Dear Diary -
I was sitting home on a Saturday night bored out of my
mind. I had reached the point where the
clubs were getting played out and drinking until I was numb was no longer
feeling cute. Yeah, I've been on a few
dates here and there but nothing serious.
I wanted to meet someone new but I kept seeing the same people over and
over again no matter where I went. So I
decided to try something different. I
flipped open my laptop and logged onto the internet. I surfed until I came across a free online
dating website. I clicked on the search
link and filled out my criteria for what I was looking for in a potential mate
and the results were overwhelming. I
decided that it probably would be best if I let the men find me as opposed to
me finding them.
As the days went by, I received a ridiculous amount of
emails on the dating website. Some of
these dudes were dumb enough to put photos of themselves with other women on
their profile. Now granted, some of them
said that the woman was a sister or a cousin.
But I thought that it was best to keep it moving. I eventually came across an email from a guy
named Jason. He said that he had
recently relocated from California and was looking to make new friends. I checked out his profile and it said he had a
masters degree in computer engineering; he was a sound engineer and was
originally from Miami. No kids, single,
tall and was nice looking. I figured
what the heck, I have nothing to lose, so I wrote him back. We exchanged a few emails and eventually
exchanged phone numbers. The day after
we exchanged numbers, Jason gave me a call.
He told me that his job transferred him to Atlanta and he was working on
the renovation of a studio for the record company. He also mentioned that he was traveling back and forth to Houston to work on an a
variety for albums for a new and upcoming artists. Jason failed to realize that I could care
less about the fact that he worked in the music business so I switched up the
conversation to what he liked to do during his free time. He said he didn't have much of that which is
why his last relationship didn't work.
The woman he was dating couldn't handle his hectic schedule and he was
hoping that he could meet someone as busy as he was. I told him that I fit that profile. We ended the conversation by making plans to
meet for dinner on Friday night.
When Friday arrived, I slowly started getting antsy, almost
nervous about my date with Jason. I
called him to confirm and when he answered he sounded like he was
sleeping. He said he would see me later
that night and was looking forward to it.
As the time drew closer, I got dressed and headed out of the door. It took me about 45 minutes to get to the
restaurant. I decided that it would be
best to wait by the bar. I looked at my
cell phone and saw that I was five minutes early. The bartender asked me if I wanted to order a
drink and I told him no and that I was waiting for someone. Ten minutes went by and there was no sign of
Jason. I pulled out my cell phone and
dialed his number. No answer. I decided not to stick around because I felt
that if he was running late or couldn't make it, he should have at least had
the decency to call.
A few hours later, I received a text message from Jason
informing me that he had an emergency with his mom. Apparently she had been sick and was in the
hospital. She was asking for him so he
was en route to Miami to go see her and he would make it up to me when he got
back to town. Not sure what to believe
at the time, I simply said, okay and that I would keep her in my prayers and
then took my butt to bed. The next
morning around six, Jason called and told me that his mother had passed away. I told him that I was sorry to hear and asked
if there was anything that I could do.
He said that he had to come back to town to get some things in order and
asked if we could meet even if it was just for a little while before he went
back to Miami. I told him sure and he
said that his flight was coming in later that afternoon. I told him that I could meet him by the
Starbucks near the airport and he said that was cool.
At about 2 o'clock that day, I pulled into the parking lot
of Starbucks. I surveyed the parking lot
to see if I saw Jason. Then a gold SUV
pulled into the parking lot and I saw a man who looked like the photo on the
website. When the door opened, Jason
stepped out. I got out of my car and
called over to him. He looked over at me
and smiled. He had a slight gap in
between his two front teeth that I found kind of cute. He gave me a hug and said that he was happy
to finally meet me. He also revealed
that he was nervous that I may not look like the photo on my profile and that
he was relieved. We went inside and
ordered some coffee and sat down in the corner of the coffee shop. I asked him how he was holding up and he said
that he was stressed. His brother had
taken some money from his mother before she was admitted into the hospital and
he and his sisters couldn't find him. The
funeral would be the following Friday and he was not sure when he would be
returning to Atlanta. I told him that I
understood and that if he needed anything to just let me know. We switched up the conversation to the basic
getting to know you questions and chatted for about an hour. I then told him that I had some errands to
run and had to go.
As I was getting out
of my seat, I saw another woman in the coffee shop looking at Jason but she
didn't say anything. I made nothing of
it and grabbed my purse and car keys.
Jason walked me to my car and he said he couldn't wait to see me again
and that he would be in touch. He then
gave me a hug and told me good-bye. As I
was driving away, I looked into my rearview mirror and saw the same woman from
earlier standing in the parking lot looking at Jason again. If I knew then what I know now, I probably
wouldn't have a story to tell and I would have just kept driving and never
looked back. All of this will be relevant soon enough. It's getting late so my story stops here for
now. 'Til next time.....
©All original content copyright Kim M. Washington, 2012-2013.
©All original content copyright Kim M. Washington, 2012-2013.
