Rebecca: We met in 2006 in the now-defunct Borders bookstore and would remain friends for 11 years. I use the term “friends” loosely. I’d see him out and about among our mutual friends. I barely batted an eyelash his way. If I remembered or if I got on Facebook at the right time, I’d send him a Happy Birthday text.
Now let’s jump to 2017. TuVy mentions a trip to Japan with her boyfriend Channdara, Richard, and Jason. I’ve always wanted to go and heard Richard was the best tour guide. So I said I was interested and eventually committed to going. Somewhere between saying yes to going and the actual planning of the trip, I became single. The five of us met regularly to create an itinerary and watch Game of Thrones at Richard’s apartment. We also started a group chat and thus my interaction with Richard increased exponentially.
In retrospect, I set myself up. Because, of course, during one of these group rendezvous, I just had to show everyone this awesome Star Wars t-shirt. And who texts me about it privately and not in the Japan group chat? And then who segues this Star Wars chat into “We should hang out sometimes”? I was thoroughly confused. I thought we had been hanging out already? I screenshotted the conversation and sent it to Danish. “Well have you ever thought of him like that?” she asked. “Well, no I haven’t” I replied. Again, confusion. I was expecting more of a “LOL really?” reaction. Anh, however, told me to tell Richard that I was busy and had to go to Costco. Again, confusion. I filled in TuVy and she told me that she could picture us together. Was I the only one who overlooked this potential union?
Yes.
Actually, this is getting too long and detailed. In summation: We hung out. I let him borrow a book. I said I still needed time to be by myself. We hit pause. Barely. After a week, he texted me about said book. I went back and forth about whether or not I should respond. I responded. Feelings developed and I tried to suppress it. We went out on a proper date for my birthday and I knew I was in trouble. Eleven years and a book was all it took.
P.S. He still hasn’t finished the book.
Anh: I was at Costco and she was trying to get out of a date. This was kind of a weird/tricky spot for me because I also know Richard and we’ve been friends for a really long time. But in that moment, being a supportive friend to Becca, I laughed and jokingly replied, “Just tell him you can’t because you gotta go to Costco.”
Advice — heeded.
Some weeks went by, Richard and I had our own little meet-cute. KIDDINGGGGG… lol No! He was my drinking buddy, so we met up for drinks at Vessel. We always catch up over drinks and dating was always the main topic. He talked about Becca, but wasn’t sure if she was interested in him. While he spoke of her, flashbacks of the Costco conversation relentlessly replayed in my head. I kept thinking they would actually be perfect for each other because they both liked “the same weird shit”. 😂 I told them this verbatim. We eventually texted her to meet us that night at Vessel and she came out! Who knew this night was the vessel that sparked a new chapter.
TL;DR
He said HI!
She said BYE!
I said TRY!
She said YES!
He feels BLESSED!
The end.
Richard: I’ve always had an attraction for Becca since we had met back in 2006, but I never really had a chance to ask her out because of conflicting circumstances. But in the summer of 2017, I heard through the grapevine that she was newly single. “Oh shit, this is my chance,” I said to myself as I sat in my office at work. Not wanting to waste any time, I immediately texted her, making small talk about Star Wars before dropping the bomb. “Hey let’s hang out some time.” Wracked with nerves, I tossed my phone into my work backpack so I wouldn’t check it incessantly. Thirty seconds later, I checked my phone anyway and to my surprise, she agreed! Things were looking good.
“Hey I won’t be able to hang out tonight because I’ve got an office party to go to, but let’s hang out another time,” Becca texted me. “Well, so much for that,” I thought. I shot my shot and it didn’t work out. Becca did eventually invite me to hang out, but it was with a group of her friends. Relegated to the friend zone, I was disappointed, figuring that that was the end of anything happening between us. Later on in the month, over drinks at a bar Anh asked me if there was anyone in our circle of friends that interested me. “Actually I asked Becca out not long ago and she agreed at first. But she canceled on me so I guess that’s that.” Coincidentally, Becca texted Anh to meet up that very same night. The three of us, along with a couple other friends, had a nice night of drinking around town, and eventually headed back to my apartment. On the way there, Anh was incredibly adamant that I stop by McDonald’s to pick up chicken nuggets for Becca. “Bruh, you HAVE to get these nuggets for her.” For some reason, I ended up not picking up the chicken nuggets and Anh was visibly aggravated with me. “How could you not get her the nuggets??” I was really confused, like “Damn, Becca loves nuggets that much?” But unbeknownst to me, Anh had been playing match maker all night, convincing Becca to give me a shot, and Anh wanted me to impress her with chicken nuggets. Apparently the key to Becca’s heart is McDonald’s. Through the following week, Becca and I hung out as friends in group settings, yet I could tell that something was building between us that was more than just friends.
On August 5, 2017 I was planning to see a San Holo show at Republic and I texted the groupchat to invite anyone to join me, but really the invitation was aimed at Becca. She was the only one who agreed to meet up and that’s when I knew that there really was something there. At the show, waiting for Becca to arrive, I was elated with the promise of the night and then there she was. Dressed all in white from White Linen Night, she came to me and we immediately held hands as we navigated the crowd. We made our way upstairs to our table section, and as San Holo started his set, amidst the packed club of people going crazy, we locked eyes and kissed. There were a couple hiccups in the week to follow, mostly Becca rejecting me again to be just friends, but really I’d say that’s when we started dating.