Up on the Rooftop

Oh dang was he good looking.  He sure was a fine thing to lay my eyes upon—dark hair, warm skin, and deep coffee eyes.  I had only met him on a few exceptional occasions.  Our paths rarely crossed.  I had no intentions of ever settling my affections on him or even dating him.  I was sufficiently happy just looking at him while having an unpretentious stop-and-chat passing by on the sidewalk or through the library.  I have found selected attractions most satisfying by keeping them simple and admiring them from a distance.  Occasionally that’s all you need.

He was one of my rare gems that I pocketed and extracted only when I caught the soft gleam of his smile from a distance.  On would go the charm and dazzle and out would come my alluring tricks, even for just a moment. 

I knew other mademoiselles had their fluttering eyes set on him, so I never, not once, expected a date from this fine young man.  Fortunately, the best things in life happen when you least expect it. 

I love surprises like that.  When he asked me out, all I could say was, “YES,” a little breathlessly and exaggerated, but happily all the same.   My reply burst his perfect mouth into a smile and we arranged for a Friday evening engagement.

I dressed in my best and when he arrived, I did all I could to hold back my smile.  Sometimes those darn smiles are completely irrepressible.  He leaned in close and whispered, “You are beautiful tonight.”  Oh goodness.  He knew exactly what to say to make me go weak in the knees.  I’m a trained girl, however, and I held my ground, strong and steady.  I don’t ever give kisses away on a first date, but I was already tempted to from first glance that evening.

He treated me to a charming evening of dinner and a show.  Neither extravagant nor dull.  Absolutely perfect.  It went smoothly and I had a wonderful time talking to him for longer than five minutes.  He kept my attention the entire evening and listened when I spoke.  I love it when a man listens.  Hint to the guys:  you get a lady’s attention quick when you let her talk, too.    

It drew close to 10:00 pm.  We had spent the last three hours together and it felt as if the evening was coming to an end.  Three hours seems to be the perfect amount of time for a first date.  As he walked me home, he said,  “Sorry I didn’t plan this whole evening out.  What would you like to do next?” 

I was slightly confused and just said, “Well, I can go home now.”

“No, no, no.  We still have time.”

When you don’t have anything else planned that usually is an indicator that the date has come to a close, but this gorgeous young man wanted to keep going.  I said, “Ok,” and left it to him to decide to do next.  I had no qualms about spending another hour or two with him. 

He finally said, “I have an idea! Let me take you to this really cool place I found today.”

The last time a guy had taken me to a place he had “found” he kissed me!  I prepared myself for what could happen next.

We walked a few more blocks and found ourselves on campus.  I was confused about this “cool place.”  Hardly anything cool can be found on a university campus.  We walked into the science building.  What could possibly be cool about this place?  We walked up to the second floor and then into a narrow dark hallway that ended with another flight of stairs.

“Uh.  Where are we going?”

“This goes to the roof!  I was up here today!  It’s awesome!”

“I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to go up there.”

“Oh.  It’s fine!”

We were college kids.  And what do college kids do?  Break the rules. 

He led me up the stairs and we climbed through a small door up onto the roof.  He was right it WAS cool.  Not only that, it was beautiful.  It was a perfectly clear and quiet night.  We spent the next hour up there looking at stars, learning the waltz, and talking about everything.  This man was smoooth (yes, with an extra “o”).  As the hour passed, he grew closer and closer to my side.  I thought to myself, “If he’s going to kiss me, he had better do it soon before I change my mind.” I’m 95% sure that was his intention, but just as he moved in, a flashlight blinded our eyes coupled with a loud voice that said, “WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!”

Oh crap. 

It was a security guard.  Apparently someone had seen us up there and we were ratted out.  We walked over to him.  No point in trying to escape.  We had to face it like adults.  

“You kids aren’t allowed up here.  What made you think you could be up here?”

My date tried to handle it with charismatic style, “Oh, sorry sir.  I thought we were allowed up here.  My teacher told me about this place and said it was open.”  Smooth.

“NO.  You aren’t supposed to be up here.  You’d have to be really stupid to think that you’re allowed on a ROOF.  Give me your ID’s.”

Oh man.  I don’t like getting in trouble.  I pulled out my ID and handed it over to him.  He wrote down my full name and birthdate.  He took my date’s name and birthdate.  It didn’t help that this security guard looked at least three years younger than me.  I could only imagine what he was thinking when he found out how hold I was! 

“I’m turning your names in and you’ll be getting a call from your dean.”

Seriously?  I was starting to get upset.  First of all, we weren’t dumb kids.  Second, we did nothing bad up there.  We were on the platform the entire time that was meant for walking on.  But since nothing remotely bad goes on at a Mormon college, you get busted if you step even an inch out of line. 

My date was pretty upset.  We left and the security guard kept calling us stupid for going up there.  We got away from him and continued our walk.  I started laughing.  I could hardly believe we were getting turned into the dean.  My date kept going on about how he can’t get in trouble because he’s been in trouble before and almost kicked out of school.  Oh dear.  It killed the entire evening.  I reassured him that it wasn’t that big of a deal since we did nothing bad.  I decided I would laugh about it.  I knew it would make for a good story ;)

He took me home and apologized for the evening.  He seemed to clearly feel bad about it and asked me if he could see me again.  I decided that a do over might be a good idea.  I said, “Of course,” and he bid me goodnight. 

I waited all week for a phone call.  None came.  By that weekend I found out he had already acquired a girlfriend and within two months, they were engaged.  Oh well…

So, I moved on.  I wasn’t upset about it.  I had a memorable evening with this lovely young man.  All I had to do next was find another rare gem to pocket away for special occasions.

And luckily for me, my name never was turned into the dean.  I waited for the call.  I waited for my name to show up in the school newspaper under the “police blotter.”  Haha.  But it never happened and I was relieved.  It would have been pretty ridiculous to make a big deal over it.  Luckily, the security guard understood that, and despite his harsh words and repeated use of “stupid,” he let us go. 

I always know how to get myself on adventurous dates, don’t I?