The Jon and Carrie Love Story, part 11

You may recall (in part 7) the Jon's friends and my friends were polar opposites. Basically, we didn't cross over and hang out with one another. Which is why I was surprised Jon had asked me out at all.

And now it was time to explain myself to my friends. Our meeting place was at the house of one of the guys in the group. It happened to be a stone's throw from my old basement apartment.

"You went out with Jon?"

"How was that?"

"Did you guys kissssss?"

They all got a good laugh at my expense. Thanks, guys.

Tori, as I would find out, had other plans. Devious plans. She was probably in the midst of concocting them right at that second.

I went home for Christmas and then came back into town, back to work and back to travel season. I didn't give my first date with Jon another thought, except when Tori kept bringing it up.

"So he wasn't a gentleman. So what! You should go out with him again!. You'd be the perfect person to train him. You could help this poor guy become a gentleman."

"Yeah, whatever Tori."

She kept bugging me. She had planted a seed in my brain. But the idea would sit for a few weeks. She did have something right. I would be the perfect person to train him.

Sometime in mid-January, I was bored at work. "What the heck?" I emailed Jon. I still have a copy of the email somewhere.

In a nutshell, I told him he drove a snowmobile like a maniac, and that he wasn't a gentleman on our date. BUT I offered to go out with him again, to train him to be a better date. To be able to get more ladies. A public service if you will.

It was a Monday afternoon, and unbeknownst to me, Jon had gone home from work early that day. He hadn't read the email.

Family Home Evening. I walked in and hung out with my friends, but I noticed Jon out of the corner of my eye. I wondered if I had been too forward with that email. Oh well. Not like I liked him or anything. No harm done.

The game that night involved small group Pictionary. Somehow, the stars aligned, or Tori slipped somebody a $20.... but Jon and I ended up on the same team.

For some reason, I remember I was dressed sharp, wearing my sleek, long black coat. Jon was in a dark red hoodie. His mood was playful. We played a few rounds, and then it was my turn to draw the clue for my team to guess. Alter. The word was alter.

"Go!"

I started drawing a marriage alter. It was the only thing I could think of, ok? I drew a little couple and an alter. Everyone was so confused. Everyone, of course, but Jon. It was like our minds were in sync.

"Marriage! Alter!"

"You got it!"

Somebody said something, they made fun of Jon guessing it. I guess since it had to do with marriage and we were in an LDS Singles Branch, it was a requirement for them to act weird at the thought of the word. But I didn't feel weird. I didn't feel weird at all.

Tori and I decided to head to Red Robin that night. I don't know if she'll ever reveal if she knew ahead of time, but as we arrived, Jon and a bunch of his friends were there, too. Huh. What a coincidence.

Tori and I sat down. We could see the other Singles Branch people, but we couldn't hear them. We ordered and eventually, Jon got up and headed our way. He plopped down right next to me.

He was so... giddy. He was goofy. And funny. He was in a dark red hoodie. Hoodies are my faaaaavorite. For the first time in our year and three months of knowing each other, I actually thought Jon looked cute.

We talked, and giggled, and I am sure Tori and Jon tried to out-talk each other again (thankfully this time there were no stairs involved, so Tori was safe from any bones breaking). I excused myself and went to the bathroom.

Later, as Tori would tell me, she asked Jon a very important question.

"Did you get Carrie's email?"

"What email?"

Tori proceeded to tell him that I had "asked him out" and something like "she likes you" and blah blah blah. Nice one Tori. Nice. Way to play matchmaker.

I came back, and though I didn't think it was possible, Jon was even more giddy than before. He didn't waste much time. He asked me out for that Friday night.

"Uh, sure!" I didn't mention the email. And neither did he.

At some point I thought for sure Jon would jump right out of his seat. He was beaming, and fidgity. Once I was done eating and they took my plate away, I rested my hands on the table. Somehow Jon thought it was ok to rest his hands on mine.

"We're not dating." I scolded him.

"Oh! Sorry!" He was grinning from ear to ear.

It was like he knew something I didn't. >>Continue to Part 12