The next time I saw him it was his twenty-first birthday. We weren’t a part of the same friendship group at the time and so it was hard for us to see each other. We tried catching up in between our day at the Peninsula and his birthday but our schedules were opposite and on the weekends we spent time with our own friends. We had this joke that the universe was out to get us because no matter how hard we tried, catching up with each other was near impossible.
In the hours leading up to his birthday party I was nervous. I was hot and flustered and so I blasted the air conditioning. Melbourne isn’t particularly hot in April, but I was just so nervous at the thought of seeing him again that I needed recycled air on my face in order to calm down.
As I said, I didn’t know many of his friends at the time except for one of my close friends. That meant that on the night I was nervous about not knowing anyone and I was nervous about seeing him. I didn’t realise it until my friend pointed it out, but apparently, he was making an effort to talk to me more than he was talking to anyone else in the room. When my friend mentioned it my heart exploded. I couldn’t deny how happy that made me. I wanted him and I loved that he wanted me too. I still love it.
As it was a twenty-first birthday, his closest friends and family gave speeches. They laughed about the time he had to get an urgent air conditioning service in Melbourne CBD and he wouldn’t tell them the reason why. I blushed. I knew the reason why.
Listening to his birthday speeches made it undeniable – I was in love with him and there was no going back. I love him more and more every day.