The Story of Us Part I

Apparently the ambiguous nature of my "About Us" blurb has left some of my readers curious as to the "real" story behind L and I. Since we "talk" through our blogs more often than we do our girls nights, I figured to go ahead and elaborate here. Here's to J for giving me an excuse for a post, and of course, to my love, L, for without whom I wouldn't have this tale to tell.

The blurb begins with "An unlikely meeting and an impossible courtship, it seems Fam Och was formed against all odds..." Let's start from the beginning...

A little over a year of my initial enlistment in the Air Force, I was a miserable little thing. Yes, I was stationed in Orlando, Florida surrounded by endless opportunities for fun and adventure. But, I had recently been dumped by my fiance, who was stationed in Oklahoma at the time, for someone more local and therefore easily accessible. I had just endured three grueling cycles of ABVD chemotherapy, and although it had proved successful, it, and along with my deteriorating love life, had left me exhausted and bitter.

I had one piece of good news, I was to go on my first ever TDY (temporary duty) to Hurlburt Field, Florida to assist the base in closing out their books for the fiscal year . It was great news because 1) it was the first time for me going TDY ... 2) my bunk mate from boot camp and roommate from tech school (and therefore my best friend) was stationed there.

But then the attacks of 9/11 happened. I was part of the disaster control group and had to assist in manning the facility 24/7 armed only with a flashlight. We were on a movement freeze, and it seemed my TDY would be cancelled after all. If not for the base commander insisting my expertise was needed, I would have been stuck in Orlando, and probably single to this day.

On the long drive over, I was chatting with my friend about our plans and she exclaimed, "I can't wait for you to meet this guy! He's perfect for you!" I quickly shot her down, insisting any attempts at matchmaking were unwanted. I was done with relationships. Cute guys uninterested in commitment, however, were welcome.

The very first night I was there was karaoke night at the base's JR Rockers club, an event I was told my friend frequented. We walked in together and was promptly introduced to her group of friends. You see, in a typical military base wherein males far outnumbered the females, an additional body with boobs was fresh meat and altogether fair game. I can't say I minded when four or five of her friends stationed themselves in close proximity to the stool I occupied. Of those men, one unnerved me.

His name was L, and he sported a Corona and a cocky smirk. When we were introduced, he shook my hand and stared into my eyes. Now, I was never one for eye-to-eye contact, preferring to converse with others with my sights directed at some random faraway object. So his attempts at such left me a bit uncomfortable. Worse, Marissa, a girl of my friend's entourage had taken to openly glaring in my direction whenever I had L's attention. It was easy to interpret the "hands off!" look as I had the gift of sending out the message myself. So I vowed inwardly to avoid the drama. It was only my first night after all.

However, several Coronas and shots of Jose later, my intentions to "be good" were wiped away with the influence of such large amounts of alcohol. Instead, it was replaced by this incessant need to piss Marissa off. A girl accustomed to hoarding all the men's attention, she did not appreciate my presence and how it interfered with her game. Once I confirmed she didn't have any valid claims on L, I flirted with him relentlessly.

To spare my parents the mortification, I'll just say we spent the next two nights together. The third day, he packed up his belongings and began his trip to South Korea where he would be stationed for the next year. We said our fond goodbyes and we parted ways, not even knowing each other's last names.

**Because I do not have the ability to be concise about this story, as it is my favorite, I'll break it down for you and continue to the next chapter in my next post. Until next time...