THE First Date

I had just been promoted to a newly created position at UPS. It required some assistance from TSG before I could perform all of my duties fully.
I was told I needed to see a guy named Mark, but he was on vacation.
The following Tuesday, Mark returns from vacation so I go looking for him. I walked into a center to find a nice looking guy dressed in black pants, white dress shirt, and the craziest tie I had ever seen. He was kicked back in a chair crackin a joke- or at least that is what I assumed since the whole room was laughing.
Mark helped me with the computer and we made some small talk.
Turns out he is a Texas boy.
He was surprised to find another Texan in our building in San Diego.
Over the next few days he would pop into our center and we would exchange wisecracking banter.
On Friday, Mark enters the office and tells me that a few of the folks from TSG are getting together for Happy Hour, and asked if I would like to join them.
Not too certain about spending an evening with folks I don't know well, I called a friend and made a back up plan.
I head out following Tom (a married guy from TSG) and Mark to El Torito for Happy Hour.
We walk in, and I am expecting to see 2 or 3 others, but nope.........it is just the three of us.
I figure I can have a drink, make small talk and then bug out.
Drinks come and the conversation flows.
Hey, I am enjoying myself.
Tom leaves.
Now it is just Mark and I.
We end up going to another place near by that has a great beer selection.
The conversation gets deeper. It is at this point that I realize this guy is someone special.
Time passes and I realize that it is getting later and I should get back to my car and drive the 45 minutes back home.
On the drive back to my car, we started talking about Las Vegas. I told Mark that when I worked for Southwest Airlines I would take the last flight in, gamble all night, and take the first flight home in the morning, but I hadn't been to Vegas in years.
Mark then takes a wrong turn on the freeway.
He isn't headed back to my car but to Vegas. He reasoned that we didn't have any Saturday plans, and we both loved Vegas, so why not?
My brain is racing.......................I don't do things like this, not even with people I know well, let alone a guy I met on Tuesday.
For whatever reason, I didn't say no.
I told him that if we were going we were going to stop at my house and he was going to meet my parents and I was going to grab a change of clothes.
As we were walking to my front door I told him to tuck in his shirt.
We came in and I introduced Mark to my step-father and told him that we were going to Vegas.
He was not amused and said very little.
My mom on the other hand was excited and exchanging gambling stories with Mark. As I was grabbing a few things, my mom starts giving Mark some silver dollars to put in a slot for her.
I was a bit thrown that mom was not even slightly concerned with her daughter running off to Vegas late Friday night.
I had Mark write down his licence plate/make/model of his car and give mom his drivers licence # too.
And so the adventure began.
On the drive, Mark kept asking for his first kiss.
I kept saying no.
At the Nevada state line I agreed to give him a smooch.
We pulled over on the side of the road and were just about to kiss when a big spotlight and tap on the drivers side window stopped our activity.
State trooper.
We told him our story and he laughed and told us to go on our way.
We arrived in Vegas and enter the casino.......it is very exciting. I was looking forward to fun and more conversation.
I head for the nickle slots (because I don't really like to gamble but enjoy the atmosphere). Mark plays the machine next to me for about 5 minutes and says he is going over to the poker machines and we will meet back in an hour.
Okay.
An hour passes.
90 min.
Two hours..........I start walking around looking for poker machines.
When I can't find him, my mind starts racing........this was some cruel joke and he has left me in Vegas...........this is why I never do things like this............I am stuck in Vegas.......what am I going to do?.......................this is my inner dialog.
Go look for the car.
Now, I am in the parking lot looking for his car. I can't remember where I parked at the grocery store. How am I going to remember where he parked in this huge casino?????
Now I am crying.
and crying and walking the parking lot.
Eventually, I go in the casino and we find each other. It is now the wee hours of the morning and we head to Denny's for a bite to eat.
He has a friend in Vegas that we are going to get a bit of sleep at his house.
After Denny's we go to the friend's house but Mark doesn't want to wake up his friend so he says we are going to sleep in the car.
WHAT? (I am screaming in my head)
He proceeds to put the back seat down and crawl into the trunk/backseat.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? (still screaming in my head)
No he wasn't kidding. He went to sleep.
An hour or two later he calls his buddy and we have real shelter.
I took a shower, changed clothes, and took a nap on the sofa.
The rest of our time together was just good time. We went back to the casino for a few hours in the afternoon and then made the drive back to San Diego.
He dropped me at my car at El Torito, where I had left 27 hours earlier.
What I remember about our goodbye that evening was that he called me sunshine. Which made my heart flutter.
When I got home, my mom came in my room and said, "I know you are tired and we can talk later but, does he have P?"
P was code for potential. Something mom asked almost every time I went out with someone new.
This time I told her, "Yes, this one has potential"

We married one year to the day later.
He is the sweetest, kindest, funniest guy I have ever known. He makes me want to be a better person.