Winter is Coming...

She Says...

I had only been working at Apple for a few months when another group of new hires came on board in the fall of 2010. I was excited that I wouldn’t be in the group of “new kids” anymore. I would actually be experienced compared to someone. They were all joining the sales part of the store except for one, Jesse. We had a new Genius go through training with my group, so I didn’t pay much attention to another one. By mid-September, both Jesse and I were in and out of the store each day without much notice of each other. I recall having a brief conversation with him in the back one day, just telling him a little about the Birmingham area. I quickly took a liking to him and decided he was going to be one of my favorite Geniuses. I would go to him with questions or problems because I knew he wouldn’t turn me away or make me feel stupid.In the middle of October, Jesse invited me to go hiking with him and a few other people on Ruffner Mountain here in Birmingham. It caught me a bit off guard because other than becoming friends on Facebook, we had never interacted outside of the store. My parents were visiting on the day he had asked about, so I declined the invitation. Being a girl, though, I read into his question and wondered if he liked me...That fall and winter, I often worked the early shift at the store, letting in employees and handling the customers who arrived before we opened. After returning from training in California, Jesse frequently worked the opening Genius shift. I would open the door for him each morning and greet him with a smile. Every time our eyes locked, it was like I could see into his heart a little. There was something he wasn’t saying. In November, I stumbled onto a poem he wrote and posted on Facebook. It was just simply written “to someone.” It described a scene of two people, one with a smile that warmed the heart of the other, but the one couldn’t bring himself to tell her. Knowing what our morning interactions looked like, I couldn’t help but wonder again if he had any interest in me...In late November, Jesse reached out to me again. He invited me to go see the newest Harry Potter movie with some other people. I agreed initially. Something about him intrigued me, and I wanted to know more. We chatted for a while through Facebook messages. His vocabulary was huge and the conversation teetered at the edge of going over my head. I wasn’t sure I could handle such an intellectual. Turns out everyone else cancelled for the movie, leaving just the two of us. Scared and vowing not to date a co-worker, I panicked and cancelled on him.I guess I was too harsh and pushed him away for a while. I didn’t interact with him outside of work until February, when I reached out to him. At that point, I had moved to a position in his part of the store, so we saw each other at work a bit more often. We had talked photography before, so I started the Facebook conversation again from that angle. We kept things as professional as possible but still friendly. I was dating someone and didn’t want to be unfaithful to him. Something about Jesse drew me in, though. I struggled with my curiosity in him and my promise to not get involved.We finally met outside of work in March for a photo shoot. He needed practice to get back in the swing of photographing people, and I’ll always smile for the camera. We met at a park down in Alabaster, about 30 minutes south of Birmingham. I kept trying to flirt with him during the hour or so we spent there, but he kept it purely professional. After shutting him down so hard before, I hadn’t given him any reason to think I had any interest.We went back and forth for the next few months, half-flirting and then I would shut him down. Any reasonable guy would have walked away and not looked back after putting up with so much from me. When my relationship came to an end in May, though, he was still willing to give me a chance. He told me whenever I was over the break up and ready to date, he wanted to take me to dinner. We met a couple days later after he got off work with no plans other than to just enjoy each other’s company. A week later, he took me out to dinner.And the rest is history...

He Says...

Note, I am a creative writer. Therefore I reserve the right to embellish any detail I choose, though all of the facts remain unchanged!On a comfortable day in September, not long after beginning his employment with Apple, Jesse walked into the store only to be greeted by the most memorable sight one could imagine: the wondrous smile and starlike eyes of an interesting young woman. Uncertain of whether his eyes were deceived by her beauty, or if his imagination merely grasped the warmth of her smile and conjured an innocent daydream, Jesse shrugged the thought aside as he returned the smile and warm greeting. Another time, perhaps, and he would explore those thoughts further.

From across the room your smile beckons,Warming even the dreariest days.My heart flutters lightly, my mind races,Yet my fears hold too much sway.Perhaps one day the opportunity will open,And maybe then my walls will crumble.If only I could convince myself to take the first step,Alas, for now I'll simply remain quiet and humble.I most certainly welcome a warm approach, In the event you feel the slightest interest. I have simply been unable thus far, To break down my own defenses.One day... one day...

Days passed, and his thoughts never drifted back to that morning. A thought suddenly struck him one October day, and he invited her to join on a hike at Ruffner Mountain. Her response, a simple explanation of being busy, was neither apologetic or curt. It simply was. He shrugged off the thought, and decided there probably was no interest on her part.Weeks passed, and while out in California for training there was ample time for reflection. Jesse's thoughts began to drift back to the young woman who had barely even spoken a word to him, and yet she somehow managed to invade his thoughts without the slightest effort. He focused on the trip, enjoying the comfortable Autumn weather in San Jose and Cupertino. In the evenings he tried, albeit without much luck, to keep his thoughts from drifting back to her.After returning to Birmingham he decided to make an actual effort and invited her to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Part 1). She accepted, and after a few days and a couple of text messages, things were seemingly set. As the day approached he grew somewhat anxious. Mere hours before they were to meet, she sent him a message seeking a rain check until more people were planning to go. The implication was obvious: "I'm not interested." The feelings of rejection and a complete lack of interest were like hammers, hitting him over the head and reminding him that such an innocent and proper young woman would surely have no interest in someone whose path had taken them through darkness, in someone who could no longer be considered innocent. He shrugged off the thoughts, and decided there was simply no reason to pursue any further.Weeks turned into months, with sporadic and short bursts of rather meaningless, although courteous, greetings and brief statements exchanged. Jesse forced himself to push aside the random thoughts of her that still managed to invade his mind, perceiving a continued lack of interest on her part. Suddenly something changed, ever so slightly, and conversations started to occur with a little more regularity and depth. Unable to push the thoughts out of his mind, Jesse began to believe he was latching more and more onto daydreams and wishful thinking than he could control.In March she agreed to meet him for a photo shoot, offering to allow him to practice his craft for the first time since relocating to the Birmingham area. Although away from work, Jesse still had no clue whether his imagination was playing tricks on him and creating interest on her part, or if this was purely a professional courtesy. Throughout the photo shoot, fear took hold and kept him from behaving in any way other than with a client. Conversation began to occur a bit more easily and regularly, however, though it only served to permeate his thoughts with the image of her.Over the next couple of months there were ups and downs. An invitation to Easter service was certainly welcomed by Jesse, and yet he still had no clue whether she was remotely interested or simply reaching out as a friend. Their conversations became a bit more flirty, and yet she would reign that flirtatiousness back in quickly and remind him that she was dating someone else. The back and forth nearly drove Jesse insane, and finally he decided to try to rebuild walls and protect himself from this young woman whose mere presence caused his imagination to run rampant.Suddenly, something different happened. She sent a message to him that made him feel as though she needed someone to listen, and the walls he had recreated around himself started to look a lot more frail than he thought them to be. Their conversation revealed a number of things... she was uncertain of her thoughts and feelings, and there appeared to be an internal struggle between whether she should be talking to him, to be interested in him at all, or not. Jesse was unable to reign his thoughts in before her smile flooded his senses once more, threatening to destroy the walls he was working so desperately to keep intact.While working late, on a repair shift, Jesse received a message from her that changed everything. She agreed to meet him after work that evening and simply chat for a bit, and they went and sat at the top of Shades Crest Mountain, huddled close to stay warm. Each moment seemed surreal, and Jesse was uncertain whether he was imagining the bond forming between them or if there was actually something there. His offer of friendship, of lending a shoulder and an ear to someone in need, seemed to suddenly morph into an excuse to simply be near her.Over the next few days they exchanged a lot of text messages, simply getting to know more about each other while both attended weddings out of town. Upon returning to Birmingham she took him up on his offer of dinner, and Jesse decided pursuit was absolutely worthwhile.And the rest, as they say, has become history…