February 2012.

It was a Sunday morning. I remember feeling so uneasy because I had not been able to reach Chuck since Friday night. It was really weird because by that time, we would talk to each other every day. The relationship was going really well. He even sent me a surprise bouquet of Roses for Valentine’s day that said “with love, Chuck,” although I remember we had not said our “I love you’s” yet.

Anyway, I could not get a hold of him for hours and hours, though he told me that we would talk tonight - his tonight (which means around 1-3 pm my time). Because of that, I was unmotivated to do anything. 

Hours later, like around 5 pm, I finally decided to get out of my bed and go grocery shopping. I figured we wouldn’t be able to talk since it was 1am in Turkey and he would be sleeping because of work in the morning. Feeling disappointed, I walked out of my door. Little did I know that something was waiting on my door…

I turned around to lock my door and I found that note attached on the outside of it. Along with the little flushie toy that I gave him when I went to Turkey 3 months earlier.

I just stood there for 5 minutes. Shaking. A lot was going on in my mind

“OH MY GOD… OH MY GOD… I gave this toy to him last time! Is he here?!?!”

I tried calling his Houston cellphone, the one that he deactivated - and it worked!! He didn’t pick up, however.

“He must be here… he must be. Oh my god… Oh my god…”

I came back inside the house because I was freaking out and decided to call a good friend. I told her the story.

“Why are you crying, then?!” she asked “you should be happy!”

“I am happy… I’m very happy!! OH MY GOD I need to get ready because dinner is in 3 hours!!”i

After I had calmed down, I decided to head out for grocery before getting ready for dinner. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking

“what if this is just a prank? what if he’s not here? but this does explain why I couldn’t get a hold of him… he was flying here!! And he has to be here because of that pirate toy…” 

That what was going through in my mind until I saw his car parked in the restaurant’s parking lot. The restaurant where we met for the first time - for our first date. My heart was beating so fast. I was so nervous. I was more nervous than when I was meeting him for the first time! Then I walked inside, and found him, sitting there. I walked right to him without pausing. He saw me from the corner of his eye

“hey there, stra(nger)…”

I hugged him before he could finish his sentence. I hugged him while trying to hold my tears at the same time.

Best post-Valentine’s day surprise ever. We ended up talking on “his tonight” after all, just like he said we would… or should I say… our tonight?