So wrong.
The next picture is of the deck after we set up for movie night. It had been more of an undertaking than any of us expected—and was the reason we had to drag out the Adirondack chairs—but the end result was a lot of fun. Loren had made these very intricate snack trays for each of us with popcorn and fresh strawberries. She baked these giant chocolate chip cookies, and then set up a candy counter with all kinds of boxed candy like you’d get at a movie theater. She might be a little batshit crazy at times, but she’s freaking amazing with food and hospitality stuff.
We watched Romancing the Stone first. I was fascinated watching the play of emotions on Olivia’s face and kept wondering if anything was inspiring her. We opted to do a double feature that night and went with Jewel of the Nile since it was essentially the sequel. The following night we went with Speed and Vanessa had snuck in The Bodyguard without anyone’s approval. We had voted on a specific selection, but she clearly convinced Zayne to help her get it as the second movie of the night.
I’ll never get that Whitney Houston song out of my head, but the movie was actually pretty good.
The slideshow keeps going, and the next picture is of me playing frisbee with Gunnar. I’m looking at it and I swear, I have always wanted a dog. I travel way too much to get one, but if I ever had the chance to eliminate that part of the job, that would be the very first thing I’d do—go to a shelter and adopt a dog.
I spent a lot of time helping Roxie with her three, and sometimes Olivia did too. She admitted she loves dogs; she just doesn’t want to sleep with the loud ones.
Hard to argue with that logic.
As the pictures go on, I realize we didn’t really take any that first week. Everything I’m looking at is from after all the drama—not that I’m complaining. It’s still great to have any pictures, but I particularly love the ones of me and Liv.
And there are a lot of them.
We took a ton of selfies—on the beach, in the pool, on the sofa, in the kitchen…if either of us had our phones nearby, she insisted on us getting a picture.
And…I get why. We were documenting everything because we’re not sure exactly when we’re going to see each other again. Yes, she’s going to move back to Raleigh, but that’s not going to happen overnight. My boss has my next few trips tentatively scheduled and I don’t want to make waves by asking him to give them to someone else. So…it could be weeks or even months before we’re together.
Her face appears on the screen.
Just her.
I don’t think she knew I was taking the picture. She’s sitting on one of the lounges with her legs crossed and her head tilted back. She’s smiling up at the sky, and her beauty just takes my breath away. This is the picture I’m always going to think of when I think of her.
Of course, the next one she definitely knew I was taking and she’s playfully sticking her tongue out at me.
So maybe now I’ll think of both.
And through it all, I’m smiling. I’m smiling because I’m looking at her and I know I smile when I’m thinking of her. I can’t remember a time in my life where I’ve ever felt this light, this happy, this content, this…hopeful.
My life has been better since I met this girl.
And I realize it’s because I’ve never been in love like this. I’ve been in relationships, but never clicked with someone the way I have with Olivia.
Now I miss her even more because I want to share how I feel with her and I hate that I have to wait until we land in like…five hours, until I can potentially talk to her.
The flight attendant comes over to get my drink order and offers me a variety of snacks. I ask for a soda and take a bag of chips and a packet of cookies. I thank her and I take this as my cue to pause the slideshow and open up my work files.
They’re not nearly as enjoyable and they certainly don’t make me smile, but it’s exactly what I need to be doing so I can get through this trip as quickly as possible.
“Wait…why was there a construction crew there? Did something happen?”
I’ve been in Dallas for three days and these nightly calls with Olivia are the highlights.
“Vanessa’s parents are going to do a major renovation on the house starting after we leave next week. The contractors had to come through today to go over some stuff. They did a walk-through while on video with her dad. We didn’t get to hear everything that they talked about, but Van says they’re practically going to take the place down to the studs!”
“Seriously? I thought it would just be cosmetic. I didn’t realize it needed extensive renovations like that.”
“I guess they need to upgrade the electrical and some of the plumbing too, so…”
“That makes sense.”
“Vanessa tried explaining all the new color schemes and the kind of furniture they’re going to buy, and it all sounds amazing. I told her we may need to reserve a week next summer for all of us again.”
I love how she’s already thinking like that.
