The following post was written over two years ago. I didn’t post it right away, however. Couldn’t decide if I wanted to share it or not. But after a week of thinking about it, I realized that there really is no reason not to, as an early Christmas present to my co-conspirator. Enjoy.
She was early, but that was because she’d left her running clothes at her boyfriend’s that morning and had to buy new running clothes to go running with me (she claimed).
We were originally going to run in Forest Park, but she said she hadn’t brought her trail running shoes and didn’t want to get her regular running shoes muddy, so we knocked around some ideas and ended up (much to my surprise) deciding on a route in my neighborhood. I was cautious because it seemed so easy to talk her into it… but on a practical note it was fine with me, because then I would be close to home.
We ran, I kept the pace, had a good time, joking and talking the whole time. Got back to my apartment and I was starving, she agreed to get some dinner (she didn’t have the girls that night so didn’t have to hurry back home)… we walked to a place in my ‘hood (a really really good Italian place, in fact one of our first dates over a year ago), split a bottle of wine between the two of us.
Again, like I said before, it was almost BETTER than when we were first dating, before the bad times, before the multiple breakups, before the angry email exchanges… I wasn’t trying to flirt, I was just enjoying myself, and she seemed to, too. We laughed and had a great time, plus had our shared history, were comfortable with each other. I really am getting the best that she has to offer. At one point (later on), I even told her this; let her current boyfriend deal with the demands, the PMS, the fears… I’m happy with just this. Yeah, I’m weird.
So, after telling her about running on the beach, she mentioned that she’s never run on the beach, with the exception of the very end of the Hood-to-Coast. So I said, “Let’s go to the beach RIGHT NOW! You have a car, you don’t have the girls, Seaside is just over an hour away… what’s stopping us?” And beyond her two objections, one, that she had an 8:30 AM meeting the next morning (“We have plenty of time for you to make that!” I declared) and two, that she had to let Mojo (her dog) out… yeah, beyond that, she was up for the idea.
So, we did. By 10:15 PM, we were in Cannon Beach. We got a couple of cups of coffee, then took a six-pack of Fat Tire and a two-thirds full bottle of Sauza Commemorativo I’d brought along on to the beach, sat, and flirted a bit, and laughed, and got really drunk, and confessed that we’re still really attracted to each other, and I realized that no matter what, this night will join all my other really great memories.
She told me, just after I’d brought up the idea of going to the beach and just before she’d given in, “I don’t remember you being this impulsive.” To which I replied, “Yeah, I’ve changed a little… OK, maybe a lot.”
And the bestbestbest part is that I didn’t do anything I have to feel guilty about. Her… maybe a little guilt, but not anything major.