A Love Story...continued

A Love Story...continued

If you missed Part 1 of this story, you may want to start here.

This time, Mr. Hot Tea would not be deterred. After no luck searching for my business card in the office, he contacted my teammate to get my number. She called to ask what happened and if it was okay to share my info with him. I was surprised and totally not interested. I mean, I just had my heart broken by a "younger" man and wasn't looking for someone like this as my rebound:

Image via www.notjustnewmovies.com / 

Movie Credit Love and Other Drugs

She assured me that he was 'older' and that it wouldn't hurt for me to have friends in the field.  Point taken, and I gave up the digits for a good time. Anyone old enough to remember this?

Image via www.geekologie.com

Ten minutes later, little did I know I was chatting it up with my future husband! Mr. HT apologized profusely about the office incident. I learned that he lived with and took care of his mom and that his grandparents house had burnt down a few weeks earlier. Through it all, he maintained a positive and cheerful attitude. There's something very attractive to me about a man who cares so much for his family. Hmmm, maybe there was potential here.

He texted a few days later and invited me out for coffee, except he doesn't drink coffee. He prefers TEA! And he was feeling hungry, so he asked if I would like to eat soup instead. How tricky! He got me out on a date and I was none the wiser. We met at P.F. Chang's where the wonton soup would win over my heart. 

From this... 

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to this.

Image via innasdailyfix.blogspot.com

We talked and talked. I thought he was a slick 25 year-old salesman. When Mr. HT told me he was 39 years old, I didn't believe it - he looked so young! I know age ain't nothing but a number, but this was quite an age difference. I had dated guys 2 to 3 years older, but not 7. Then again, I wasn't looking for a date so it didn't really matter either way. Right?

A few days later, Mr. HT visited me to go for a walk on the beach. We were still in friend mode -- so I thought -- until he showed up with my childhood favorite ice cream [mint chocolate chip] and homemade lumpia [a Filipino eggroll] from his mom. Yum!

Image via bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com

Here's where we shifted from friends to future love. This man listened to what I had to say and heard me express wants and needs. He paid attention and demonstrated thoughtfulness to go out of his way to do something nice for me. Whoa. Totally unexpected and exactly the best thing to happen to me. I accepted his generosity, a value I had yet to be fully shown in a relationship. To commemorate the walk and in true Asian style, we captured a photo of that first date.

* personal photo *

And that, my friends, is how our love story began!

Do you remember the first time you had those feelings shift to more than friends? Was it a slow simmer or hot right from the start?