How we met...
After returning from the fall semester with the KIIS program at the Universitaet Regensburg in Bavaria, I needed a job. Rather than actually try to find something good, I went down to the ol' Applebee's in Winchester, where I was staying with my parents, and applied to get my old job back. Because it had not even been six months since I had left, they hired me back on with no questions... and more importantly, no training.
Because I no longer had any seniority, however, I had to take low-paying shifts. One night in February, towards the end of my stay in the states, someone needed to leave early, and I actually got to pick up a closing shift. It was slow that night because we had just gotten out of a rather nasty ice storm, and I had one table of guys from KU. After late night happy hour began, however, I picked up another table with a handsome, young guy sitting by himself.
I thought I would flirt a little bit, so I went by and sat down in his booth. I found out that he was waiting on some other guys to show up from work, and that he wanted this blue drink from the bar but had forgotten it's name. I asked if he meant a Blue Skies, which is one of my favorite Applebee's drinks, and he did. So I got it for him (after carding him, 'cause he looked so young), and kept an eye on him while he waited for his friends.
Note to all concerned: although it is advertised as alcoholic, this is a froo-froo drink and contains as little alcohol as the bartender can get away with.
Anyway, eventually everyone appeared and ordered appetizers and beers. I tried to stay cool and was hoping for a decent tip from this table full of guys. One time, leaving the table, I made sure I looked back and got good eye contact with David as he was watching me walk away. Apparently, this was a sign to him that I thought he was cute, and after some prodding from his friends, he left his phone number neatly written next to his name on the credit card slip.
At first I was totally excited, because this was the first time that someone cute had ever left their number for me at the Winchester Applebee's. Then I started to question whether he had actually written that there for me, because it was not accompanied by any kind of note.
I went home and discussed it with my sister, Monica, and she encouraged me to call since I wasn't doing anything else important. However, I was torn because I was getting ready to leave for Germany and didn't want to start dating anyone before I left. Besides, I kind of had a boyfriend in Germany waiting on me to come back.
SO, I did call David, but I prefaced it with, "Hi, this is Tamara, your server from Applebee's. Did you leave your number?" Then, I explained that I was going to be leaving for Germany in two weeks, but David said that that was okay, and still wanted to go out.
Our first few dates...
Because I was working so much at night, David and I didn't have a chance to go out for a real date for what seemed like an eternity. Instead, I invited him up to the Waffle House where Monica and I were every-single-night regulars. I went to the bathroom, came and sat down with Monica, and then he came out of the other bathroom. I thought to myself, "Oh no! He's so tall!" I guess I hadn't realized that he was 6'4" when he was sitting at my table at Applebee's. He sat and had an Ale-8 while Monica and I drank our coffees. He started coming regularly, too, just to hang out with us.
It seemed like everytime we actually tried to set up something legitimate, I had to work later than expected. On perhaps the fourth try, when the manager cut the floor right above me, I started to cry because I didn't think we would ever make it out to something nice. However, the manager took pity on me and went ahead and let me go home.
Because I had gotten out of work late, though, I was not quite ready to go when David arrived to pick me up. He had to sit downstairs with my parents for a moment, which has apparently scarred him to this day. I wore a white button-up with a plaid skirt and my knee boots. David may never have seen me in make-up before this time, because we had always met at the Waffle House after my shift at Applebee's. Later, he confessed that he had geared himself for this to be a one-time only date because he suddenly felt that I was out of his league! And this after a week of seeing each other almost every night!
We went to Carabba's in Hamburg and then went to Barnes & Noble for a cappuccino. When I suggested this, I didn't realize how sheltered David was and how he had never had a cappuccino before.
The night was over way too quickly, and since both of us were living with our parents, we didn't have a good place to go and sit. We drove around for quite a while, talking, but we ultimately ended up at his parents house where we sat and talked in the basement until 4:30 a.m. I was in the middle of trying to explain why he shouldn't want to date "a girl like me" when his mom got up, and we decided it was probably time to call it a night. Surprisingly enough, David did kiss me before we left, and I immediately knew that he was pretty special.
We managed to go out a couple of more times in the week that followed, including a trip to Louisville where we stayed with Monica and her friend Fahey, but like all good things, it had to come to an end when I left for Germany the beginning of March...
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