He told me to be at Earl’s Court Tube Station, at 8pm, by the florist. Nothing else.
I was late, very late and that was the very beginning of our dating. I rushed out of the tube and made my way to the ‘way out’, thinking…’it’s just past 9pm, no way he is still there…
And I was right, he wasn’t there… My heart started to sink…
Suddenly, I see him right next to me, buying a bunch of flowers, with that charming smile, handing me the flowers, giving me a kiss and saying to me:’ You’ve just arrived, right?!’ and I ‘ Yes…’ and he ‘I know, I saw you, I was on the tube just opposite to you.’ – cheeky little smile on his lips.
‘You were late, too!?!’ – Victorious smile on my face this time!
‘No, I wasn’t and I am not’.
‘How come? You said 8pm and it’s past 9pm!!’ That makes us both late.
‘That makes you late, not me’. You see, I figured you are always late so I told you to be here at least an hour before the time I intended to meet you.’ He then, hugged me, and we started to walk away.
It was cold, February 14th, London. My first time abroad, I did not even had a clue it was Valentine’s Day; let alone what ‘Valentine’ was. I was just a girl, he was a PhD student, at Imperial College – the latter meant absolutely nothing to me. All that mattered for me were the deep blue eyes, his cleverness, his travels, his brains.
We dined in a nearby little restaurant, owned by a Hungarian. He helped me choose my meal – my English was not that great at the time. In between meal and dessert; he calls the guy playing the violin, and starts singing in Hungarian for me! Looking at me in the eyes, saying things I could not comprehend and all I could possibly think was:
Who is this guy?!?!Where does he come from??? (Hungary…hello?!)
We leave the restaurant, and snow starts to fall, it was beyond romantic- I don’t really like romantic stuff – this was bewildering!
He makes sure I get onto the right tube and we kiss (O yes, we do!) goodbye…
I was just a girl. Today, I am his wife and we live in California with our 3 wonderful children. They’ve all inherited different hues of his deep blue eyes. When I look at them, I see flashbacks of our story, which started in London, 20 years ago, and remains in my memory as an incredible fate!
The End! Or, not quite…;)
Happy Valentines!
Adri xxx
Adri and her 3 