I arrived back at my office with the Hyundai Excel and called “the girls” in to debrief. I closed my office door and announced with dewy-eyes something like “I just met a guy”. I remember asking everyone if they had ever rented a car before and if they had experienced the kind of treatment I had with a walk to the car and an opening of the door. (As I said, I didn’t think this was normal…but I had to verify.) I’m thinking we passed his business card around the room and I started to get the confirmation I was seeking. This was not normal rental-car-guy behavior. This was different. As girls do, we hatched a plan via group think. We had complete consensus that I needed to call this guy. Didn’t he essentially ask me to call him? I clearly remember one part of the conversation in my office when someone in the room said “If you don’t call this guy, you won’t be my mentor anymore.” I know this because I wrote it in my journal that day. This comment struck me because it had never occurred to me that I could be someone’s mentor. Well. I had to live up to that, didn’t I? And, it would be rare for me to back down from a challenge. Side note: This beautiful journal was given to me by a bff right after my breakup with the 7+ year boyfriend. There are 5 total entries – 2 of those include Dale. I’ve never been good at journaling. Anyway, attaching journal pictures here for added affect.

Okay, this plan needed some strategy. I couldn’t just call him straight away. I decided I would wait until my Geo Prizm was ready for pick up giving me reason to call to let him know that I dropped off the rental. Yes. Brilliant. (Because doesn’t everyone call the rental office to let them know you’ve dropped off the car when you’re finished with it?) That would be about a week away. That gives a girl a lot of time to think about things. Did I misread the situation? Was he just a really good sales person and walks everyone to the car? Was he a master networker and impressed that I knew people at the Enterprise headquarter office? Maybe he already had a girlfriend? Maybe they even lived together? Remember, there was no social media platforms in 1994 for easy stalking. I found his phone number either in a phone book (ha, what’s that?) or through directory assistance (ha, what’s that?). The plan we hatched was to call his home number during the work day to be sure I’d catch his answering machine (ha, what’s that?) and get some clues based on the message. I dialed. The message said something like… “You’ve reached Dale and Mark. If you want to leave a message for Dale press 1, if you want to leave a message for Mark, press 2.” I quickly hung up.

The countdown was on and the plan was formed. Nearly a week later, I picked up my newly repaired car and came back to the office to finally call the number on his business card. He didn’t answer the office phone so I had to ask to speak with him. I fumbled through something like “I rented a car from him last week and he told me to call him with any questions.” I waited anxiously to hear his voice on the phone and I was finally transferred to Dale. The plan was this: 1. I would let him know I dropped off the rental car. (I still crack myself up about this.) 2. I would ask if he’d be interested in having lunch or coffee with me. Hang with me here as this was a well-thought out theory. If he picked lunch, I wasn’t misreading him because lunch was more of a commitment. If he picked coffee, he was just being a polite sales guy. Looking back on my 20-something self, it is 100% truth that we all overthought this plan – Way. Too. Much. (But, come on. Isn’t this cute in a silly young adult crushing on the rental car guy sort of way?) But here he was on the phone with me and I was actually pretty nervous. I remember fumbling through something like “Hey, I don’t know if you’ll remember me but I rented a car from you last week and I just wanted to let you know that my car is now fixed and your car is in the Enterprise section at Smart Motors.” (1. ✔) I think he replied with something that made me know he at least remembered me, but I was also focused on the next line I was about to blurt out. Deep breath; I continued. “Also, I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch or coffee with me sometime?” (2. ✔) He answered in one word…Yes. I got stuck. I mean, I had a plan and he was supposed to pick lunch OR coffee so that I would understand the play here. Somehow we fumbled through the couple minute conversation and decided on a date for the next week. He picked lunch. He would pick the restaurant.

I know. You’re all wondering how long I can drag this out. Soon friends, soon. There may be one more part to write and we’ll call it a wrap. I still owe one of you a photo of me from a hair show. I’ll dig around this weekend. Stay tuned for part 4; possibly the final entry in the origins of this love story. XO