THE STORY OF US
We have 4 Fridays before the wedding.
For those of you just joining the party…Yep. We have a 4 week old. And yep, our wedding is riiiiiight around the corner. Why do one thing at a time when you can cram ALL of life’s biggest events into one year?
Anyways, all the big changes have me thinking back on how it all began. If you’ve been in love, you know the early days feel like you’re on top of the world. Every song reminds you of your person. When you’re away from them, time sits still. And when you’re with them it feels like the entire universe is standing on the sidelines cheering you on.
EVERY. SINGLE. THING feels special.
First trip to Trader Joes together? Heart eyes.
The first time he grabbed your hand in the car? Awwww.
That one time he said that one thing when you were driving to that one place?
Best. Day. Ever.
Falling in love with William Benjamin Reece was the HAPPIEST, most exciting time of my life. And it’s one of those feelings you don’t ever want to forget. So buckle up, I’ve got 4 weeks worth of stories until the start of yet ANOTHER chapter begins.
Part 1: Link Tag for the WIN
I swear it was week one of my new job- my boss casually asked me what I wanted in a man. I wanted to say “UM BEN REECE- DUH.”
But he was my coworker.
And I was a professional.
So I zipped that lip and tossed the key.
But not too far. Obviously
A lot of you know the short story…
The gym, the insaaaane flirting that took place whilst trying to help others fitness, and then-BAMM. Love.
What no one saw was the LONG- SLOW build up.
We both went to Gonzaga, rowed on the Crew team, and even sat next to each other in class. Ben said he asked about me to some of his teammates…but was told I was “super serious about my school” (Ummmm, no.) And while sitting next to Ben in class I decided that he was the perfect guy… but was told he was crushing on my best friend (Wrong, again) so I shrugged it off and went back to my “super serious school work”. ***Insert eye roll here.***
ANYWAYS. When the stars aligned and we ended up working at the same gym-the universe had enough of our shenanigans.
We each trained different classes, starting at 5:30 AM. Let me tell ya, waking up at the ass crack of dawn is a LOT easier when you’re diggin your coworker… Just sayin.
**There was a time I was teaching a group outside and he pulled into the driveway fresh from a firefighting shift… In. His. Uniform. (Ladies…you get me right?). I’m PRETTY sure he knew what he was doing…but I had to legit walk away from him and give myself a pep talk.
“BE. COOL. VICTORIA!”
I could not. That was a rough day.
Anyways, I digress. We trained the adults all morning and then trained what felt like a MILLION 5-9 year olds in the afternoon. My personal favorite part of kids class was link tag. When you tag someone you grab their hand and they can’t let go until everyone else is tagged and holding hands… You see where I’m going with this right? Ben tagged me, then I tagged him, again and again and again. All. Summer. Long.
In the moment, we both thought we were pretty discreet. But looking back, we were about as subtle as a herd of elephants. I would move ALL my work stuff out into the main room of the gym after the members left…just to “keep him company” while he cleaned (Smooth move, Tor). And when it was time for Ben to go home for the day, it took him longer and longer every day to actually get out the door (#Smitten).
**One day, he had his keys in hand and his gym bag on his shoulder and he somehow ended up back in the gym, showing me the contents of his gym bag…
That’s when I knew for SURE… that he maybe liked me… a little bit at least.
After a summers worth of flirting inside the gym, it finally came.
“Hey…Let’s go to lunch this week”
I didn’t play it cool. Because WHY? I agreed right away– like embarrassingly fast– and essentially floated all the way home
You know those moments that you know are big but you aren’t sure why.
That was the first…
TO BE CONTINUED
Theresa says
I need it to be continued now, please!
Victoria says
Part 2 is on it’s way!! Thanks so much for reading!