our story.
it's a funny little thing how this all worked out. we laugh at how many other ways this could have occurred but very much appreciate the story that the Lord had for us.
mary's version.
i knew of bobs when we were both at baylor because a friend of mine had a crush on him... soooo... when we both worked at pine cove in summer 03, it was nice to have a face with the name and all that adoration i had been hearing.(now obviously this was all pre-facebook. he would have been adequately stalked much sooner had such a creepy little website been invented then.) however, it really was simply a face with the name... not even sure we met at that time. but... my sister just happened to work that summer too and found that she developed quite the crush on quiet, but apparently really funny, bobby austin... so again, i heard great things about him.
add in a few other chance encounters (with no actual introductions), and i found myself in an awkward situation last september in target. i was a few feet behind him walking in an aisle and knew that i knew who he was. my first (dodgy but sadly typical thought) was to duck in an aisle before we had an awkward moment, but my grown-up, brave self said to say hi. (i don't even say hi to people i know that know me... so this really was brave of me!) so when i was literally about to step on his ankles, i said hi and told him that i had just found out a friend of mine worked with him. we proceeded to talk for 20ish minutes in the aisle, when i then thought it would be a good idea to tell him who i was... 'oh... by the way, now that we've talked for 20 minutes... i'm mary...'(weird, i know, but i've never claimed to not be awkward.) he just looked at me and said,'ya... i know who you are.' awesome. minutes later, we parted ways and he was on to blow-dryer purchasing as i continued my perusing...
and then the facebook chats began... which developed into texts (mmhmmm...) which developed into me thinking that we should be best friends forever and wanting to set him up with my best friend.
but then... completely unrelated and unbeknownst to him, i was randomly hired by the company he worked for... and he was in charge of training me. so... we spent lots of days in a row together, doing random work things, running errands, and laughing... he very kindly helped me move into my new apartment, and one day... out of the blue... amidst my scheming to make a love match for him and my friend, i thought 'oh no. he can't love her! i like him, and i want him to like me!' days later (but what felt like forever to me), after watching last of the mohicans together, i got a phone call from bobby austin telling me that he didn't want to 'best friend date me,' he wanted to actually date me! woohoo! i said yes... please. and many dates later, that was that. L.O.V.E.
as if we didn't already love target enough!
Bobby's Version...
Contrary to what Mary would tell you or me, I knew about her long before she realized I did. As a guy (which I am) you always have these girls that are consistently “on your radar”. It’s not as if you have a crush on them or have even had a conversation with them, they are simply labeled “A Woman of Intrigue” (or A.W.I. from now on). Mary was one such woman…
She registered on my radar my first summer working at Pine Cove. I remember meeting a girl who went to Baylor, was pretty quiet, but did an excellent job leading her girls and cleaning up…stuff. Then very soon after she suffered some mild head trauma and transferred to A&M (I’m kidding I’m kidding....it wasn’t mild...hey-oh!), thus fading to the background as an A.W.I.
It was New Year’s Eve 2007 in Dallas that she made a comeback. We were waiting outside of Cheesecake Factory on Northwest Highway when this dark-haired beauty strode out of the front door. A girl in our party commented “I love that girl’s jacket; I wonder where she got it?” So I took this opportunity and sidled up to this beauty and used the tried and true line “Hey, where’d you get that jacket?” to which she coolly replied “Oh….Anthropologie” to which I replied in suave fashion “Oh, cool…cause she was wondering….awesome…..thanks”. This moment was much bigger than Mary realized as this cemented her status as an A.W.I.
Fast-forward to September 2008 in Target. If you read Mary’s version you noticed she slid in the fact that I was buying a hairdryer. Now there’s something strange about me you should know. I don’t care how clean a bathroom is as long as it has automatic hand dryers. This gave me the idea of drying off my whole body after a shower with a hairdryer. I built up enough courage to walk into Target and purchase a hairdryer and had just turned into the aisle when I heard “Bobby?”...Awesome. My only trip into the personal grooming section ever and I was recognized. I turned around and was surprised to see Mary Hurst. An A.W.I.! In my presence! Well we had a good conversation that Mary felt necessary to conclude with an introduction, as if we were in some alternate dimension. I wasn’t exactly sure when we would see each other again but I was fairly confident it would be on a date….
Or we would talk on facebook and text each other for a while…
Well we kept that up and it was then that I learned how funny she is. If you know her you agree but I really thought she was funny. Even if it was at my expense… Well right as it was at that make or break moment when I was definitely going to ask her out or at least to hang out in a group…..she got a job at my company and I got to train her. I called my brother to tell him that this girl I liked just got a job at our company, thus ending any chance we had of dating. I mean, I watched “The Office”; I’d been down that road before...my shot was over. But I was sneaky. I felt it necessary to train Mary for days and even weeks. If I had to go on an errand for work, it became vital to her training that she accompany me. If I was to be with a client, she needed to see the master at work. This continued to the point where many people at work were beginning to ask if we were dating. We always laughed it off but one time Mary answered yes. I think I went into an immediate cold sweat. Were we dating? Had I asked her out then forgotten? Was that not a dream last night? Later we talked and just laughed but I was confused. Did she want to just be friends? What was my next move?
This continued for a week or two then I decided. I was going to ask out Mary Hurst. But I had to motivate myself to do so and came to the conclusion that if we watched “The Last of the Mohicans” I would get pumped up enough by watching a guy jump off a cliff for a girl that I could ask her out. Well right when I was about to do it she mentioned a funeral we were both attending……what?! What was I supposed to do now? You can’t follow up the funeral talk with a date! This isn’t “Funeral Crashers”! Well she left and I had a “man-up” moment and called her. She had just left so she was confused why I would be calling so I made awkward small talk then Wham! I hit her with it! I’d like to take you on a real date!
Why did it seem so hard to ask then? Why did it take so long? Well I don’t know the answer to those...I just know that I love where all of it took us...and I love Mary Hurst…
