Time for another installment of my miniseries. Now where was I? Oh, yes. So, he called. Which was nice, but I didn't really get my hopes up. We chatted a while, small talk, really, and he asked if I was planning on being at the bar again that weekend (of course). We hung up after making plans to see each other "whenever." Nice and easy, no strings, no drama.
It became routine that we would meet up at the bar, hang out with all our respective friends, and wind up back at his place with said friends. He started acting a bit more possessive towards me, which I found cute, considering we hadn't even had a real "date" up to this point. And at the end of every evening, there was the obligatory goodnight kiss.
Throughout this whole time, I watched and analyzed this man - still trying to figure out what exactly could be so bad about him. He was definitely over the top, always "on," with energy to spare. People seemed to like him, gravitate toward him, even, and he was always quick with a smile or a laugh. He enjoyed goofing off, and acting silly, and although sometimes it seemed a bit immature for a guy his age (24) he somehow managed to pull it off. One time he invited me over to his place instead of the bar. Since I wasn't THAT comfortable being alone with him just yet, I invited my friend along with me. He had no problem with that, so the three of us sat in his apartment watching "It" on tv. (Great flick - still freaks me out) However, Kevin kept jumping up off the couch and running into the kitchen every few minutes. Me friend was giving me really strange looks, and to be honest, I was kind of wondering what the hell he was doing, too. So I asked him. Like a little kid, he smiled and said, "Come here, I'll show you!"
My friend and I followed him into the kitchen, where he pointed to the pantry. "See that wrapper?" He pointed to a silver burger wrapper lying on the floor. We nodded - what was his point?? He then proceeded to pick up the wrapper, revealing several insects of the variety you really don't want in your house. "I put the wrapper there, it attracts the bugs, then I put them in here," he explained, holding up a mason jar with numerous buggy compadres inside. With an elaborate flourish, he swept the offending insects inside, and replaced the wrapper. "Then when I have enough, I put in some lighter fluid, and VOOOOSH! No more bugs."
(Ok, at this point I am sure there are many of you thinking that this was reason enough to just walk out the door and never come back. That a guy who catches bugs and sets them on fire probably has some major issues. On this point you would be correct, but remember, I was only 22 and like I said, there was something about him...)
My friend stood there with a mixture of confusion and disgust on her face. I, on the other hand, laughed. It just seemed so "Kevin-ish" for him to be doing this. He was actually delighted with his little plan, and enjoyed sharing it as well. I think it was at that point that my friend suggested we forego the end of the movie and head out to O'Brien's. (Apparently she had a problem with the critters.) Which we did, after Kevin said he would join us later.
My friend spent the better part of our time spent waiting for Kevin to show up trying to figure out what it was about him. Even she admitted that although she was pretty grossed out by the bugs, she still liked Kevin. And when he finally showed up, we all had a good time playing darts and drinking and talking.
A few months went by with no real dates, and so I just figured that maybe he wasn't really interested too much. Which was fine by me, although I was intrigued and amused by Kevin, I wasn't totally hooked. I started seeing other guys, one in particular. His name was Mitch. Mitch was a lot of fun, I met him (where else?) also at O'Brien's, on a night when Kevin wasn't there. My friend took a liking to his friend, and (as these things always happen) the four of us started going out on group dates. We still hung out at O'Brien's, of course, but only when Kevin wasn't there. (Kevin was still calling me, but I didn't feel it necessary to tell him about Mitch - you know, keeping my options open, as it were.) Anyway, although I abhor the cliché of what wound up happening, I must tell you it is absolutely true.
It was a Saturday night, and I had just hung up the phone with Kevin. He had told me that he had plans to meet some of his buddies that night, and wouldn’t be at the bar. Which for me meant a green light to call Mitch. After the obligatory “Oh, too bad! I’ll miss you,” crap, I made my other phone call and planned to meet Mitch with our respective friends. We got to O’Brien’s and hung out in the back playing pool. All was right with the world, we were laughing and having fun, when all of a sudden one of my bar buddies started making weird faces at me. She was motioning toward the front of the bar, and when I followed her gaze, I saw Kevin walking in with a few of his pals. (Here comes the cliché sitcom part – and believe me, it is much harder to pull off in real life.) With a quick peck on the cheek and an “I’ll be right back,” I flew up to the front to head off Kevin. “Hey, babe!” he said happily. His smile was huge, and mine was just as huge, although mine was more out of panic than joy. “I thought you weren’t coming tonight!” I exclaimed. He proceeded to tell me he missed me, and talked his friends into coming to O’Brien’s, since he knew I would be there. (All right, let me tell you, I would never be able to carry on an affair. Right there, I felt so guilty I felt sick, and I wasn’t even really dating this guy!) He gave me a kiss, and I made the suggestion that we play darts. So, he got the darts, bought me a drink, and we started the game (in more ways than one). After a few minutes, I excused myself to “go to the bathroom.”
“Hey, I was just about to go looking for you!” Mitch greeted me with. I laughed and took my turn at pool, mouthing the word “Kevin” to my friend, whose eyes got huge. Thankfully, she did a good job of covering for me the whole time. Since the pool table and Mitch were in the back of the bar, and the dart boards and Kevin were at the front of the bar, I did quite a bit of running that night. Like I said, cliché sitcom, but believe it or not, I managed to avoid being busted. Since Mitch and Kevin didn’t know each other, I just had to make sure neither of them saw the other one actually WITH me, which, hard as it was, was not impossible. Anyway, I was dog-tired by the end of this fiasco, and Mitch finally left since he had to work early the next day. I told him I was going to stay for a bit with my friend, and escorted him out the back door. (Yes, thankfully, there was a back door.) When I went back in, I was able to re-join Kevin up front, without having to take off again. For whatever reason, Kevin chose this night to be extra nice and extra attentive. By closing time, I was so mentally exhausted that when Kevin asked if I was going to come over, I declined. He walked me to my car, and kissed me good night, only this time, he looked into my eyes and said, “You know, I really like you. I missed you a lot this week.” Now, I had been back and forth in my head about how I felt about Kevin up until this point, since things were so casual, but that LOOK, I can’t really explain it. He wasn’t on, he wasn’t showing off, he was just himself. And his sincerity was sweet. As I drove off, I knew I was going to break things off with Mitch. As nice as he was, and as much fun as we had, he wasn’t Kevin, and for whatever reason I had a feeling Kevin was about to change my life. Which he definitely did…
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