The Dream Man - Part III

It was a little later into the evening at the rehearsal dinner. Kimberly and Brad's rehearsal dinner. Everyone was seated.

Toast Time!

One by one everyone who knew the bride or groom, stood up and said a few words about them or shared something funny about them. The last toast was reserved for the bride and the groom. Brad stood up and clinked his glass.

“Thank you everyone for being a part of our special day. Today I am going to tell you a story, our story. Kimberly promised me that I would be allowed to tell everyone the story, and I would like to share this with the world because I don't think there will ever be a greater story. I met this lovely dame at the home of a common friend.  I was there for a holiday and my friend had invited me over to socialise. A while into the evening and the bell rang. When my friend opened the door, she let out this squeal which I was hoping was a happy squeal. I glanced in the direction of the door, and there she was. Hugging, no actually squishing my friend, and she was squishing her right back. Her simplicity is what caught my eye. It was a party but she was dressed in a simple top and jeans. I couldn't see a hint of makeup on her. She was glowing, she literally lit up the room. I was smitten. Pretty cliché right?”

Everyone was laughing.

“She looked younger than me, well duh!! But I decided to go talk to her anyway. When I approached her the first thing that came out of her mouth was not 'hi' or 'hello' it was, 'wow you are tall!'. Well I am as you can see. So after conversing for the entire evening and literally not leaving her side. No really! I didn't leave her side, I saw a few guys in the party eying her and I just wanted to make sure she wasn't asked out by anyone else! Anyway, so I finally muster up the courage to ask her out. Surprisingly she said yes, which later on turned out because she didn't believe in saying no to people who asked her out, because she knew how much effort that takes. So we decided to meet for dinner the next day. Dinner was fantastic, I liked her even more if that was possible. By the end of that date I was in love with her, I mean it, I was! I knew she was the one even though she was 8 years younger than me. Yes Yes all of you can laugh now.”

By now, the girls had their “awww” faces on and the guys were just laughing. Kimberly was blushing, but she had tears in her eyes too. Tears that only Kevin could see through that smile. Kevin did not know if he wanted to listen to the story. He sat there anyway.

“So finally at the end of the night, I finally told her that I liked her and I would like to see more of her. She looked down, suddenly her smile vanished. She said she would love that, but there was something that she had to tell me. I was suddenly scared. We sat down with a cup of coffee and she started telling me about her past. She told me she had only dated once before. That guy was the perfect guy for her. She loved him a lot then. She said he broke her heart and more importantly her trust. She told me what he did and I could understand exactly how she was feeling.”

“Kevin! How could you? How could you do this to me? What did I do wrong to deserve this? How could you?” Kimberly was kneeling down on the floor at Kevin's house just bawling her eyes out. “How could you cheat on me? You broke me. You broke my heart. How could you break my trust? I told you one thing, one thing only! Please do not break my trust. You did just THAT! WHY??”

A sudden sob beside Kevin jolted him out of his thoughts and back to the present where Brad was narrating his story.

“She told me she was over him, that she didn't feel anything for him anymore. But there was one thing that he had taken away forever. 'I cant trust anymore, Brad' she told me. She went on to tell me about her insecurities that she had developed after this incident. I tried to reassure her, I told her that I had more reasons to be insecure about her. She was younger, more beautiful, and looks didn't matter to her. So he had competition from the guys who were intellectual when he wasn't that smart himself. She wasn't convinced. Finally I asked her if she liked me. She said yes. I told her I want to spend the rest of my time that I was there with her, and she shouldn't think about anything else and just say yes. She was reluctant but I knew what I was doing. I convinced her. We spend the next two weeks together almost 24 hours a day.  The more I got to know her, the more I fell in love with her. It was the last day of my vacation, I could see that see was sad as soon as I met her. 'Now what?' she asked me. How is this going to work? You like me and I do too. But we live miles apart. How is this going to work. I mean even if I want to trust you I need you to be around for me to start trying. But you wont be. I told her I would win her trust. I just told her not to give up. She didn't seem convinced. So I gave her this box with a ticket to where I stay. I promise I will win your trust and when you start trusting me just use this ticket and come to me.”

“Awwww!!!!” the entire women population in that restaurant said in unison!

Brad continued..

“'What if this doesn't happen? What if you find someone else?' She asked me with tears in her eyes. You are the one for me, I told her. I am older and I am tired of chasing women Kimberly. I want you in my life. She was crying by now, she looked up at me and said, 'what if I don't ever end up trusting you?' Then tear this ticket and send it back to me. I will vanish. No questions asked. I promise."