Magic In a Restaurant

When we met, I was 18, and he was 24; and if you can count, that's a 6 year difference. It was an even bigger gap because I was a freshman in college, and he had graduated from college a year ago--and is now currently traveling the world for his job.

BIG difference in lifestyle, non? At the time, he was residing in the South of Thailand, near the Island of Koh Phi Phi (The magical island featured in the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo De Caprio.) and he was in town, visiting his family for the Holidays.

I was working as a server in a small, popular restaurant in our hometown. The Last Day before I quit the job. I was tired, I was cranky, I hadn't showered yet, and I was miserable. Then he came in--this toned, tanned, beach-blonde, 5 o'clock shadow guy wearing glasses, a blue hoodie, with his pants rolled up and beach flip-flops. I thought he was SMOKIN hot, but didn't think much of it. He was a customer. And I wasn't looking.

But we started talking.

And we found out, to our surprise, that we both had a love of scuba diving. The first straw. The Bait. The Thing that got me suddenly interested in him, as a person. I hadn't known, at the time, that he lived in Thailand. I had lived in the Philippines, and Hong Kong for a few years previously, so when we found out about both the Diving, and Asia--we had this amazed, border-line, cautious look to our faces. We were intrigued, we were amazed, and we were completely drawn to the other person.

Of course, I hadn't monopolized his time. I was a server. And he was catching up with his best friend. So I kept it on strictly friendly terms. But when he came up to the counter to pay, we talked. We found out more about each other; leading to more amazed looks and a heated desire to get to know the other person. I also found out that I'm about to transfer to the same college that he graduated from, pursueing the same degree.

It blew the both of us away.

Contact information was exchanged.

It has to be known that he was leaving on New Years--which was in 3 days. And the only day available for us both was New Years Eve, at night.

So, our first date turned out to be on New Years Eve, drinking starbucks, listening to Latin Jazz, Reggae, and Dub (our notorious favorite), making out, fogging up his car--and finding out, to our amused dismay, that we might just have more things in common than we thought.

 It has been a magical affair since then; and we're booking it Long Distance. We've met each other's family, each other's friends. We plan our future together. Almost had a baby together. All experienced against the backdrop of Bossa Nova, and Dizzying Adventure. I'm so glad I met him--my Soul Mate, the Love of my Life.