serendipity

In April 2008, I met a guy through a mutual friends. He had recently moved to Georgia and came out for a friend's birthday not really knowing anyone. Considering everyone else was too preoccupied or intoxicated, I introduced myself. We danced, laughed, and exchanged a few words throughout the night - I felt attracted to him. In an attempt to gain a bit more insight on his character, I rode with him to a 24/7 Korean restaurant and began small conversations. We hit it off well at the restaurant, exchanged numbers, and I was already anticipating our next meeting.

I didn't see him until month later; we exchanged smiles and danced the night away. Later on in that evening, certain events turned the night sour. In the midst of all the chaos, I ended up leaving abruptly without saying goodbye. If I had known that would have been the last I'd see of him for over a year, I'd have done things differently.

In the following months, we spoke a few times on the phone, but never met since he was busy working and lived an hour south of me in Tyrone, GA. Eventually, his number changed and I lost complete contact with him. When school started in the fall, it was difficult for me to consider visiting him, and soon thereafter, I found myself in a relationship.

In December 2008, I received a random phone call from him. We briefly spoke and brought up the prospect of meeting up. Of course it never happened since we were both in a relationship, and driving more than an hour to see a friend may have seemed questionable to the significant other. A few months later, he changed his number again, and I lost contact with him once again.

Fast forward to the summer. My best friend, Jihae, began to work in Palmetto, GA, which neighbors Tyrone, GA. She was desperately needing a place to stay, so I decided to take my chances and call up the guy. It was the wrong number. After going through several sources, I finally got his number (through FB!). Nervous, I called and asked him if my friend could stay at his place for a few days until she got her own apartment. It was funny, because he was moving the following weekend and said he would change his one bedroom apartment to a two bedroom to accommodate my friend. Thrilled, I immediately set up a date to come by and see the new place.

Two weeks ago, I went to visit and while Jihae went to work, I decided to hang out with the guy to catch up. I didn't have expectations other than to reacquaint myself with him and catch up on the past year. We spent nearly 4 hours sitting at a Chocolate Pink Cafe talking, enjoying coffee and cupcakes, and sometimes sitting in silence. Afterwards we went to Serenbe for one of the best dinners/cocktails I've had in a while.

During that time, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Savannah/Tybee Island. We didn't intend on going alone, however, when the next two days rolled around, everyone else decided not to go. It didn't matter. We went, ate great food, relaxed at the beach and pool for 5 hours, ate a fantastic dinner, and took a stroll down Riverstreet. Such a romantic, yet bittersweet time.

Over the course of the week, we began to talk more often. His best friend from Chattanooga came to town for a night and so we all had dinner together, and I took them out to Brickstore Pub to meet some other friends of mine. We all had a great time. It was quite a change to see someone so willing to meet my closest friends.

He just kinda popped back into the picture after 1.5 years. It's almost like picking up where we left off.

Say hello to Jay.