Summer Lovin’

Ahhh… summer. It’s the time for relaxation, fun in the sun and a good summer romance. I think I watched the movie Grease too many times as a kid, because every summer I think I’m Sandra D about to fall in love with Danny Zuko and make out on the beach.  I just returned from our annual girl’s weekend in Portland, Maine and had the best time. Had a little too much fun perhaps, but as summer comes to an end I want to enjoy every minute of it. While I was there, something unexpected happened… I met someone and dare I say he has all the qualities I’m looking for in a guy except for the fact that he lives 3,000 miles away in London. So there’s that minor setback.

Let me set the scene of this chance encounter.  The girls and I decided to go out dancing one night and as soon as I walked in I spotted a few cute guys hanging out by the bar. One was tall dark and handsome, one was shorter with long dreadlocks and cute glasses and then there was a light skinned cutie wearing a Yankees hat. Now, picture this, we had just walked about ten blocks in heals to this club or should I say we were speed walking trying to catch up to our friend who thought it was a good idea to drink two Red Bull’s before we left.  I walk in practically panting with sweat running down my back and my hair a frizzy mess. The music was loud, the room was dark and there was a crowd of young twenty-somethings attempting to dance to 90’s R &B, Hip Hop. Let me just say their attempt was failing miserably, but it was fun to watch.

We grab a drink at the bar and move to a little corner of the room and made our own little party enjoying the music. I found myself oddly drawn to the guy in the Yankees hat…especially when the guy wearing it looks a little like Derek Jeter. Now, if you know me then you know that I wouldn’t just pick up a guy at a bar, but my friend spotted them too and wanted me to go over and talk to them. I just laughed and said, “Yea, right…have you just met me?”  She grabs my arm and says, “Let’s go to the bathroom.” (They just happened to be standing next to the restrooms).  As we’re walking over, Jeter is turned and looking the other way and the tall dark and handsome guy says hello with come f**k me eyes. Yes, he was gorgeous but I wouldn’t touch a guy like that with a ten-foot pole. He’s obviously a player and I don’t have time to play with boys. I proceed to go to the restroom and my friend decides to stop and chat, so now I have to walk back to them feeling like a rookie. I’m terrible at striking up conversation with random guys and I just want to run into the bathroom and wipe the sweat rolling down my face smearing my mascara. I reluctantly join in as they introduce themselves. Jeter shakes my hand and says, “How do you do?” in a British accent that has me instantly intrigued. I mean…come on…Derek Jeter with a British accent?? What more can I ask for? The tall one shakes my hand and molests me with his eyes along with every other woman in the place. I turn back to Jeter and ask him where he’s from. He leans in closer putting his hand to my waist and says, “I’m from London visiting my cousin on holiday.” Now I’m getting sweatier and I motion to my friend to come to the bathroom with me so I can get myself together. Of course she wants to me to go back and talk to him and I ask her what the hell I should say because I really suck at this. “Oh just come on!” as she rolls her eyes at me. We walk out and of course the tall one has a beautiful girl by his side, so I just decide to keep walking. Of course my friend, being the ‘wing-man’ that she is stops to tell Jeter that I want to dance with him. He calls my name as I’m walking past and gently grabs my hand. Your friend says you’d like to dance? (In a sexy British accent.) Like an idiot, I respond, “I didn’t say that…she did.”(I’m such a moron). Then I try to recover and make small talk and admit that I’m a little shy when it comes to talking to strange men in  bars. He replies, “you shouldn’t be at all shy…you’re such a beautiful woman.” And now I’m hooked, but of course I have to play hard to get and tell him I have to return to my friends. He says, “I don’t want to keep you from your friends, but do you think you could break away tomorrow so we can spend some time together?” “Perhaps” I replied with a grin on my face as he hands me his phone asking me to put my number in.  I do so reluctantly and walk back to the group and they’re all looking at me with disgust. I told them to relax and that we set up a date tomorrow, so they quickly forgave the fact that I wasn’t still over there talking to him. Long story short, excluding all the juicy details, we spent the next couple evenings hanging out and getting to know each other and he asked if we can stay in touch and see each other when he visits NYC on business. Umm, is the Pope Catholic? Hell yea…I will. Turns out this guy was a complete sweetheart and maybe a long distance romance is just what I need right now. I’m not going to put all my eggs in one basket, but I’m open to seeing how it works out. If nothing else, I finally got the ‘summer lovin’ experience I’ve always fantasized about and hopefully he won’t turn into a big jerk like Travolta did in Grease.

With everything going on in my messy life, this is a good distraction. I’m so intrigued by this guy because he leads a pretty exciting life traveling all over the world, but has a big soft spot for his ten-year-old daughter that keeps him grounded. He has a lot of qualities I would look for in a man and although it’s unfortunate that he lives so far away, you never know what could happen. Sure, long distance relationships rarely work out, but why not stay open-minded to the possibility? I believe everyone comes into your life to teach you more about yourself in order for the healing process to take place. Perhaps that’s why he is here. Perhaps he will help me open my heart just a little bit more because my expectation is that there is little chance of this turning into something more. I wasn’t looking for a summer romance, but I’m glad it found me. It gives me hope that chance encounters can happen when you least expect it, but it would have passed me by if my girlfriend didn’t open the door and push me through (literally…she pushed me over to him). All I’m saying is open the doors and let someone in, because they could turn out to be the love of your life or at the very least a great teacher. Let down your guard and trust that taking a chance on love is better than letting it pass you by. Even when a relationship fizzles it leaves memories of good times and brings you closer to what is meant for you.

With Faith, Hope and Love,

~ Teresa