long. Still, we took things slowly, mainly because we were both amazed that this was a blind date that worked, and we wanted this relationship to work out in the long term.
It wasn’t easy, and certain external forces seemed to be conspiring against us. Our relationship got put “on hold” on November 26th. The last time I saw her was for Christmas on December 26th. And the last time I spoke to her was January 26th. The sound of her voice made me feel the blush had gone out of our romance.
When I tried calling her on February 26th, I found out that her phone number had been changed to an unlisted number. (I don’t feel so bad, because later that night, I found out that Terry and Fred don’t have the new number either.)
Mel’s the type of person who tends to keep her troubles to herself and try to fight the world on her own. She can do it, too, but it’s very frustrating trying to communicate with her. No one seems to know exactly why we broke up, but everyone seems to think it’s a shame.
We’ll have to see how things go from here…
(reprinted from The Jourardian, Volume 9, Number 2, FEBRUARY 1994)
