Must Have: Backstory (Part 3)

So I was off! Making friends with other adventurers, people who looked for opportunity outside the confines of their own culture and country. We celebrated Lunar New Year, had crêpe parties, and contrasted our different experiences and cultures. It was enlightening. It was exciting. And in the end it was an awesome good time.

Mr. Fox happened to be one of these fun folks I was spending lunches and weekends with. He was a constant source of coffee (of which I was not accustomed to drinking), chat about politics and history, and information about being a "Professional French". He was a good friend who always knew the weather and made bad jokes about anything. His dry sense of humor and nerdiness made him super interesting. But he was never on my dating radar... Until he put himself there.

One evening we ended up on a date. Of course it's not quite common to just "end up" on a date, but this is exactly what we did. We had coordinated with a colleague to meet up and check out Mr. Fox's new in-home surround sound speaker system and then have dinner together. Unfortunately, the colleague decided that he had a pressing date with a TV show and couldn't do dinner. Thus, I ended up alone with Mr. Fox. No big deal, right? We'd hung out together before, right? Well, of course! But never alone.

Apparently, Mr. Fox had been harboring some very strong feelings for me but just never knew how to make them known. So he took the chance. Over burgers at the Humboldt, he reached for my hand, held it gently in his, and told me that he couldn't let me leave Germany without telling me how he felt.

Where we had our first "date" and Germans doing their thing in the cold.

I was completely floored. This guy who I had been spending so much time with wanted to be in a relationship with me?!?! I had no idea how to respond. The food seemed to be too heavy, the drinks not cold enough, the room too crowded. Somehow I choked down my burger and asked for the check, making small talk about randomness and avoiding eye contact. What was I supposed to do? I was frantic.

But of course, I forgot to mention one crucial point: I was supposed to be leaving for the US for good in a month. Mr. Fox couldn't have had worse timing. At the time, I was in the process of wrapping up my lovely experience, packing up my apartment, and making myself mentally ready to return stateside. He turned my world upside down that night, well, because I realized that I liked him too. He was perfect for me, I just had never seen it. We were great friends because he was just right.

It was the first time that I had actually had a real, platonic relationship with a man that really was taking that turn into the romance zone for both sides. The feelings were not unrequited, just unacknowledged. I realized that leaving him in Germany would not have to be the end of the relationship. It could work if both of us would be willing to make it work.

I called Mr. Fox the next day and invited him over. We had a very frank conversation about where we go from here. I was honest, he was honest. We shared our fears and our hopes and our wants and needs. And when he kissed me, everything was all right.

Have you ever had a platonic relationship take that turn into romance land? How did it go?