As a wedding photographer, obviously I love the stories of romance. I always have. From the middle school days of playing M.A.S.H. to find out who I would marry, to watching “A Walk to Remember” so many times, to religiously reading every Nicholas Sparks book, to even writing a romance-themed novella in a college creative writing class… there is something about love stories that has always meant so much to me. I love hearing stories of how two people meet and when they realize they are going to spend the rest of their lives together. I know I am not the only one who loves these stories, so I decided to share ours!
(Warning: the photos I share in these posts will be neither flattering nor good quality)
Part 3
Around that time, my brother CJ and his girlfriend Leighia were pretty serious in their relationship. Willie was always third-wheeling with them when they didn’t want to be alone at his apartment, and he was always asking me to join him so he had a friend. So the four of us spent a lot of time together. Then one evening CJ and Leighia wanted to drive to Beckley to hang out, so it didn’t seem strange at all for Willie to tag along and invite me.
But for some reason this time was different. I remember putting lip gloss on, and wearing a new pretty maroon top… I was putting extra effort in for someone who had seen me covered in mud in a cave. I did this almost subconsciously, almost hoping that he would notice me.
We ate dinner together, and giggled when the waiter asked if we were together. “How ridiculous!” we thought, even though we had shared an entrée. After our dinner at Cheddar’s, we had some time to kill before seeing “Dumb and Dumber 2,” so CJ and Leighia wanted to walk around Big Lots. Willie and I got tired of following the two around as they looked for things for their future home, so we plopped down on a big, comfy couch. As we sat on the couch we were looking through a backpacking checklist, and talking about the trip he had been convincing me to go on. As we talked about the list, he casually got closer and closer to me, and it didn’t seem unusual at all that we were snuggled up beside each other. While this was happening, CJ and Leighia had picked out a rug they just had to have, even though we had ridden in a small car and there was no way it would fit. They were convinced it would, and slid it through the trunk all the way through the front, taking up all of the room in my seat, which forced me to sit in the middle seat, squished with no room at all in between me and my friend. As we sat so close together, my heart began racing and my mind began wandering. What was happening?
As soon as I got home, we started texting. I sat in my dad’s recliner and began crying when my mom walked in. She looked at me and I burst out: “I think I’m starting to have feelings for Willie!” She laughed and shrugged it off. She thought it was silly that I was so distraught over it. I don’t really know why it upset me so much. I think just the idea of a relationship with someone who was so close to my family scared me.
I soon found out that Willie was feeling the exact same way… Well he wasn’t sitting around the house crying because he isn’t quite as emotional as I am, but he was sending flirty texts and asked me to go on a date with him!
xoxo,
Katelyn Workman
