I met James on July 15, 2011. I had just begun my first day of work at my town's Pizza Hut as a delivery driver. My training manager was showing me how to use our dispatch screen, and one of my fellow drivers came up behind us. I turned, and there he was. I immediately noticed how tall he was, towering over me a good foot and a half. I also noticed how handsome he was.
"The first time I saw you, I thought 'oh my god, what is this cute little blonde girl working at Pizza Hut for?' I thought 'what is this Miss Priss gonna do?' I thought you were gonna quit the first day."
The next month was nothing memorable: day after day of working, but then I noticed something starting to happen. As soon as I got to work, I would immediately look for James' red Le Baron, and always had a pang of disappointment when it wasn't there. Any time it was, I always seemed to enjoy the shift more than I normally would have.
A week or two into August, James and I worked a long shift together. As the two youngest drivers, we always closed together. One night we had a running joke going. We were both Lonely Island fans, and ended everything we said with "like a boss." We joked and laughed during the whole shift. At the end, we didn't even notice when we did the closing chores together, instead of dividing the labor as normal.
College classes began the next day, and as I was leaving my first one, I saw James. We were walking towards each other, and I had no idea what to say. He looked as if he hadn't even recognized me out of my uniform and ball cap, but as we got closer, we said hello, but didn't stop to talk. Walking to my next class, I couldn't help but look back.
"First time I saw you walking down the halls I didn't recognize you. I knew you were taking classes, but I didn't know how you looked out of uniform, so when I saw you get closer, I said oh my god, it's Alayna! I didn't realize how gorgeous you looked out of uniform. It surprised me. I knew I had to say hi so I did, but didn't know what else to say so I kept walking."
The next week, I worked with James very little, but saw him in the halls on campus and stopped to talk a few times. On August 21, we were working and a few of us drivers gathered around the dispatch screen at the beginning of our shift. The topic of discussion was fishing, and James was saying how he didn't know any good spots around, being from out of town. The night before I had gone out to my favorite spot on a lake not far from town. I was telling him about it and hinted that I was considering going back that night. He asked who I was going with, I told him no one, and he offered to accompany me. I was shocked he even asked, so I just giggled.
"When we talked about goin' fishin', the next delivery I took I couldn't stop thinkin' about it. I even made a couple wrong turns and forgot where I was going and had to check the receipt."
I worked the rest of the shift, constantly thinking about it. Wondering if he was serious, or if it would even happen. We clocked out, and stood in the store talking. We said goodnight to everyone else, and as we were walking out, he said to me, "So, uhm...I'll see you later?" I was slightly disappointed, but just nodded. We were almost to our cars and he said, "Oh! About fishing? Were you still going?" I was so relieved. We exchanged numbers, and I headed to my dorm to change clothes. He met me in the parking lot, and loaded his gear into the back of my station wagon.
"I didn't bring it back up because I thought you might. So the night continued and you didn't say anything so I thought you forgot about it. When we were saying goodbye to everybody, then we were walking to our cars and then I worked up enough courage to bring it back up and then we exchanged numbers. When I got back to the house I was so nervous I worked everything along because I didn't want you to be waiting on me, of course I was stupid, women always take forever, so when I was ready to go, sitting on the porch, smoking a cigarette, I decided I was thirsty and I went to the gas station and got a Coke, and to make sure we were still going, I called you to see if you wanted a drink also."
It's about a 15 minute drive to the spot on the lake, and about 3 minutes in, I had run out of things to say. It was the first time we had been alone away from work, but I felt so comfortable. We made it out there with only a few awkward silences, set up our poles and casted our lines.
"The ride out there was very awkward. I couldn't even smoke a cigarette because I didn't know what you'd think about me being a smoker. I must have smoked 4 before we went, I was so nervous. I kept thinking I couldn't even figure out what was going on in my head, I didn't even expect to have feelings or anything."
That night, we talked about everything. I even forgot we were fishing. I just wanted to sit there under the stars and keep listening to him. We left at 12:45 and drove to Walmart to pick up his roommate from work. I dropped them off at James' car, and he just said, "see you later, Alayna!" At this point, the way he said goodbye, I gave up on ever having anything more with James. I figured he just saw me as a "bro" and nothing more.
The next day I got off work the same time as James' best friend, Paul. We had talked more and became closer. He lived a few blocks from the store, and I offered him a ride home. He responded that he was actually going to James' place, but I should come with him. I declined, and he said, "Don't tell James I told you, but he really does like you."
I was so excited! I had Paul check with James, and then we drove the few blocks to his place. Sitting on his couch, they started talking about a girl who had a crush on James. James sat forward and explained that even though she was cool, he wasn't looking for a girlfriend, that he didn't want a relationship. I felt like I had been punched in the chest. My disappointment the night before, my excitement that he was actually interested in me, and now my disappointment that he didn't want anything at all. A little while later, a few of the cheerleaders from James' team came over (James was a yell leader at the college we attended). I sat on the end of the couch in silence, watching Paul play video games. James was in the kitchen, and Paul went to talk to him. After a few awkward moments alone with the cheerleaders, I followed. I walked in and Paul said he was going home, and I jumped at the chance to leave. James apologized, and Paul and I walked outside.
I hit the first step of the porch and started crying. I was so embarrassed! I had thought maybe this awesome guy was actually interested in me, but was wrong. Paul apologized for getting my hopes up, and I dropped him off, went back to my dorm and promptly went to bed.
I worked with James the next day, and he asked if I'd want to fish again. I thought nothing of it, having accepted the fact that we were buddies, and nothing more. We got off work earlier than the night we fished before and headed out to our spot. The time before, we were a good distance away from each other, but this time, James came up and sat right next to me. We laid down on the gravel and looked at the stars and talked. We watched one star for the longest time, and had each other convinced it was a UFO, the way it was flickering and changing colors. After awhile, we sat up, and James said, "I'm sure Paul already told you, but I really like you."
I couldn't believe it. After all the ups and downs, it felt good to hear it from him. I told him I cared about him, and we started packing up to leave. We stood in front of my car awkwardly, saying nothing, and I laughed and said, "why are we just standing here?" and he said, "I'm deciding if I should kiss you or not.."
I'm awkward and such an idiot, I said, "well, I at least want a hug!" I stepped forward into his arms, and after a moment, looked up.
It was the best kiss I've ever had. And at that, our relationship officially began on August 22, 2011.
"It truly was the best kiss I've ever had. It was truly sincere."
