It was just a regular day at work. It had to be a little after four because some stragglers were left on from the morning. I walked up the steps toward the host stand, locked eyes with Him and said "Hey." And that was the first time I saw him. It was just a day like any other day. But one day can change everything.
I asked my friend who he was. A lot of cute guys had worked there and come and gone. A lot of cute guys still work there but to me, he was the cutest. For the purposes of this story his name is Tyler.
I though about him every now and then. He was really cute. I added him on facebook and determined from pictures he was even cuter than I had originally determined. And when I saw that he liked Colorado and hiked in Colorado the wheels in my head started turning. With my parents currently in the process of buying property in Colorado My heart is set on raising my kids in Colorado bike riding and going to art muesumes and climbing mountains. So once I saw his Colorado albums on facebook I had dreamy eyes.
I confessed my from a far crush to my friend Kaylee. She's been in a slightly stable slightly unstable relationship for almost a year and I trust her judgement. She has big brown eyes and even bigger heart and doesn't keep her opinions to herself. When something is fucked up, she tells people it's fucked up. She doesn't sit at home and ask herself why does bad stuff always happens to me? If someone screws her over or is acting out of line she calls them out and puts them in a place. In a world where things are increasing sugar coated and people put up with way to much I am glad I have a friend who has a zero bullshit tolerance. Some would call her a bitch. I call her my best friend.
I admit when it comes to guys I have a blind spot. I really think all girls do, few will own up to it. I admit I have been with four losers (four losers too many.) I overlook the bad sometimes, and Kaylele is not afraid to get in my face and set me straight so I knew if this was going to work, if I just wanted a prayer of this happening, I needer her blessing. So I pumped her for information about him and asked for her opinion. And of course she told me what she thought.
She told me a story Tyler had told. He had a band aid on his hand and she asked him how he got it. He told her he had chased after a shopping cart to save a little girl it was aiming at and in the process got hit by a car. This was of course a tall tail, me with dreamy eyes for looks and love for Colorado, couldn't even recognize that this was something he made up. She told me she'd help push things along when the time came but I had to get something started with me and him on my own. She also said he was a really nice guy. A good guy. The kind of guy any girl would be lucky to date. He didn't have a girlfriend either.
I worked my first shift ever with him the first Saturday of 2013. He came up to the host stand and I pretended like I thought his name was Sunny. Sunny was this 55 year old server. She wore pink lipstick and glasses and took twenty mins to get drinks on a table. She always had her nails painted and talked softly like she was reading a bed time story. She moved slowly and jerkly. The resturant was a ballet and she was never doing the correct step. She always had panty lines. She had to hike her pants up high because she was a little chunky in the middle. She looked as though she'd work at Denny's or a dinner. Whenever I saw her I thought about waffles and apple pie. So needless to say when I asked him if he was Sunny he chuckled and mumbled no "I'm not Sunny."I informed that someone was sick his section was changing. I sent someone to ask if he could handle a ten top. Run of the mill server host talk.
Meanwhile during the shift Chris texted me to ask if I could I take her hosting shift that night because she wanted to take Tyler's food running shift. When he came by the host stand I asked him about. He said he really didn't mind working he got paid $40 dollars to pick up. The shift went on and he stopped by my host stand as he was leaving.
He asked me about that host shift. He'd had a change of heart, his high school friends whom he referred to as alcoholics were at a bar by work and after a few drinks he wasn't going to want to come back. I wavered I said I didn't know I wanted to go out that night. He said well if you want to go out you should come to a party with me. I asked him how was I going to know about it since one of us wasn't coming back to work. He asked for my phone and put his number in it. I made sure to ask him "It's tyler right" and he shook my hand and I said have fun and he laughed and asked my name. I said it's Emily.
My manager begged me to work that night. I obliged. I held off texting him. He was brining food to a table I turned around and his face lit up. He asked me what I was doing there. I told him they made me work. His face lit up, his eyebrows jumped up and his eyes glistend. I smiled my cheesy smile and my stomach was full of butterflies. We made the occasional eye contact the rest of the night and he always smiled back. When in the kitchen he made flirty comments about me sneaking up on him. Before I left he made a point to come up to me and talk to me about the party and he locked eyes with me and said Text Me.
I texted him when I got home. We ended up not going to the party he got of work really late but at least
he texted me telling me he wasn't going and he used an unsure smiley face about not going so I know he wasn't blowing me off.
I worked again him the following Saturday. 4 days ago. I couldn't help but look at with him dreamy eyes. One time he was walking by the host stand and I told myself don't look at him, don't look at him and when I was positive he was out of sight I tore myself away from the riviting menu I had seen a million times and looked up and a smile broke across my face. He looked back caught me mid smile and smiled. His whole face changed and he couldn't hold back his smile either. It was a reverse sucker punch, I was so excited my heart was racing like I was running for my life, my stomach was swimming with butterflies and the joy radiated from the smile to my eyes to the color in my skin. I was more emotionally vulnerable than a stripper on a pole or a girl who goes home with a guy from a bar to sleep him. The attraction I felt for him was alll over my face and I could never get, what I feel is pure and could never explain as throughly in words as I did in that glance.
He came up to me when I was waiting for my food. He asked me if I had to work tonight and I told him yes. We talked for a few seconds and then he said see you later and walked out the door.
He might feel the same way, he did look back at me. I do know this: No guy has ever looked at me with quite the same eagerness or anticipation. And whoever I marry I want them to look at me like that for the rest of my life. Like he can't wait to talk to me, be near me, just be with me. I could brighten up his day by just being me and just standing there.
I don't know where this will lead. I do think there is a chance something might happen. I work with him tomorrow. He has control of the football, will he run a trick play or simply run the ball? I will try not to look at him all the time and be such a dead giveaway.
Whatever I am instore for tomorrow will happen and one day I'll look back and it will all make sense. Until then, I will relish in the butterflies, enjoy the heart pounding, and not be afraid to hope.
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