1999 - The Lunch Date + The Move

(originally posted 09/04/2009)

February 19 - There was no hiding the fact that I was watching the clock all morning until Elliot finally picked me up from work to go to lunch. We went to Applebee's, a good choice to offset my pickiness. I had on my scrubs and Emergency Chiropractic polo shirt (not very glamorous). When Elliot asked if they were real scrubs, I lifted up the back of my shirt to show him the actual "Scrubs" label located on the rear of my pants. He said, "Oh no, don't get me looking down there." I blushed and determined that I needed just one or two more obvious hints that he liked me before I'd make any moves. He certainly wasn't moving fast enough for me, but I still didn't know what to do!

The lunch was enjoyable, but we were both obviously nervous and didn't talk as easily as we did on the phone. Plus, I was still thinking about him looking at my ghetto-booty. He may have been too.

OK, now don't judge. I certainly didn't. I still had some time before I had to be back at work, so Elliot took me to a second-hand music store and . . . wait for it . . . got totally excited when he found a Mariah Carey CD! Seriously, gag. He immediately purchased it, and though I was seriously skeptical about his music choices, he was even more endearing to me than he had been before. Plus, I caught him looking at me while he was driving. Just one more hint and I'll make my move.

Elliot's brother had invited us to join him and his wife Xan at an ASU vs. BYU baseball game that night in which Adam's old friend was playing. We were to meet up with some of his friends to eat wings later. I called Natalie to gather some clothes for me to change into and Elliot was going to pick them up before he came to pick me up for our second date of the day. If my booty looked good in scrubs, it'd look even better in my cute jeans.

Again, the minute-by-minute countdown made the rest of the day go very slow. Elliot finally picked me up and we headed to the ASU ball fields to meet Adam and Xan for the rest of the game. They seemed happy to have us there, but neither Xan nor I are huge conversationalists, so I tried to ask questions about the pregnancy and excitement of having a baby. Adam and Elliot, brothers of course, had plenty to talk about.

After the game was over, Adam wanted to introduce us to his friend. In the introduction, Adam said, "This is my brother Elliot and his girlfriend Whitney." Completely taken by surprise, I quickly responded, "Oh dear, he moves fast doesn't he?"

Thankfully, Elliot and I can give some credit to our siblings for getting us together. Natalie, because she moved me to Arizona, and Adam because he made it clear that Elliot had obviously talked enough about me to make him think that I was his girlfriend. Green light for me. Go Whitney.

However, my response to Adam's introduction gave Elliot an instant headache. Elliot assumed that my response was negative and all of his presumed flirtations were in vain. I'm really good at ruining great situations, but thankfully this one wasn't a total loss. It gave me my window to make my move because Elliot's sudden headache had rendered him unable to make a move.

Elliot's insta-headache also made him unable to drive, so he handed over the keys while I drove to Wingers. We were early, so we reserved a booth for the group that would be arriving later.

God bless Grandma Anderson who taught me this trick. Apparently there are pressure points in your hands. When we'd complain of headaches as kids, Grandma would grab our hands and put pressure on our pressure points to make our headache go away. I told Elliot of this trick and offered to try it on him and threw in a little neck rub for good measure. His headache went away as fast as it came, but that didn't stop me from hanging on to his hand when the rest of the group showed up at the restaurant. He wasn't denying it either, even when we got a few interesting looks from his friends.

Apparently getting together with Taylor Wiscombe meant that Mad Dog Inferno hot sauce had to be busted out to ensure that someone would inevitably go sterile. Elliot and Taylor had tried the sauce twice before and Folsom referred to it as "lava in a bottle." I agreed to try some and dabbed a tiny dot on a piece of chicken, placed it in my mouth, and immediately ran to the bathroom or somewhere near a fire extinguisher to put out the fire in my face! I can't imagine trying any more than the little dot I tried, and wondered at the sanity of Taylor and Elliot who had both tried it several times. They were both running low on brain cells.

After my Mad Dog recovery (seriously, don't try it), I cleaned myself up and returned to my new favorite position, right next to Elliot as he reached out to hold my hand again. Such a little gesture, such a huge smile. The group decided to go to the new movie "October Sky" at the Ahwatukee theater.

By the way, every time someone would say "Ahwatukee," my sister Natalie would say, "Bless you." It still makes me laugh.

Elliot made no effort to keep me from holding his hand, and even reached for my hand while we drove to the theater. I imagine that he was feeling pretty confident and relieved that his headache was gone. We settled into our seats at the theater and though the movie was really good, Elliot had recently made focusing during my movie-going experiences extremely difficult. We held hands and practiced making ourselves comfortable cuddling. It wasn't hard. We were naturals.

After the movie, I had to laugh out loud upon finding Luke Wiscombe snuggled up and sleeping in the fetal position across several seats at the end of the row. Apparently the rocket scientist didn't interest him.

Elliot drove me back to my car at work and I was not excited for the night to end. I was so happy about the whole day, the lunch date, the instrumental introduction, the hand holding, and the cuddling that I just wanted it to continue. Elliot said that he'd follow me home just to make sure I would be safe (because of the late hour). He walked me over to my car and before I even unlocked the door, I turned to Elliot who was very close behind me and let his arms wrap around me as I nuzzled my way comfortably into his chest. I fit perfectly in his embrace and just let myself stay there for a while.

I felt like I had focused so much time on getting to this point that I hadn't thought of the next step. Kissing. WAIT A MINUTE! I had to throw around the pro's and con's of letting him kiss me that night really quick before he tried to do it! This was good, it kept me in his arms a little longer.

I decided NOT to let him kiss me. I made it only possible for Elliot to kiss my forehead and give me another hug before he opened my door for me. He followed me home and I could see him in my rearview mirror the whole time. I was dying to know what was going through his mind at the time because he looked a little spacey. I know I was.

I'll let him chase me for a while.