The prince charming arrives!

The man I described in my previous blog as a coward wasn't always that way.
Here is how it all started...

It was almost 11 years ago. I was only 3 to 4 months out of a 4-year
relationship with someone that I thought would be my husband (apparently, he
didn't think so). I was in a new town with a new assignment - I worked as an
auditor for what used to be one of the Big 4 accounting firms.

This was my first assignment in Philadelphia. As close as it was to NY where
I lived, I had never spent any real time in Philly. I guess I was never a cheese-steak
kind of a girl. I was NOT happy that I got this assignment - in Philly for 3,
possibly 4 months! Yikes! I didn't know why, but I just didn't like Philly. At
least, I was only a train ride away from coming home every weekend.

And I did come home EVERY weekend.... until THAT weekend. The client invited
me to an Eagles game in the last minute. Despite the initial disadvantages of
his chances of impressing me (due to his company being in Philly), he turned
out to be a very nice client to have. He was the controller of the company,
competent manager, and a good person. Said he was going to the game with his
wife and her family and had an extra ticket. "Why not?" was my
eventual answer.

There were 8 of us. John was friends with the controller’s brother-in-law. His
friend (the brother-in-law) couldn't make it and that ticket came to me. John
didn't really know his friend’s family, and I only knew the controller.
Naturally, as the only two strangers at a party often do, he and I ended up
speaking each other almost exclusively. We cheered together and he bought me a beer
or two.

He wasn't a GQ or Men's Health type, but was rugged and had a country-like
charm to him. Originally from Dallas he said. Working at one of the banks in
the city, but lived in New Jersey. Not an Eagles fan but a football fan in
general. Although I was neither, we hit it off well. Very well, actually.

I was somewhat disappointed that he didn't ask for my number.

A week later, I got an email from him. Apparently he asked his friend to ask
my client about me and eventually got my email address. The client asked if I
was okay with it AFTER he’d given up the email address. He was proud that he
didn’t give out my number. He reminded me that I could always block an email. I
didn’t.

The first date was a Philly tour given to a NY girl by a Dallas guy. He had
been in Philly 6 months but did a very good job introducing the “city of brotherly
love" to me. That evening, I even ENJOYED a cheese-steak.

He was a gentleman with warm, manly hands and a big smile. I was charmed....