Heather: Mike was the over hire at Kernan Rehabilitation Hospital. His acceptance to the job helped me in make the decision to leave. So frankly, we met, but I did not think anything of it. All I knew was he was a new graduate and I was leaving to great adventures as a travel therapist.
Mike: It was my first day on the spinal cord, multi-trauma, and comprehensive medical rehab unit at Kernan Hospital, my first job fresh out of PT school as a new grad. To complicate things, we had a crazy snowstorm that day that left 8 inches of snow on the roads, making for an interesting commute. I of course was on time, but only 2/14 other therapists were there by the time we needed to start treating patients. So I was thrown into the mix. One of the other therapists who had made it all the way from College Park, MD to work on time was Heather. I was immediately impressed, since she didn’t have four-wheel drive. It also was Valentine’s day, and she didn’t receive any flowers, so I knew she was available.
First Date…
Heather: I had been giving Mike rides to his dad’s house in VA or to the metro on Friday nights. One week, I had invited my co-workers to go to the movies after work on the following Friday. No one else accepted but Mike. This made me a bit nervous. This feeling only intensified the Thursday afternoon before, while I was talking with my co-worker, Mike handed me a little note. I did not open until later because I thought it was a message from a patient. (See Note Below) I was so embarrassed I couldn’t walk to the other side of the gym. I tried endlessly to convince my co-worker and good friend Sara Kate to attend the movie so that I would not be alone with the new guy. Honestly, he was handsome. We had great conversations on previous Friday night drives getting to know him. But ultimately we were co-workers, I believed he was too young since he was a new grad, I was leaving work to start my adventures, and he had neck hair. Sara finally convinced me that I had nothing to lose, after all I was leaving. We ended up getting out of work late and by the time we got to Snowden Square Columbia Movies there was nothing we wanted to see in a timely fashion. So, instead we went to Whole Foods and Mike bought and cooked me a delicious meal of pork chops, asparagus, and mash potatoes. We talked forever in the living room. Right before we left Mike attempted to cash in the offer for the hour massage, but I turned it down. It was late and he needed a ride 45 minutes away. I liked the guy to much to throw him on the metro. The night ended in front of his dad’s house with an awkward car hug!
Mike: We were supposed to have a group of Kernan coworkers go out to a movie in Columbia. Of course, it ended up just me and Heather trying to pick a good movie listing out of a bunch of duds that fitted our interest and dinner plans. In the end, we ditched the movie idea and simplified things by doing dinner at her place. I would be the cook, and she would be the conversationalist, talking of her life travels and crazy friends. Towards the end of the night I brought up the coupon for an hour long massage I gave her the day before, but to no avail. I guess she either wasn’t that interested or on the fence about what kind of relationship she wanted to have with me. I wasn’t going to press the issue.
First kiss…
Heather: It had been three weeks and Michael had not planted a kiss. My friend Kristi, her co-worker Andrea, Michael, and I planned on going to a house party with Indie rock bands. The girl chat of the night revolved around when Mike will ever plant a kiss. So before we went out that night, I called my friend Kristi and I said to her, “either this man is going to kiss me tonight, or I am going to be kissing someone tonight.” After we arrived at the party Michael started manning the keg and doing his own thing. This was a trait that I liked about him; “being able to entertain himself at a party without direct supervision.” After a while I went to find Mike in the kitchen and with beer goggles and liquor lowering inhibitions, he finally kissed me! Romance is over-rated. HA! No worries, I was so ecstatic I could barely enjoy the moment and ran directly to Kristi to tell her the exciting news.
Mike: We went to a house party in DC that didn’t look like much from the outside, but it was pretty packed inside with a lot of people and a couple of bands. I didn’t know anyone so I decided to work the keg for awhile to meet people at the party, and to have direct access to much needed refreshment. Our first kiss came when I was coming out of the bathroom upstairs and Heather had come to check on me and also go to the bathroom. We kissed on the stairs as we passed each other, both of us turning around to complete our sentences about what we thought of the fun party. We later kissed again in the kitchen.
No comments:
Post a Comment