The Almost Perfect Relationship



         Most people have some story about themselves that has greatly affected their lives. Most of the people’s stories have an ending…good or bad. My story, however, still continues. It’s about the one thing that everybody wants in this world…love. Working at Harris Teeter at Piper Glen for over two years and nine months hasn’t really given me the opportunity to meet some girls my age, only the occasional ones that drop by for cigarettes or chips and the few that desperately need a job that I call my fellow associates. And when that attractive young female is new to the store, I always tried to meet her, hoping for the chance of a relationship. However, 99.9% of the time, they aren’t interested or I find out something that turns me away. At one point, I gave up. I was sick of being desperate and figured the right one would come eventually. That is where my story begins.

         On August 1, 1997, I was working as a cashier. Normally when it was not busy, other associates and I just talk about stuff that’s going on, like news, weather, sports, etc.. This new girl that I had never seen before was training as a cashier on register 7. I walked over, introduced myself, and she introduced herself. Regan was her name. Immediately, I decided that I was not going to flirt, so we made small talk and I walked away. Karen, my boss, told me that I was to train her on my register. "No big deal. Just don’t flirt," I thought to myself. As it turned out, I flirted anyway. To my surprise, she flirted back. I didn’t think too much of it until a couple of weeks later, we were still flirting. Then, we exchanged phone numbers. That day, I also met her parents. I still think that they are one of the nicest and sweetest people that I’ve ever met. Days later, some lady that she knew (not her mother) noticed as I bagged for Regan that I was flirting. As she was leaving, she smiled and whispered in my ear, "Don’t let this one get away. She’s a good one." Regan overheard her and gave me the sweetest smile I had ever seen. My heart melted. I knew then that something was happening.

         There was one problem in this case: she went to Charlotte Latin and I went to Providence. It was harder to talk to her everyday when school started. I called her nearly every night around 8:30 and we normally talked for about 45 minutes to an hour. Finally, I built up enough courage to ask her out. Again, to my surprise, she said yes. I felt like I was on top of the world.

         I didn’t want our first "date" to be some place where I couldn’t get to know her better, like a movie. Since Harris Teeter was having a company picnic for the first time in years, I thought it would be appropriate to take her to it. When we got there, the huge turnout that the company hoped for only turned out to be only about five other people. We didn’t stay long and when I dropped her off, she invited me in to get a drink. Her parents weren’t home so I was feeling a little nervous about being inside with her alone. After all, both of us were strong in our Christianity and our morals so maybe I was overreacting. Instead of talking inside, we both talked for about an hour on her back deck. We talked about school, the beautiful weather, and how bad it was to work at Harris Teeter. I left that day with an awesome feeling. Things seemed to be moving smoothly and I knew that we could trust each other, which trust is a good thing to start a relationship with.

        Days later, I took her to Laser Quest. She had never been and wanted to go see what it was like. We teamed up against all the little kids in a tense battle, but we lost miserably. After Laser Quest, we went to Ben and Jerry’s for some ice cream. Again, we talked for a long time. Around nine o’clock, I asked her if she wanted to leave because after all, it was a school night. She paused, and immediately I said, "I really don’t want to go if you don’t." I was enjoying my time with her. She smiled at me and said, "I really don’t want to go either." We stayed for another hour and talked. I found out so many things that we had in common, like how we were both from small towns and love them more than the big city, that we were both leaders in our youth group, how we both loved the same music (80’s slow music rules!), how we both loved and played sports, and so much more. When I dropped her home later she gave me a big hug and thanked me for the good time As she reached her door, she turned around, game me a sweet smile and waved goodbye. For the first time, I truly felt complete when I was around her. Things were going really well.

        Regan played on her school’s field hockey team. I didn’t care too much for field hockey but I went to see her play. She was very good, and a leader on her team, even though she was a junior with many seniors on the team. Some days it would be raining and some days it would be bitterly cold, but I stayed and watched anyway. After every game, she’d thank me for watching and give me a huge hug (still no kisses). Still, I felt on top of the world. I told all my friends and classmates about her, and even my family which normally I keep all my "interests with certain girls" a secret to avoid the "oooh-ooooh" and "uuh oh" comments. This time, I didn’t care what embarassing comments my parents said. I was on top of the world. It was about the fifth or sixth game that would completely change everything.

        I was sitting by myself on the top bleacher watching an intense game between Charlotte Latin, and their rival, Charlotte Catholic. It was the last half of play with only 7 minutes to go and Latin was up by one goal. I noticed this guy who had been sitting next to her parents on the crowded front bleacher got up and was coming towards the top bleacher. "Trying to get a better seat, huh," I thought. Oddly enough he came up to me and introduced himself to me. "Hi, my name is David." "Wow!," I thought, "The only people I know around me are her parents and nearly no one else since the first game says anything to me and now this guy comes and talks to me. This turned out to be a pretty cool day." He continued to speak, "I’m kinda Regan’s, you know…boyfriend."

        There was silence. Everything around me suddenly stopped. I heard no other noise but his voice, saw no movement, and suddenly felt a burning heat in my throat. I was stunned. He went on explaining that they had been dating for the past two years "on" and "off" and now they were "on". He also said that he knew that Regan and I "...had something going on." Then, he said the most confusing thing that I think I have ever heard a guy say. "I really don’t care if you take her out." I didn’t know what to feel: hurt that she didn’t tell me about him, happy that something really was going on between us, or totally confused.

        After the confusing talk with David and the game ended, I didn’t feel like talking or even seeing Regan, but I said bye to her anyway and that I’d see her at work. As I left the parking lot, not seeing me he gave her a quick kiss, right in front of my car. I finally caught up with her at work and asked her about David. She confirmed that they were "on," but began telling me how he was weird and some bad things about him. For some reason, I got a little bit of hope. Later, my sister told me that she probably does like me because no guy in his right mind would ever say what he said without some encouraging from someone else. I regained all hope back and realized that I had competition.

        From that point on, I knew that I was not going to give up so easily. I was determined to win her affection. I continued to call her and asked her on dates. As November rolled around, schoolwork for her became overwhelming. She had little time to do anything. She told our boss at work that she could now only work every other Saturday. Phone calls were cut short and dates became more and more hard to get. Her parents told me what all she had to do for school and I understood why time for her is hard to manage with school alone. I knew that if I didn’t tell her soon how I felt about her, I might lose her. When December came and school let out, it was time to find out the truth.

        With the release of the highly proclaimed, romantic movie Titanic in theaters only days away, I knew that I had to take her to see it. When I nervously called and asked her, she said she had already agreed to see it with…you guessed it, David that Saturday. I felt defeated and torn. When Saturday came, before she was going out, I called her just to see how she was. "Tired," she replied. So tired that she said she was not going out to see the movie. I gave it a shot in the dark and asked if she wanted to go see it Sunday. To my surprise, she said yes. All hope and confidence was suddenly restored. Then, I realized what I was about to do. As Sunday slowly came, I got scared and very nervous.

        All morning and afternoon Sunday, I recited over and over what I was going to say. The trouble was I’d never opened up to a girl before and I didn’t know how to say my feelings to her. I also didn’t know whether to tell her before or after the movie. I grew more and more nervous as it came time to pick her up. As we said the goodbyes to her parents, I suddenly felt a little nauseated. I ignored it, opened the door for her, and felt it again, this time a lot worse. At any minute, I felt like I was going to throw up. I said a quick little prayer and drove off. At this point, I decided to tell her after the movie.

        All throughout the movie, I tried to pick up any nonverbal signs of interest. I would slowly lean towards her and hope she’d lean back, but she didn’t. I’d glance at her and hope we’d make eye contact, but we didn’t. She was enjoying the movie, so I stopped worrying about it and enjoyed it too.

        Driving back to her house that night seemed to last forever. I knew what I had to do, and I started to chicken out. Without thinking, I sucked up, released, and started talking. "You know, Ray…" I said nervously, "…somebody at work asked me if you and I were, you know, a couple and I didn’t know what to say. I was wondering what you thought?" A load of bricks lifted off my shoulders. I heard a parade in my head and everyone yelling, "He said it! He said it!" She quickly said something that I will not forget for a long time as we turned down her street at exactly 10:24 p.m.. "I think we’re just friends."

        I about died right there. My immediate reaction was to agree, but I didn’t mean it. As I dropped her off and said goodbye I could tell that she knew I was hurt. When I got home, I cried in my sisters arms for the first time in years. I didn’t call Regan after that and soon after she quit Harris Teeter. For three months, I told no one about this story and held it in. I was deeply hurt. Since then, I still see her sweet and loving parents in the store. We always have small talk and I ask about Regan. For a long time, I didn’t feel like telling Regan really how I felt. Now, I’m ready. Will anything develop because of this? Probably not, but still I don’t know the mystery of how she felt during those times of glory. I hope to see her again one day and tell her, because every time I hear something about Titanic on TV or "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, I think of all the great moments I had with Regan.

        Working at Harris Teeter hasn’t been the same since Regan left. I have learned a lot from this. Now, I don’t go to every girl and flirt with them like I use to. Sometimes, I’ll train a young attractive female and don’t flirt at all, at least not as much as I did. With college here I can meet more young women now. I know the right one will come eventually as she did a year ago in a little grocery store down in southern Charlotte.

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