Four Years Part 2

Justin and I were very determined not to rush into things, no matter how much we liked each other. And we liked each other alot. On our second date Justin took me to my favorite restaurant: IHOP. This was back when there were IHOPS. Anyway, I dove into my cupcake pancakes. This was back when Justin was so nervous he didn’t eat on dates. At the end of the meal, the issue of who would pay came up. Feminism has made this so complicated. I didn’t want to make him pay since I had eaten most of the food but I didn’t want to be rude and rebuff his chivalry. The waiter told us he would give us some more time to decide. Justin decided he would pay which was sweet of him. The waiter returned and Justin handed over his credit card. Then the waiter said “Good now she’ll give you a happy ending” I think we both blushed the exact same shade of pink. Because that was not what this was. When he left Justin leaned over the table and said “Just to be clear, I don’t expect anything from you” I didn’t think he did. He wasn’t that kind of guy. 

We waited for a few weeks to make it official. I remember he asked me after we saw the Robert Pattinson Batman movie in theaters. We met each others friends. We met each others families. In August we went on our first overnight trip to Mystic to go to the aquarium. I was disappointed there were not any sharks (I have a thing about sharks. In case you haven’t seen the book) but there was a very friendly beluga whale named Josh. Plus all sorts of creatures in tanks including a spider crab which looked very cool.  At the hotel, I could not sleep. Justin was in a very deep sleep as I watched all the Harry Potter movies on TV out of order. That really bothered me. Not that Justin was asleep. But that the movies were out of order. 

That Christmas my mom and dad took us back to Mystic to examine the ships and historical shipping community. But it was practically  monsooning. My socks were plastered to my soaking feet as we hunkered down in one of the buildings. The puddles were practically lakes. Thank God we found a restaurant with great fried calamari. After dinner there was a horsedrawn carriage ride and hot chocolate with Santa. Justin and I soon found out this was very typical of our dates together. They didn’t go exactly as planned but we always found a way of making the most of it and even enjoying it.