I was coming back to New Orleans from Vegas a few weeks ago
...and in the DFW airport I saw a guy boarding the plane, couldn't see him that well, but he looked so much like Bill that it was like getting an electric shock. It was so visceral and intense! It was like he was really there and not dead, like he didn't really die in my arms. We were on the same plane to New Orleans. I finally got a closer look at this guy at the baggage claim, and well, it wasn't Bill, but up to six feet away, it could have been: the baseball cap, the long red hair in a pony tail, the jacket, the jeans, the shoes, the shoes were even tied that wierd way... The guy picked up his luggage and went over to his wife and young baby...
I picked my bags up and started thinking maybe it's time that I began to try to tell the story about how we were in love.
This is how it started. How Bill and I fell in love.
I was working as a chef in a fairly hot New Orleans restaurant and I needed more talented cooks. My good friend introduced me to this guy, and I proceeded to seduce him to work for me. It wasn't about love, it was all about getting another cook.
He came to work for me. One night after work, we were talking over a few drinks and we crossed the border between employer and employee. Kind of suddenly, everything changed and we started dating and it seemed to me that we were fast becoming real close. I couldn't stop thinking about him.
One Saturday afternoon at work I asked him, (Bill) about Sunday, like what we might be doing together. He said that he had a date to meet this guy in City Park. (Talk about not seeing it coming! I felt like such an idiot. He obviously wasn't as into the situation as I was...) I thought that I handled it pretty well; I said "O.K. See you later" or something like that. He told me later that I looked like I had been stabbed in the back. (I thought I had hid it so well!)
Well, I was stunned, but I pulled myself together and ran the kitchen for the night, closed the place down and went home. I got up in the ayem and went to a bar where my friend worked and started having some serious sorry for myself cocktails. After an hour or so, I was joined by several of my best friends; it was nice to be with them and I started to feel better.
Then Bill walked in, came over to me, put his arms around me and hugged me. My heart was racing, I said, "I thought you had a date."
He whispered into my ear, "Yes, I did. I met him in the park, we talked for a few minutes, but then I realized that you were the one. I left him and came looking for you. I love you. I love you."
We kissed like really deeply and held each other for a while. I looked up over his shoulder and saw my friends looking at us and smiling, so happy because we were so happy and I thought "this has got to be one of the best moments of my life".
This was Bill and I was so helplessly in love.
It was funny for a while after that. You see, Bill was still working for me... I was the chef in this restaurant and he was one of my cooks... Well, of course we had to keep our love a secret from the rest of the staff. Somebody was bound to get jealous, and that sort of thing just isn't done; very bad management practice indeed. So there we were, rightously in love, but having to sneak around. It was exciting and wonderful, and it made everything so hot!
We were so golden, it showed, and little by little other people started to know at work. Soon almost everybody knew, but they all wanted to keep it a secret for us, like I said we were golden. I made plans to quit and look for a little business that we could run together with the money we both could put up. When I finally gave my notice, even the two owners of the restaurant knew, but they were the last to find out. I know this sounds hard to believe, but everyone was just so happy for the both of us.
I left the restaurant and worked full time on buying a business. Bill stayed there working as a cook; they liked him so much, they didn't wan't him to leave. We ended up buying the lil grocery and deli on the corner where I lived and moving into a huge apartment across the street. We didn't get married, we formed a corporation! hehe!
Bill really loved having a deli.
And I really loved having a deli with him. We worked together every day and we were together everyday and it worked very well.
There's about eight years worth of story that comes next, but i'm not going to try to tell that now. It was hard enough to get this far, the rest of the story will have to come later... For right now, I'd just like to think about the beginning.
The beginning of love.
The beginning of a long and happy love.
Oh, how I miss this man.
...and in the DFW airport I saw a guy boarding the plane, couldn't see him that well, but he looked so much like Bill that it was like getting an electric shock. It was so visceral and intense! It was like he was really there and not dead, like he didn't really die in my arms. We were on the same plane to New Orleans. I finally got a closer look at this guy at the baggage claim, and well, it wasn't Bill, but up to six feet away, it could have been: the baseball cap, the long red hair in a pony tail, the jacket, the jeans, the shoes, the shoes were even tied that wierd way... The guy picked up his luggage and went over to his wife and young baby...
I picked my bags up and started thinking maybe it's time that I began to try to tell the story about how we were in love.
This is how it started. How Bill and I fell in love.
I was working as a chef in a fairly hot New Orleans restaurant and I needed more talented cooks. My good friend introduced me to this guy, and I proceeded to seduce him to work for me. It wasn't about love, it was all about getting another cook.
He came to work for me. One night after work, we were talking over a few drinks and we crossed the border between employer and employee. Kind of suddenly, everything changed and we started dating and it seemed to me that we were fast becoming real close. I couldn't stop thinking about him.
One Saturday afternoon at work I asked him, (Bill) about Sunday, like what we might be doing together. He said that he had a date to meet this guy in City Park. (Talk about not seeing it coming! I felt like such an idiot. He obviously wasn't as into the situation as I was...) I thought that I handled it pretty well; I said "O.K. See you later" or something like that. He told me later that I looked like I had been stabbed in the back. (I thought I had hid it so well!)
Well, I was stunned, but I pulled myself together and ran the kitchen for the night, closed the place down and went home. I got up in the ayem and went to a bar where my friend worked and started having some serious sorry for myself cocktails. After an hour or so, I was joined by several of my best friends; it was nice to be with them and I started to feel better.
Then Bill walked in, came over to me, put his arms around me and hugged me. My heart was racing, I said, "I thought you had a date."
He whispered into my ear, "Yes, I did. I met him in the park, we talked for a few minutes, but then I realized that you were the one. I left him and came looking for you. I love you. I love you."
We kissed like really deeply and held each other for a while. I looked up over his shoulder and saw my friends looking at us and smiling, so happy because we were so happy and I thought "this has got to be one of the best moments of my life".
This was Bill and I was so helplessly in love.
It was funny for a while after that. You see, Bill was still working for me... I was the chef in this restaurant and he was one of my cooks... Well, of course we had to keep our love a secret from the rest of the staff. Somebody was bound to get jealous, and that sort of thing just isn't done; very bad management practice indeed. So there we were, rightously in love, but having to sneak around. It was exciting and wonderful, and it made everything so hot!
We were so golden, it showed, and little by little other people started to know at work. Soon almost everybody knew, but they all wanted to keep it a secret for us, like I said we were golden. I made plans to quit and look for a little business that we could run together with the money we both could put up. When I finally gave my notice, even the two owners of the restaurant knew, but they were the last to find out. I know this sounds hard to believe, but everyone was just so happy for the both of us.
I left the restaurant and worked full time on buying a business. Bill stayed there working as a cook; they liked him so much, they didn't wan't him to leave. We ended up buying the lil grocery and deli on the corner where I lived and moving into a huge apartment across the street. We didn't get married, we formed a corporation! hehe!
Bill really loved having a deli.
And I really loved having a deli with him. We worked together every day and we were together everyday and it worked very well.
There's about eight years worth of story that comes next, but i'm not going to try to tell that now. It was hard enough to get this far, the rest of the story will have to come later... For right now, I'd just like to think about the beginning.
The beginning of love.
The beginning of a long and happy love.
Oh, how I miss this man.
