Although I’d moved a thousand miles away, Jack and I managed to see each other at least every couple months. In late May, home for my nephew’s third birthday, I made sure to leave time for a night out with Jack. His birthday was the following week.
Jack picked me up from my girlfriend’s house where I was staying, and we drove to dinner at a restaurant next to Pike Place Market. He put his arm around me as we walked behind the hostess and pulled out my chair for me when we got to the table. I’d always appreciated his chivalry, and especially now. Whatever refinement I’d known in my previous life was all but absent from the way I’d been living.
The hostess quickly returned with a glass of champagne for each of us because we were celebrating.
“Cheers!” she said as she walked away. We clinked glasses and settled in.
Conversation always came easily between us. I was amused by Jack’s snark and he laughed at my jokes. I don’t think of myself as a particularly funny person but seeing myself through his eyes, I felt like it. With him I felt dynamic and insightful, like my very best self.
Because of his job as a radio personality, he had to be up on everything that was happening in the world, so he always had interesting things to talk about. It was his job to be entertaining, and I was charmed. I loved how happy he looked sitting across from me. It had been a year since his wife died and his dating life was taking off. I welcomed his stories. When our martinis arrived, we shared another toast.
“Happy birthday to the best friend I never saw coming,” I told him. “I feel so lucky the Universe put us together. I love you.”
My eyes welled with tears of affection. I had told him I loved him in the emails we exchanged, but never out loud.
“Awww.”
He put his hand over his heart the way I’d seen him do when he was touched by something.
“Thank you. I love you, too. But really, I’m the lucky one. You gave me hope in the future when I couldn’t see a way forward.”
We stood up from the table to give each other a hug. When we sat back down, we both had to wipe away tears.
Halfway through my entrée, full of martini and wine, I told him something I hadn’t yet. “Did I ever tell you I went and saw a psychic shortly after we met?”
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