Being raised a military brat, I never cared to date a marine-or anyone in the military for that matter. However, living in a military town, I inevitably met a guy one night when I was out with my best friend. We will call him B. So B asked me my name and we had small talk for a while before I asked him if he was a Marine, and he hesitated before telling me yes. A few minutes later, we were exchanging phone numbers. He seemed nice enough. The following week, we went on a few dates, and I started to see some personality flaws in B, and decided I didn't like him very much. Almost as if he could read my mind, he asked me if I would attend the ball with him. As much as I didn't enjoy spending time with him, I was excited to go, so I said yes. I know, that doesn't seem like the wisest decision, but it would soon prove to be the best decision I would ever make.
So for the two weeks leading up to the ball I got a beautiful dress, matching shoes and accessories, and found a gorgeous hair and makeup look that I could actually recreate. I was excited. At the same time, B and I were hanging out less and less, and I was beginning to suspect he was spending his time with someone else.
The morning of the ball, I was annoyed because I hadn't heard from B in two days, and was feeling foolish for spending money and agreeing to go in the first place. When he finally called to say he was on his way, it was an hour past the time we agreed on going and I was livid! If I hadn't bought a dress, I wouldn't be going, and I told myself I wouldn't even speak to him again after the ball. So when he pulled up into the driveway, I took a deep breath and grabbed my overnight bag. I barely looked at him when he rang the doorbell, apologizing for being late. While he made small talk with my parents, and assured them he'd take good care of me (pffft) I looked out the window and saw two other guys in B's car! As we walked outside, and he opened the trunk for my bag, I couldn't believe my date to the ball was going to be spent with a guy I didn't even like, and two other guys I didn't even know. To top things off, when I came around to the front door to get in, the passenger didn't budge. He didn't even look at me, and B didn't say a word. So I had to sit in the back seat. I got in, slammed the door, and crossed my arms calling him every name in the book in my head. I turned to my left looking at the other guy in the back seat.
"Who are you?" I asked him, with a little too much attitude. He extended his hand, and replied,
"Alex". I shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Alex. I'm Aseaba".
For the rest of the 2 hour drive to Myrtle Beach, B was on his Bluetooth, and Alex and I got to know one another. He told me he was a Navy brat, and had been in the Marine Corps since he graduated high school, and I told him my father was a retired Marine. It turns out we didn't have much in common besides our initials, but he made me laugh and our conversation kept my mind off the jerk who's car we were riding in.
Once we got to the hotel, and got dressed, it occurred to me that B hadn't said five words to me since I got into the car, and I no longer cared, but he could have at least complimented me on my dress. He was totally ignoring me. As we walked into the lobby, Alex was behind me, and asked if the letter "A" tattooed on my left shoulder blade stood for Alex, and all I could do was laugh. He then told me how beautiful I looked; *smile* tonight wasn't so bad after all.
We ended up leaving early, because B wanted to head back and hit the club *eye roll* I was ready for the night to be over with. He hung his uniform up on the hook in the backseat of the car, so Alex had to sit on the hump in the middle and I sat in the seat on the right. B's reckless driving was tossing us around like crazy and we were crossing some major spacial boundaries. On the way home, the car was considerably quieter than it had been on the way to the ball, so Alex and I started typing words on our phones and showing one another instead of talking out loud. At one point we exchanged numbers and began texting our conversation. I found myself laughing more than I expected to. When we got to my house, I thanked Alex for making the night not-so-bad, and he and Mr. Front Seat stayed in the car. Once we got inside, B was hamming it up with my parents with made up stories about things that hadn't even happened and all the fun we had. I didn't even care. I was never going to see him again, and I was exhausted so I went straight to bed.
The next morning, I woke up to a text from Alex that said, "good morning, ACA. Hope you have a good day. -AKA". I couldn't help but smile. After that day, we never went a day without texting or talking on the phone; which led to date nights, meeting one another's friends, the holiday parade and meeting my parents on Christmas Day. Alex proposed on January 15, 2012 and we eloped on March 5.
It's been a whirlwind, but four years, two deployments, and two beautiful baby girls later, he still never fails to make me smile. Fall will always be my favorite time of year: crisp, cool air, pumpkins and apples, and the night I met the love of my life.
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