Flashback: it's {all about him} and "Kate Doesn't Date"...

The second time Jake and I had a chance to hang out, the dreaded question was asked. I always hated this "inquiry" back then. My answer was instantly followed with a plethora of opinions. Opinions I didn’t want to deal with.

“So Kate, are you dating anyone?”

My answer, “Kate Doesn’t Date”.

You see, that was my motto. I coined it for myself my second year of college after I sent a certain friend out on a mission. One year in and I had yet to break my motto.

Jake, like most people, laughed at my explanation. He swore I wouldn’t make it. I swore I would prove him wrong. [Glad we didn’t bet on it. Even more glad he was right!]

But we still had fun. That night we played a lively game of Cranium. I am sure I made a fool of myself somehow in my usual Cranium fashion. [One time, I had to spell Mississippi. Let’s just say it didn’t end well. Somehow, I added a few extra s’s. No big deal. Also, Jake still teases me about the time I had to act out Elmore Fudd. That didn’t end well either].

And that was that. I was adamant about not dating. Anyone. Besides, Jake was just a friend.

***

The next time I saw Jake was at my doorstep equipped with a Tupperware of soup and a Mountain Dew [how well he knew me]. Jake and his roommate heard through the grapevine [or the mouth of Brandy] that I was sick. So, they automatically assumed a bowl of soup would fix my problems.

A year later I finally got up the nerve to admit to him that the soup was the last thing that would fix my problems. You see, at this time I was dealing with the woes of Thyroid Disease. One of the lovely side effects I dealt with daily was … uhum … an issue that would not want me to eat anything, let alone a bowl of soup.

But it’s the thought that counts, right? Right.

***

Following this, we had one night full of laughter at Jake’s house. I returned their Tupperware filled to the brim with candy and the four of us spent the night laughing, joking, and eating chocolates in their hot tub. Miss Brandy supplied us all with some comic relief when she ran face first into the screen door she thought was open. Hilarious.

***

And that was that.

Jake says he sort of stopped trying because I insisted, “Kate Doesn’t Date”. And I got caught up with work and school among other things.

For about the next month or so, we didn’t see each other. Jake started to crush on a new girl and I picked up my own little...friend of sorts. [Not boyfriend. But friend. Uh, kissing friend maybe. Don’t judge.]

And it probably would have ended there if it weren’t for Brandy’s strongly opinionated [in a good way] fiancé.

Goodness, we owe those two our lives.

Why all the flashbacks? Find out here!