The Story Begins...

Over the course of about three years, we were going out to the same Clubs. We had seen each other, but traveled in separate circles of friends. We had never talked or even met. As time passed, the Clubs we went to had closed and some new ones had opened. This narrowed our choices down to only two Clubs, The Edge and The Castle, so we did see each other around more often. Eventually we started traveling in the same circle of friends. Yet...we still had not met.       I remember seeing Eric around the Clubs and thought he was cute. I saw a friend of mine give him a hug goodbye one night. After he left, I asked her his name.       I had noticed Renee talking to some of the people I knew and I had also watched her dance quite a bit. Before we met, we had both made promises to ourselves that we were going to remain single, have fun and hang out with friends. If we met anyone new, they would be ONLY a friend!       It was early February 1998 and just a few months before I had made a New Years Resolution that I was not going to date anyone for a very long time! But then I saw Eric sitting in a corner...       Renee walked up to me on February 13th, Friday...the 13th, and said "You're Eric, aren't you?", it pretty much threw me off guard, but I liked it! We talked for just a few minutes...you know, small talk, chit chat, and then we walked off not realizing that our lives had changed just a few minutes before. ("Oh, the drama of the goth scene"!) Saturday, February 14, 1998 - Valentines Day There was a Valentine's Ball at the Castle...imagine a bunch of goths dressed in pink, red and white. Of course we were both in the usual black, but dressed to the nines.       I couldn't remember if I had met Eric the night before or not (ony alcohol gave me the guts to go and talk to him). I looked over and he was looking at me and waved. I remember telling my friend that I guess I did meet him. I walked up to say hello, but then one of my favorite songs came on and I excused myself to go dance. I remember turning around one more time to look at Eric and he had reached his hand out to me, I wasn't sure what to do...he was so sweet! I just smiled and then went to dance. When I came off the dance floor, he was gone.       I was watching Renee all night. All she did was dance and talk to some guy, I figured that he had to be her boyfriend...luckily later I found out I was wrong, he was just a good friend. She came up to talk a bit and again it was the small talk, "how are you," "it's so crowded in here," blah blah blah. She wanted to dance and turned to go, I reached for her because I wanted her to stay and talk, but she didn't. I figured that it was too hot and too crowded at the Club and maybe it would be best if I just went home early. So...I left. A week later...(just building up the suspense)... Another Friday night of talking and flirting, then a stolen kiss...       We had been talking most of the night and I had already figured out that he was incredible, but if he wasn't a good kisser, oh no, I had to find out...so...I went for it! I leaned in and planted a good one on those lips! Oh no, he was absolutely perfect and a good kisser too. What's a girl to do?       WOW! Never had that happen before...and I liked it! It was totally out of the blue, so unexpected. I knew that we were becoming very good friends and hopefully the possibility of something more. Could I be right? We agreed to meet out the next night, but it would be so crowded out at the Clubs. It was going to be Gasparilla in Ybor City where The Castle is. Twice the crowds and not much fun!       I tried to get into Ybor City. What a joke. It was so crowded, parking was $20 a pop and I was late getting there. I finally found a parking place and made my way through the crowds to the Edge. When I got there, my friend told me that Eric had gone to the Castle to look for me. I looked over toward the Castle and all I could see was the Gasparilla Parade going by and thousands of people blocking the way. What a nightmare!       I rushed to the end of the Parade route to make my way to the Castle to find Renee. We got there and she wasn't there yet. As I came down the stairs to leave The Castle to go look for her, she walked in the door. What a relief, I thought she might not show up. Another night of talking and getting to know each other (just wait, we're getting to the good part and we're almost finished with this part of the story)! At the end of the night we found out that we were parked miles away from each other. A friend drove us to Eric's car, who then drove us to Renee's car. We sat in Eric's car to talk for just a few minutes... Three hours later...       I couldn't believe how fast time flew by. We talked about everything and we laughed so much together. Every once in a while we would each steal a kiss. All I could think was "what a gentleman." He didn't try anything and that made me feel very special. I had to leave him soon. The sun was coming up and it had been three hours. I didn't want to go. I had an hour drive home and all I could think about was Eric. I had fallen for him...fallen HARD! He was my soulmate!       I wanted the chance to talk without the noise of the Club. We started talking while sitting in my car and the conversation never stopped. I couldn't believe how amazing one woman could be. Intelligent, creative, beautiful, just plain amazing. I fell in love with her that night. She was my soulmate, and even though I didn't want to admit it to myself, I knew it. Back To Main