And then...

A few days after our non-date and a few before I came "in the middle of the night", there is a moment.
A moment in time that freaked me out and made my head completely spin.

I had been at my job for about a month.
No one talked to me.
No one even really acknowledged my existence except for the man I was working with.
But his office was about 90 minutes away.
So I sat in this large open room with some consultants.
They sat on the other side of the room in a group.
I sat alone.

My "desk" was a folding table with my back facing the others.
The plastic table was like the ones at a yard sale.
I had a regular desk chair.
They had assigned me a regular desk phone but I rarely used it.
No one really called me.
Directly in front of my "desk" was a plastic sheet that hung from the ceiling.
It was clear.
It was like the ones used at construction sites to keep the dust out of the non-construction site.
Exactly like that because on the other side of this sheet was construction going on.
All day was drilling, buzzing, sawing, and other very loud, very obnoxious sounds.
Another reason why the phone was not used.
I had no place to store my things so everyday I carried everything home with me and the next day I carried everything back.
To say the least, it was a depressing working environment.

However, Roger kept me entertained.
He would talk to me online and since we were now comfortable with just being flirty friends it was a lot of fun.
He asked me to lunch a lot (although he would say I asked him but he is not here to tell the story differently so ha!).

On Thursday afternoons, the consultants would leave.
They would go back to wherever they were from and I would be alone.
It was kind of scary to be there alone.
On Fridays, the consultants did not come in at all.
So I worked from home those days with no one telling me no.
(Ha to them too!!)

On Thursday afternoon, November 10, 2005, I was sitting in this room alone.
I was very sleepy.
I was almost falling asleep at my table.
I could barely hold my eyes open.
I wanted to go home.
But I couldn't.
I had a hair appointment to get my hair cut with Roger's stylist (yes, the boy had a stylist).
My appointment was at about 7pm and it was too far to go all the way home and then come back to the hair salon.
But I really needed a nap.

Roger being a very flirty friend said, "Go to my house and take a nap."
"Hmm, no. I have never been to your house and I do not want to take a nap at your house. You are my friend."
And then I had an ingenious idea, "Oh, I would really like to take a nap at Crane's Roost. I love that park and I love to take naps outside."
Roger being my very flirty friend said, "I have a blanket in my Jeep. I'll meet you there."

So I left work early (shame on me).
Roger left work early too (shame on him).
We met up at the park and he grabbed one of many blankets in his Jeep. (The boy was a boy scout. He was prepared I guess. I cannot remember exactly why he happened to have blankets now but I am sure I probably asked.)
We walked halfway around the lake and found the perfect spot.
Roger spread the blanket.
We laid down to take our naps.
I had my back to Roger.

My mom called me.
I needed some distraction.
So I picked up her call.
My mom and I were chit chatting when suddenly I felt Roger rubbing my lower back.
In my head, "Oh my, what is he doing!?!?!"
I could not say anything. My mom had no idea where I was or who I was with and there was no way I was going to tell her. I could not figure out how to tell him to stop without my mom noticing.

The phone call ended with my mom. I kept my back toward Roger.
I stole a quick glance at him and telepathically asked him "What the hell are you doing?"
He did not answer. (I need to work on the telepathic communication thing.)
The sun was starting to set. It was getting cold.
Roger asked me if I was cold.
"Yes" as I was started to shiver.
Roger moved closer to me and folded the blanket in half so we were both covered.
"Oh my, what is he doing now?!?!"
I turned my face toward him.
Again in my head, "What is he doing now?!"
I started to stare at him.
Roger started to play with my hand - not quite holding it but caressing it.
"Oh my, oh my, oh my..."

My head was spinning.
Suddenly I remembered I was hungry and I needed to eat before my hair appointment.
I asked Roger, "What time is it?"
"About 5:45pm."
"Hmm, we should go. I need to eat before my haircut and stuff" as said nervously as my head was just about to go out of control.
"Okay. Let's go get dinner."
Geez, dude.
Roger suggested Gina's on the Water.
"No, that's too pricey and too romantic. Let's get something quick."

We ended up going to Crisper's.
As Roger and I sat in the booth, I could barely look at him.
Thinking "What the hell just happened?! What was that?! We are just flirty friends."
I quickly ate and excused myself as I needed to go get my haircut.
Roger just smiled at me.
I think he knew more than me.
Actually I am pretty sure of it.

The night before our wedding and the night after our wedding, we stayed back on that lake at Crane's Roost.
Not on the ground under a blanket but at the hotel that is there.
I remember getting up the morning of the wedding and looking across that lake.
It was quite surreal to think of how we started out on one side of the lake and now I was standing on the other about to marry Roger.
And ya know, I think he knew when we were under that blanket we would end up as husband and wife.

And then on November 14, 2005 at 9pm, I came in the middle of the night.
Of course, 9pm is the middle or the beginning of the night is a debate Roger and I had for many years.