A Special Person

Diane: We met online. I hate that. It feels so foreign. Life is supposed to happen around you, not on a screen. But that’s the new thing now. People don’t just meet people in person anymore. So, we met on a dating app. She seemed really nice and we hit it off. That doesn’t happen often for me. In college I used to hit it off with everyone, but not so much anymore. So, I got excited for the first time about a girl in at least a year.

Amy: I had been using dating apps for years. I was a pro. I could tell if I wanted to swipe right or left on a girl in under a second. It was usually for hook ups. Dates were fine, but I had a bad experience with relationships a while back, so I decided to just use it for fun. Somehow, Diane seemed different. It took me longer to swipe right. She had this picture of her laughing and I hadn’t even heard her laugh yet, but she just looked so happy. I knew that it was smile that I would want to experience over and over again. I got lost in it. But I snapped myself out of it and swiped right, not even expecting her to match with me. She seemed too perfect to ever want me.

Diane: We were only messaging for one night when she told me she wanted to go on a date with me. I told her that I wasn’t sure if that was the best thing because I didn’t want to rush things, nor did I just want a hook up. Amy told me not to worry about it and that she wouldn’t even try and kiss me. So I said yes.

Amy: I asked her out to this little Italian place down town. They knew me there. I usually took my dates there. It was comfortable. I could be myself there.

Diane: She wanted to take me out to eat at an Italian restaurant. That felt a little formal to me plus, I didn’t like Italian food. I know, I know, how can I not like Italian food?

Amy: She didn’t like Italian food. This ruined everything. Most of my moves were wrapped around the idea of being an amazing Italian cook and the wine at the restaurant. I was at a loss and honestly I didn’t respond back to that.

Diane: Amy didn’t respond back for the rest of the night and that scared me. And being scared about a girl I barely knew not responding to me pissed me off. So I told her exactly what we were going to do. I knew a place. It’s right along the water. They are a BYOB and I had a large wine collection. I told her that I would bring the drinks and to meet me there with the time and day set. She responded yes almost immediately.

Amy: She took charge. I was at a loss and she just took over. I knew that Diane was a woman and I needed in my life. Damn, I knew that just needed to hear her laugh and I would be hooked forever.

Diane: The day of the date came and I was dressed an hour early. However, I had no clue what wine to bring. I had too much to choose from and every bottle said something different. The worst part was that I didn’t even know if Amy liked red or white. We were going to a place by the water, so white because we’re most likely to eat fish. But I hate fish and I do not want to drink white unless it is the middle of the day and I want to be silly wine drunk. So I wanted to go with my gut and say red. But which one? Should I choose an Italian because she liked Italian food? Or does that make me look like hypocrite because I said I do not like Italian food? Should I choose something bold like a Cabernet even though fish is on the table? There were too many choices and I didn’t know what to do. The time was growing nearer for me to leave and I decided to grab two bottles of a Merlot because that seemed the most simple. But on the way there, I realized that there was a movie that talked badly about Merlot, and what if she hated Merlot because of it. Confidence, I told myself. If Amy didn’t like your wine choice, she can figure something else out. Confidence.

Amy: I left late. I could not figure out what to wear. I had never been to this “place on the water” and I didn’t know if I would get cold if the breeze picked up. If that was the case, I would need to choose an outfit that went with a jacket. But if I got too warm and wanted to take the jacket off, it could not be only about the jacket. I pulled out everything I owned and probably tried on 30 different outfits before I went with a dress and a jean jacket. Simple and sweet. That was what I was going for. After knowing I was already going to be ten minutes late, I sent Diane a text apologizing, threw on my favorite combat boots and walked out my door.

Diane: I arrived at the restaurant when I got Amy’s text. I arrived on time and we had a few minutes to wait for our reservation. Plus it gave me time to prepare myself for Amy to walk in. She looked so pretty in her pictures and I wanted to compose myself instead of just jumping into it.

Amy: I finally got out of my car at the restaurant and I saw, standing outside the door, the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen. She looked better than her pictures. I didn’t know how she did it, but it was effortless. Standing in the wind by the door was Amy. I knew I wanted to hear her laugh before, but now I needed everything from her. I was too excited and blown away by her radiance to be nervous. Her gravity was pulling me towards her and I was not looking back.

Diane: Amy arrived and all of my senses were ruined. Every bit of confidence that I had, was now gone and all I felt were nerves. Amy is a gorgeous woman. I could see that from her pictures, but in person was something more.

She walked up to me and officially introduced herself and we walked into the restaurant. We sat outside by the water, like I had requested, and our waiter came over to uncork our bottle of wine. He poured us each a glass and I looked at her nervously. “I hope you like Merlot,” I put on an anxious smile. Amy just looked at me and smiled herself. “Don’t worry, I won’t walk out just because of a drink. Sideways is a good movie and all but I like to decide myself if I like a drink or not. That being said, I honestly love Merlot.” And smiled so big I could not contain myself. I smiled bigger as well and laughed an anxious laugh.

Amy: Diane laughed anxiously. I could tell it was anxiety. All I wanted was to hear her laugh for real.

Diane: The date was going really well. We both were a little uncomfortable, but it was not in a bad way. We just didn’t know each other, yet. I think we both agree that there was one specific moment when we knew it would work out, though.

Amy: Everything was going fine. It was a good first date. But, the best part, the part that finally made it the perfect date, was this one simple moment.

I was telling her about my younger brother and his daughter’s fifth birthday party. It had been the week before and we were talking about our family. It was a regular sweet story about family, and then I got to the part about my niece telling me a joke. It went, “What did the top stair say to the bottom stair? Sup.” At this Diane giggled. It was heaven to my ears. The joke continues, “What did the bottom stair say to the top stair? Don’t you dare look down on me!” Diane kept giggling. The joke finishes, “And then what did the middle stair say? Hey guys! Don’t put me in the middle of this!” Then for some reason Diane’s giggles grew a little more and she snorted. I honestly believe that this was the moment I fell in love.

And I have not stopped loving her and the way she laughs.

Diane: I hate my snorts. They are so embarrassing, but Amy loves them.

The date ended rather normally. We walked out the door and I walked her to her car. I kissed her. It was the best first kiss I have ever had, actually. And we have been together ever since.

Amy: I don’t think there is anything special about how we got together. Our first date was nothing special. At all. But it still is the best date I had ever been on, my official dream date. And the reason is because of Diane. All you need is a special person to make it special. That’s the dream and I am still living it.