Jeremy and I met during first semester freshman year of college when a tornado passed through our campus and we were evacuated to the basement of our dorm. We lived in the same dorm, but had not yet met. He was funny, and smart, and a bit of a hippie. We were instant friends. And we stayed friends throughout all of college.
But Jeremy always had a crush on me, which I knew and pretended not to. We had so much fun together—we’d drive into Bethesda to see fun art house movies, we’d go to museums together in DC, we’d go out for nice dinners. During sophomore year he called me on Valentine’s Day telling me to come out to his car, he had something to tell me. When I got out to the car, he had flowers waiting for me and lots of Swedish Fish. It was the sweetest thing ever! And one of the only times in my life when I have received a Valentine’s Day gift. But despite all of the attention that he gave me and all of the wonderful conversations that we had over the years, I was never attracted to him.
After college I moved back up to New York and he moved to Philly. He got a good job there, cut his hair, bought some suits and slowly became a grown up. When I passed through Philly this summer for a shoot, he came out to meet me when we were shooting near his office in Love Park. He was adorable! I couldn’t believe how grown up he had gotten. We hadn’t seen each other in over a year—his hair was shorter, he was wearing a cute polo t-shirt and slacks, and he had gotten all muscley. He was so manly all of a sudden! And we picked up right where we left off, as always.
When I came back to New York, I found Jeremy creeping into my thoughts more than usual. We would talk occasionally, but nothing really changed in the dynamic of our friendship.
But this past Tuesday Jeremy texted me telling me that he was in town and he’d love to see me. I had dinner plans with friends, but I told him he should come meet me afterwards, and he did. We had a few drinks and caught up. It was great to see him—he looked as cute as I had remembered him looking in Philly this summer. We walked back to my apartment from the bar, which was a good 30 blocks. It was a lovely evening, and we stopped to admire Lincoln Center as we passed by. It was sort of romantic. We hung out at my place for a while and talked some more. Finally around 1am, we looked up train times and the next train back to Philly wasn’t until 4am. I told him that he should crash at my place, and I wouldn’t take no for an answer. We got into bed together and Jeremy automatically snuggled me into him. It felt wonderful, almost electric. My heart was beating pretty quickly; I knew I wanted him to kiss me, but I also was hoping that he wouldn’t. We’ve been friends for so long, crossing that line is always terrifying. But he did kiss me. And it was wonderful. We made out for a while, and then talked for a bit. He told me that he had been waiting for this moment for almost a decade. He had wanted this from the moment he met me. I didn’t know what to say. So I kissed him again. And then we went to sleep.
In the morning, we made out some more and then I had to take a phone call for work. When I was on the phone, he grabbed my keys and went out to get us breakfast. He came back with a huge and beautiful bouquet of flowers and a grocery bag full of food to cook breakfast for me. He cooked while I showered and when I got out there was an amazing feast set up at my table, with the gorgeous flowers sitting in a vase in the middle of it all. I was so happy, I was speechless.
I suppose it’s sort of complicated because he lives in Philly, although at the same time, maybe that makes it sort of perfect. It’s far, but not too far. He told me he’ll be back in NYC in a few weeks and he’d like to see me again. I told him I’d like that alot. He kissed me goodbye at the door as he was leaving and leaned in to whisper “you are a beautiful, smart, funny, cool girl. I just want you to know that.”
I kissed him again, and he was gone. I’ve been thinking about him. I’m excited for him to come back in a few weeks.
