Well now, I know some of you don't know this story! How did Ryan and I meet? I mean we are this boring old married couple now with two kids, and a dog, and blah blah blah, but the story of how we met is at least a tiny bit interesting! Anywho here goes!
I have to start a little ways back and build up to our story but we will get there I promise!
When I graduated from HS life was pretty insane! I moved to Pittsburg...Kansas that is...and moved into a house with two roommates, both of whom had boyfriends who practically lived at our house instead of their own, was enrolled at FSCC, and on the hunt for a job close to where I was living. I had a job whenever I needed it at my dad's restaurant but that was a forty-five minute drive away and I needed something closer to me. On top of all of these new changes my boyfriend of almost two years and I had in our growing processes managed to move four hours away from one another! So life was pretty rough for me at this moment in time. After a short while though, I managed to find a job at Pizza Hut. Right down the street and within walking distance from my house! The boyfriend and I had worked out a schedule and things were going good, things were alright with the roommates, and even school was alright. Things had started to look up! Seems to me about the time they started to look up they started to look right back down again.
I wasn't making enough from my Pizza Hut gig to cover my bills so I had to start looking for a third job! I, at this point, was working for my dad, Pizza Hut, and had finally managed to find a job at the movie theater in an attempt to cover all my bills and my own fun expenses...see folks Amber had taken up the nasty habit of smoking (which I have quit now at least), and at four bucks a pack that stuff ain't cheap! Anyway, between school and three jobs there wasn't a lot of time for the boyfriend and we weren't doing so hot together. So in one final ditch attempt to fix our troubles I drove the four hours to see him.
I only had a day. I drove up, we hung out, I got to stay the night, and then I had to leave the next morning so I could get back in time for class that afternoon. This visit didn't go well and the trip ended in us ending our two year relationship. It was great...NOT! I had a four hour drive back home to think about all I had done to ruin things between the two of us. I was miserable. I held my shit together long enough to make the trip to my best friend's house and once I got there, I cried like a big baby. Cried until there seemed to be no more liquid in my body. I felt as though my heart had been ripped out, shredded, chewed up, spit out, and stomped on. During all this crying I managed to miss the class that I was supposed to go to but did remember that I had to work. I couldn't lose my job, I had to be there. So I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, made the rest of my journey home, took a long hot shower, and got ready for work.
Work that night was dead slow, and when you are waitressing dead slow means hanging out being bored. My co-worker and I who had been slowly becoming friends got to chatting during this boring time and she happened to ask how my trip to see my boyfriend went. At the mention of his name all bad thoughts came back into play and the tears started streaming hot and evil down my face. They gave me away. Showed the pain I was trying to hide until back in the privacy of my own room. I did my best to stop the tears and tell my friend what was wrong. I explained the break up, and the drive home, and how horrible and depressed I was feeling, how crawling into a hole and dieing sounded really fun for me right about then. She did her best to make me laugh. So did all my other co-workers. I was this sad little sap who needed cheering up and they did their best. Shaunisty (my co-worker friend) had the best idea of all, "Come to my house." she said, "I'm having a party. Come drink your sorrows away." I liked that idea. A night of booze and self-pity sounded right up my alley. I told her I would come to her party and she was happy to have given me something to do, aside from sit alone and cry. She even said there would be some cute boys there, sounded like fun to me. Even though the boy notion didn't interest me too much, as I still only had room in my heart and my head for one boy.
I left work that night feeling no happier than when I had gone in. I was still boyfriendless, and felt terribly alone. Even the prospect of the party didn't make me smile. I got home and was gonna cancel but then decided the free booze sounded like a good fixer for my problem. Plus, I didn't want to be in the house with my roommates and their lovey dovey boyfriends. Yuck it made me sick. So I got cleaned up and headed to Shaunisty's house.
Once at the party I realized that the only person I knew was Shaunisty, and I honestly didn't know her that well. Great opportunity to meet new people, not the smartest time to get smashed off my ass. So I sat back and watched everyone else drink. About an hour into the party Shaunisty and I were chatting, and to keep my mind busy I asked about these cute guys she had said were coming. See at this point the party mostly consisted of girls and a few black fellas, and no offense but I am a white meat kind of girl. She explained that her friend Ryan and his buddies were on their way and would be stopping in soon. She seemed to think that Ryan was a stud and so cute but when he finally arrived I must admit, I didn't get it. I thought he was funny looking and had zero interest in this boy. He and his friends showed up half smashed and they had their toenails painted. Yes I did just say their toenails were painted! I had no interest. On top of the break up they were just not my type at all. So since my interest was lost fairly quickly in the new comers I went back to my small talk and when a new drinking game began I decided to join in the fun! The drinking game didn't go far though because we ran out of booze. So discussions started about who had booze and who could drive them to get it. I became the DD as I was the only sober person there, and as luck would have it Ryan had a good amount of alcohol at his house we just had to go pick it up.
So here I am, a young girl heading to a strange guy's place to pick up booze for a party I wasn't even interested in at that point. Now that I think back on this though I realize it's a good thing Ryan wasn't a murderer or rapist because my dumb butt went alone with this six foot four, 275 pound gentle giant, to his house. He had given me half slurred directions and we had managed to make it to his place and I even managed to get him inside. He was drunk enough he was stumbling through the place, yet sober enough he still knew part of what he was doing. I got a tour and was even introduced to his gorgeous husky Blue. Part of the tour that he doesn't remember giving was his bedroom. The boy tried to sleep with me that night and he doesn't even remember it! Actually, he doesn't remember the trip to his house much at all. After the failed attempt to sleep with me, the tour, letting the dog out to do her buisness, and retrieving the alcohol we headed back to the party.
We pulled back in and people had started to scatter. The party was winding down and the alcohol we had just retrieved wasn't even needed. So we plopped ourselves down on the porch and began chatting with Ryan's friends, Dave and Murph. I decided they were fun guys! Maybe not my type for a date but they were all sweet, and kind, and good for a laugh in my time of need. At one point Ryan even mentioned that we should have taken his car to his house instead of mine. I said, "Well which car is yours?" He pointed to a very pretty white trans am that I kind of fell in love with. It was because of that car I gave him my number. I had no interest in him, just in his car, and taking it for a spin. After drooling a little more over his car I decided I wanted to go home. You see I was still single, and broken hearted. I had fun and the party did take my mind off things for a while, but I was still aching inside and needed to be alone. I promised to call Shaunisty the next day, and Ryan even said he would call me sometime soon, and with those promises made I left the party and headed for my house.
Once home I figured I wouldn't hear from Ryan and that didn't bother me. I wasn't ready for a relationship. I wasn't ready to do anything but cry over the love I had just lost. I cried myself to sleep that night and awoke the next day around noonish to my phone ringing. When checking my phone I saw a message that I would see a lot in the near future: Ryan calling.
*Stay tuned for the tale of how it was we came to be a couple*
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