On the second week we’d been living at Barbès, F came up to us on Friday and told us she and her roommates were going out to a pub on Saturday night. She asked if we wanted to come. We’d heard a lot about Friend 1 and Friend 2 from F and were indeed curious to meet them as we figured it would be good to get to know French people. Still, we weren’t so sure about going out to party so soon after having moved in with Martine. But when we talked it over with her that evening she was overly happy for us and said it would be a great opportunity to go out and mingle with the French. And so, Saturday morning we called F and agreed to meet her at The Long Hop that evening.
Ahhhh, The Long Hop. To this day, every time we pass by that place, Hubby and I can’t help but smile.
Being the true Mexicans that we were, A and I arrived late at The Long Hop. As we entered the pub, A was walking in front of me and, (this is where I say fate stepped in) saw F dancing on the dance floor with two guys and headed towards them loosing me in the crowd in the process. I thought I recognized Friend 2 sitting at a table nearby from a picture F had shown us of him and headed towards the guy since I didn’t know where A had gone. I immediately introduced myself in English and proceeded to talk to him about how I was F's friend from work. The guy looked at me a little strangely and when he finally understood that I’d mistaken him for Friend 2 he hastily introduced himself as (not yet)Hubby, a friend of Friend 2's. My first reaction was “Oh, great! So now I’m stuck with the looser friend that doesn’t want to dance and it’s too late for me to head over to the dance floor because it’d be impolite to leave him here alone”… Almost immediately my second reaction was “hmmm… this guy’s English is very good and he's got a very cute French accent”. And so we started talking… .and talking… and talking. We talked all night. We talked about all sorts of stuff (work, books, travels, life in France, life in the US, life in Mexico, music… everything). A, F, Friend 1 and Friend 2 (who incidentally doesn’t look at all like Hubby) kept coming to the table to ask us if we wanted to dance but we kept blowing them off and talking.
I don't remember being in "flirting mode" at all that night, that's what's so funny. Days later I do remember finding (ny)Hubby handsome, but that night it was simply so refreshing to be able to speak to someone other than A, M and my co-workers (the only people I'd been in contact with for the past 3 weeks) that I was simply enjoying his company way too much to think of it as anything else.
Finally the music started to slow down and when the pub announced that they were closing for the evening we all started to say our good-byes outside on the sidewalk. (ny)Hubby asked A and me where we were headed and we replied that we were taking the subway up to Barbès. (ny)Hubby smiled and said that he lived a few subway stations away from Barbès and that he was planning to walk home since it was a nice night and Paris is a pretty safe city. He asked us if we wanted to come along. A wasn’t very sure about this but I quickly replied we’d love to. We said goodbye to F, Friend 1 and Friend 2 and started walking home in the chilly February Parisian night… the three of us kept talking and laughing the entire way and before we knew it we were at a fork in the road where our paths separated. At this point (ny)Hubby turned to us and explained that where we lived (Barbès) wasn’t exactly the type of place two girls should be walking alone at night (now he was telling us this???) and suggested we head over to his apartment which was only a few blocks away where he would pick up his car and drive us home.
Again, against all reason, it instantly felt right to say yes and I accepted his offer before A had the chance to open her mouth. And so we headed out towards his place. At some point A must have made me understand how nervous this situation was making her (I mean, we had only met the guy that night) but for some unknown reason I felt like we could totally trust him. We arrived to his apartment, took the elevator up to his floor and waited as he opened his apartment’s front door. For one moment I did have second thoughts (what if the guy did turn out to be psycho after all?) but just as soon, the thought was gone. (ny)Hubby opened his door, picked up his car keys and came out just as quickly. We then followed him to his parking lot and as he drove us to Martine’s place I could see A relaxing and starting to finally enjoy his company realizing he was a nice fella after all. I guess I had already figured this out at some point earlier in the evening although I was perhaps not aware of this. As we got out of the car he asked us for our telephone number saying it'd be fun to get together all of us sometime soon. We didn’t think twice and gave him Martine’s home number.
That was on a Saturday. On Tuesday evening I arrived home to find a little note from Martine on my nightstand asking me to “call (ny)Hubby back”. I did and after much beating around the bush he asked me on a date for the following Saturday. Again, instincts more than reason prompted me to say yes. We had a great 1st date. And a great 2nd date the next day… and a great 3rd date the next day. And so on for the rest of the week. The Saturday following our first date he told me "je t'aime". I thought he meant "I like you". What he was really saying was the other L word. The Saturday after that, I accepted to be his girlfriend.
We’ve been together ever since.
Fned & (not yet)Hubby (2002)
Fned.
Ahhhh, The Long Hop. To this day, every time we pass by that place, Hubby and I can’t help but smile.
Being the true Mexicans that we were, A and I arrived late at The Long Hop. As we entered the pub, A was walking in front of me and, (this is where I say fate stepped in) saw F dancing on the dance floor with two guys and headed towards them loosing me in the crowd in the process. I thought I recognized Friend 2 sitting at a table nearby from a picture F had shown us of him and headed towards the guy since I didn’t know where A had gone. I immediately introduced myself in English and proceeded to talk to him about how I was F's friend from work. The guy looked at me a little strangely and when he finally understood that I’d mistaken him for Friend 2 he hastily introduced himself as (not yet)Hubby, a friend of Friend 2's. My first reaction was “Oh, great! So now I’m stuck with the looser friend that doesn’t want to dance and it’s too late for me to head over to the dance floor because it’d be impolite to leave him here alone”… Almost immediately my second reaction was “hmmm… this guy’s English is very good and he's got a very cute French accent”. And so we started talking… .and talking… and talking. We talked all night. We talked about all sorts of stuff (work, books, travels, life in France, life in the US, life in Mexico, music… everything). A, F, Friend 1 and Friend 2 (who incidentally doesn’t look at all like Hubby) kept coming to the table to ask us if we wanted to dance but we kept blowing them off and talking.
I don't remember being in "flirting mode" at all that night, that's what's so funny. Days later I do remember finding (ny)Hubby handsome, but that night it was simply so refreshing to be able to speak to someone other than A, M and my co-workers (the only people I'd been in contact with for the past 3 weeks) that I was simply enjoying his company way too much to think of it as anything else.
Finally the music started to slow down and when the pub announced that they were closing for the evening we all started to say our good-byes outside on the sidewalk. (ny)Hubby asked A and me where we were headed and we replied that we were taking the subway up to Barbès. (ny)Hubby smiled and said that he lived a few subway stations away from Barbès and that he was planning to walk home since it was a nice night and Paris is a pretty safe city. He asked us if we wanted to come along. A wasn’t very sure about this but I quickly replied we’d love to. We said goodbye to F, Friend 1 and Friend 2 and started walking home in the chilly February Parisian night… the three of us kept talking and laughing the entire way and before we knew it we were at a fork in the road where our paths separated. At this point (ny)Hubby turned to us and explained that where we lived (Barbès) wasn’t exactly the type of place two girls should be walking alone at night (now he was telling us this???) and suggested we head over to his apartment which was only a few blocks away where he would pick up his car and drive us home.
Again, against all reason, it instantly felt right to say yes and I accepted his offer before A had the chance to open her mouth. And so we headed out towards his place. At some point A must have made me understand how nervous this situation was making her (I mean, we had only met the guy that night) but for some unknown reason I felt like we could totally trust him. We arrived to his apartment, took the elevator up to his floor and waited as he opened his apartment’s front door. For one moment I did have second thoughts (what if the guy did turn out to be psycho after all?) but just as soon, the thought was gone. (ny)Hubby opened his door, picked up his car keys and came out just as quickly. We then followed him to his parking lot and as he drove us to Martine’s place I could see A relaxing and starting to finally enjoy his company realizing he was a nice fella after all. I guess I had already figured this out at some point earlier in the evening although I was perhaps not aware of this. As we got out of the car he asked us for our telephone number saying it'd be fun to get together all of us sometime soon. We didn’t think twice and gave him Martine’s home number.
That was on a Saturday. On Tuesday evening I arrived home to find a little note from Martine on my nightstand asking me to “call (ny)Hubby back”. I did and after much beating around the bush he asked me on a date for the following Saturday. Again, instincts more than reason prompted me to say yes. We had a great 1st date. And a great 2nd date the next day… and a great 3rd date the next day. And so on for the rest of the week. The Saturday following our first date he told me "je t'aime". I thought he meant "I like you". What he was really saying was the other L word. The Saturday after that, I accepted to be his girlfriend.
We’ve been together ever since.
Fned & (not yet)Hubby (2002)Fned.
Read Part V.
8 comments:
Awwww, I feel all weepy! The great story continues, thanks for some fabulous reading Fned. (I didn't know you had met him so soon into your time in Paris, kind of like our story, I was in Mexico only about a week when I met Hubby). :)
Sniff, sniff, I think I might cry.....
Sorry I haven't commented before but I am enthralled by this story. It's so romantic and so wonderful. Thank you for sharing this fabulous story.
How can you churn it out so fast, girl? Was just showing your blog to L and S who returned ahead of schedule due to bad weather, and explaining that you're on part III already and then, WHOA! you're on part IV. And it just keeps getting better!! So will we now get to hear how André and Martine get along???? That should be interesting, or how you started getting fluent in French? Okay, right, better just letcha tell it yourself!
aww! I love this part of the story!!! Oh Fned, it was so wonderful! and you look so good together ;)
I think you were right, we have so much in common, I met my husband in a similar way and we got together soon after meeting each other... AWWW!!
Now I have a BIG smile on my face!!
tell us more!
Can I just say that I loved this little four-part series? Though does Minshap's comment mean there is more coming??
And your Frenchie is absolutely adorable - you guys make a cute couple.
I hope you're going to continue this tale...it's much too soon to end it! (brings back memories...uncle D was smitten with me about a week or 2 into the relationship!!)
Happy travels!
Love ya,
Aunt S :)
Aww, I knew this was going to be a good post when I saw the title, and you did not disappoint! How terribly romantic :)
You two are a gorgeous couple, by the way.
That man is f-ing FINE.
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