Recently I was asked to tell my side of the story concerning Zack’s and my first meeting, which he told on his blog not long ago. So, here it is, as promised, but before I go on I must admit that my side of the story is significantly less dramatic because I’m generally oblivious to the happenings around me, particularly when it comes to men liking me. Anyway… on with the story.
It was a weekday. I was steadily engaged with getting used to my new job as a leader of a discipleship program for young adults whilst simultaneously preparing for the semester to begin. The hectic-ness of my life had gone up exponentially and I was managing my time with valor and immovable zeal. After a couple of hours of shutting out the world and honing in on whatever it was that consumed me that afternoon in the coffee shop, I began to pack up.
I looked up to see Zack at the table next to me. He was also by himself. He was a guy I had met a couple of times and observed here and there with no clarity as to who he was, and now his chair was inconveniently positioned directly over my plugged in power cord. I always hate when that happens because it’s usually an unnecessarily long process of etiquette to get your cord back, where now you apologize to the person for asking them to move and they come back with an over-courteous, “Oh, don’t worry about it!” and then you say a quick thank you, and then they start asking you how you are, even though you might not know them, and on and on we go, all for a simple action that shouldn’t require much interaction at all.
I glared at my cord as if it were my child after an incident of rebellion and then briefly strategized ways of getting it unplugged without actually disturbing its large guardian, but the risk of personal space invasion was too high for both of us- I had to ask, “Hey, sorry, can you unplug me?” Zack was more than happy to oblige and quickly moved out of the way with a smile to get it for me. All I cared about at this point was leaving promptly… that’s just how I am: Point A to Point B.
To my general dismay, Point B began to slip through my fingers as Zack struck up a conversation, but this was one moment in time where I wound up enjoying the detour. This is the point in the story where I differ a little from Zack on his memory of the details. The only reason I trust my memory here is because, after the random questions about my classes and all that, I thought he was done. I threw my empty cup in the trash and he actually began the conversation again with ”Hey, I just want you to know, I really respect you and all that you do around here.”
The only reason this point is important is because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn’t have sat there talking to him for the next 2 hours had he not said it. His compliment was genuine and it tweaked a note in me that rarely gets touched. I was tense with the prospect of not getting wherever I was headed, but with the statement of his respect my shoulders loosened and with a few blinks and a neck-jerk I thanked him. (It’s not every day a girl gets something meaningful spoken to her from a guy).
From that point on I was put at ease and forgot entirely about hurrying on with my day. We conversed with a total absense of awkwardness. I eventually sat down because my computer weighs as much as one of my own legs and I was tired of holding it. What’s funny is that I didn’t find out until much later that when a girl sits at a guy’s table, it’s a big deal. I did it all the time and no one ever bothered to tell me, so ladies, bear that in mind.
After nearly two hours, we parted ways just how Zack said, but there was no shocking revelation or fireworks on my end. All I knew was that this guy was my new friend. The fact that I would fall madly in love with him months later never entered my mind, but I think that’s how it’s supposed to be; real.
We spent from August until April just being good friends… but that’s another story for another time.
