Brian and I met in graduate school. We were taking education administration classes, and Brian was late every single morning to class that summer.
Because I liked to sit in the back corner of the room, there were usually a couple of seats around me. Graduate students are very suck-up-ish and like to sit up close. Brian would have gotten one of those up-close seats if he had been on time because he's a very suck-up-ish kind of guy. Instead, he was tardy and would take a seat back by me.
I noticed his tattoo first. He had a lion head tattooed on his ankle. He'll tell you that the lion had green eyes, but I'm pretty sure that's what the tattoo artist told the gullible college boy in order to get twenty dollars more. I thought the lion tattoo--with or without green eyes--was hot. It added a bad-boy vibe to his personality. This is laughable because he's not bad-boy in any way, shape or form.
The next thing I noticed was how smart he was. He had great ideas, and philosophically, we were totally aligned with each other. We got to work together during group projects because we were both back in the corner. (True Story: Our other group member is now the district superintendent for one of the largest districts in Oklahoma.) He was sharp and progressive and forward thinking. I was really digging this guy.
Since I drove right by his little town on my way to Northeastern, he asked me to carpool with him.
I was so goosebump-y and giggly and giddy that he asked me. A smart, intelligent, sexy man had just asked me out. I tried not to let my dimples show too much when I said, "No way."
Really. I told him no. I hate being late. And his girlfriend, who was also in our classes and rode with him every day, was 99.473% certifiable.
A year and a half, two graduations, one marriage and one divorce later, we had our first date.
He was not tardy.
