Another Saturday morning, a day for hangover recovery. In other words, I will be drinking large quantities of water and eating soup while swearing off alcohol for the rest of my life. At the age of 23 and a recent college graduate, this has been my routine for nearly five years.
Normally these Saturdays are the most miserable days one could possibly experience, but today, just like every other Saturday over the past three months feels much better than all that have come before. That is because as I roll over my eyes fall on the most beautiful woman I have ever known.
First, let me tell a little about myself. I am just an average guy. I'm not overweight, but I am certainly no Brad Pitt. I have blonde hair, green eyes, and I am usually sporting a farmer's tan that any construction worker would envy. Recently, I had made an effort to lose weight and get in better shape. The results are beginning to show as I have dropped from 215 pounds to 195 pounds. My ultimate goal is somewhere in the 170-175 range, but that is a few months off.
In order to lose this weight I completely altered my diet from a beer and pizza based diet to one based on fruits, veggies, and home cooked meals. I say all this so that you may understand how I met my current girlfriend.
One day while running my daily mile at the local park, I saw what can be described only as beauty incarnate. I was smitten immediately. She was without question my dream girl: black hair that hung just below her shoulders, a slight tan, toned body, and a small smattering of freckles on her nose and shoulders. Throw in her beautiful brown eyes and a smile that could melt steel and it's safe to say that I did not see the tree I ran into.
As I was getting to my feet, completely embarrassed that I had managed to run into a tree, she ran up to me and asked if I was okay. Although I was ashamed at what had happened, I couldn't help but stare at this gorgeous creature before me. She seemed truly concerned with my well being and asked what happened.
Apparently, my run in with the tree had knocked me senseless as I immediately responded, "I was too busy staring at you." Instantly I realized what I had said and apologized for my outburst, blaming it on the heat, fatigue, and the tree.
My outburst did not bother her at all as she flashed that heart fluttering smile and gave me a look that said, "Thank you." Needless to say my cheeks were red for reasons beyond the mile I had nearly completed.
She extended her hand and said, "I'm Lacey."
Excepting her outstretched hand, "Nice to meet you Lacey, my name's Neil." How soft her hands were; I did not want to let go.
Either out of pity or genuine concern Lacey led me back to the parking lot and made sure I was okay.
"I'm fine, I promise," I told her, "my ego may be a bit damaged, but I am no worse for the wear."
It was then that I thought she would say good-bye and go about her business, but she was about to shock me with the greatest words I've ever heard: "Well since I'm the cause of your pain and anguish, let me make it up to you by taking you out for dinner tonight." I was dumbfounded. Here was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and she was asking me to dinner!
I must have seemed a bumbling fool when I responded. "Yeah! That'd be great, I mean, if you know, that's cool or whatever." Idiot, every time, to say I was less than stellar when it came to dealing with women would be the understatement of the year.
Stifling a giggle she smiled and for the first time I noticed the twinkle in her eyes and my stomach and heart began turning somersaults. So we exchanged numbers and I gave her my address as she said this date was on her.
The rest of the day all I could think about was Lacey. Everywhere I looked I saw her smile, her eyes, and those freckles that gave her a cuteness that I would rate as a 100 on a 10 point scale. We had agreed that she would pick me up at 7 o'clock so when 6 o'clock rolled around I hopped in the shower. I made sure to shave and even ironed my polo shirt and jeans so that I would look as good as possible for our agreed upon casual date.
When she knocked on the door I nearly tripped over my coffee table as I ran to greet her. When I opened the door my jaw dropped as she stood before my in a sexy light red sundress that took my breath away. Noticing my reaction she flashed that knowing smile and asked if I was ready to go. Wiping the drool from my chin and pulling myself back together I told her that I was ready to go to the ends of the earth if she wanted.
We decided for a nice little pizza and pasta restaurant that had outdoor seating so that we could enjoy the wonderful Alabama spring weather. The food was as always terrific, but the company was endlessly more enjoyable as we spent nearly two hours eating, sipping wine, and telling each other the generic first date information about ourselves.
Finally Lacey suggested we hit up a quiet little martini bar in the town just 5 miles away so that we could talk some more. Completely enthralled as I was, I would have agreed to anything this goddess wanted.
We spent another 3 hours sipping martinis and cocktails and started talking about more personal things. It became quickly apparent to both of us that we were definitely hitting it off extremely well and we both were comfortable enough with each other to discuss things that were usually reserved for later dates.
When midnight rolled around, Lacey popped a question that caught me completely off guard and started a conversation that solidified her in my mind as my dream girl and soul mate.