24 Years Ago . . . (pt. 3)

That evening on the way home from work, Sheri continued her campaign to get me to go out with "the guy" on the business card. She was persistent, I must admit! Finally, I asked her to give the card back to me. It was a card for a local car dealership, and on the back were places to fill in contact information. I took the card, and on the back, wrote my name and address (figured he already knew where I lived, so what did it matter) and in the blank for the phone number, wrote "Still unlisted (nice try, though!)" - - and handed it back to Sheri. I then told her she could pass it on to her friend next time she saw him.

Little did I know . . .

That night, I was in bed early. All this mandatory overtime was really draining me! It was around 8:30 pm, and I was sitting up in bed reading, when the phone rang. When I answered, there was a very nice-sounding male voice on the other end who said, "So, you are still unlisted, huh?"

Oooooh my - - Sheri, you little brat.

I replied, "Well, yes, I WAS . . . be sure to call our mutual friend and make your goodbyes, because she is toast tomorrow when I see her!" He just laughed and said, "Don't blame her. She said she thought I was a nice guy, and that I should have a chance to talk with you again. I really hope I'm not bothering you."

*sigh* No, of course not. What else did I have to do, except catch up on my sleep? I decided that a brief conversation wouldn't hurt, and might appease Sheri.

That conversation ended TWO HOURS LATER, and somehow, with a date scheduled for the following Saturday night. I told him he could come by and pick me up, so that he would be assured that I would actually meet him this time!

And I figured since I wasn't seeing anyone at that point, a date would be a nice diversion. And, maybe it would quiet Sheri down a bit. And it was just ONE DATE, right? What could that hurt? It's not like I was going to keep seeing the guy, or get serious or anything, right?

Seems like fate had other ideas about that . . . . .

Oh, by the way - - I still have the business card:



That blur in the upper-righ-hand corner is where he wrote my UNLISTED PHONE NUMBER as Sheri gave it to him. Brat.

And yes, there's more . . .