You Had Me at Hello

When we got to the mall, we walked to the Washington Monument and spent some time taking pictures of the surrounding area and each other. After that, we walked along the reflecting pool and talked about how it was cool to be standing in the same place that Tom Hanks had stood for the famous Vietnam speech in the movie “Forrest Gump.”
“I honestly think that Forrest and Jenny’s, is one of the best love stories there is,” I admitted.
“I agree, I mean, how it ended sucked but it was like they were meant to be together, no matter what.”
“You’re right. I hope I find a love that strong someday,” I say with a sigh.
“You don’t have that with your boyfriend?” Alex asked.
“I haven’t had a boyfriend in over two years, not since…” I trailed off, not wanted to go into the painful reminders of my weakness.
“Not since what?”
“My last relationship ended really badly. He was an ass and I was dumb.”
“I’m sorry, no one should have to deal with a bad relationship.”
“Thanks, it’s over now and I never have to worry about him again.”
“You’re welcome.”
“How about you? Have you found your happily ever after?” I asked with a smile.
“I thought I had but she wasn’t the woman I thought she was. I’m just glad I figured it out before we actually got married.”
“I’m sorry, were you guys engaged?”
“Yeah, we were actually supposed to get married this summer.”
“That’s rough, but as you said, at least you figured it out before the wedding.”
“I’m glad for that too,” Alex replied with a soft smile. After a few seconds, he took my hand like he had been doing it for years and we continued walking around and talking as if we hadn’t just been talking about a painful subject.
We ended up walking for hours and before we knew it, it was getting dark and chilly. I shivered as a cool gust of wind swept through the open area. Alex noticed and released my hand and put his arm around me and pulled me close to his side. We stayed like that for a while before my phone began to ring. I reached into my pocket and saw that it was Jen calling.
“Hey Jen, what’s up?”
“Where are you?”
“I’m by the World War II Memorial, where are you?”
“I just parked the car. I’m going to come meet you there.”
“Ok, let me know when you get here.” She agreed then we hung up. I smiled, knowing how she was going to react to the fact that I was standing watching the sunset with Alex Ovechkin, a player she absolutely hated.
“Who was that?” Alex asked as he once again wrapped me in his strong arms.
“That was Jen; she is on her way here.”
“Oh ok, does that mean that you have to leave?” he asked looking slightly saddened by that idea.
“Not for a while, we don’t have anything planned for tonight so we will probably walk around for a while more, you are welcome to join us if you would like.”
“If you’re sure Jen wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh she won’t mind,” internally crossing my fingers. Just then I saw her walking towards us. As she got closer she realized that I wasn’t alone.
“Hey Fulton, who’s this?”
“Hey Portman, this is Alexander Ovechkin, Alex, this is my roommate and best friend, Jennifer Landowski” I said smiling, both from being able to say his name and knowing what she was thinking.
“Hello Jennifer, it’s nice to meet you,” Alex said while shaking her hand.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you too.” Jen said, smiling. I know her well enough to know that she was cringing at having to touch the big Russian who she despised for reasons that were a mystery to me though she had tried to explain them to me multiple times.
“So do you want to walk around for a while or what Jen,” I asked.
“I doesn’t matter to me, are we allowed here after dark?” she asked.
“Yeah, they light up all of the memorials and they look amazing at night. When I was here with my high school we did a night tour of the memorials and it was really cool. So what do you guys want to see?”
“I don’t care. How about the Jefferson Memorial?”
“Sounds good to me. Sound good to you Alex?”
“That’s fine with me,” he answered with a smile.
We started walking and Alex put his arm around my shoulders and I slipped mine around his waist. I asked Jen how her day was and what she did; she said that her day was good and that she had just chilled with her buddy Jake and watched movies. She asked what I did and I told her about going to lunch with the guys and then walking around the mall. The three of us walked around for about an hour just taking in the sights, then Alex mentioned taking us to dinner and we agreed. We walked back to his car and he drove us to a quaint little restaurant on the outskirts of the city. We sat down and ordered then continued to chat about everything from our plans for the rest of the week to what Jen and I were majoring in at Westminster. I had asked Alex not to tell Jen about getting us tickets as I wanted to surprise her. After dinner Alex and I argued about who would pay and as he had paid for my lunch I felt that it was only fair that I pay for dinner.
“Alex, just let her pay,” Jen said rolling her eyes after a while. “She won’t stop until she gets her way.”
“Fine, but I will make up for this,” he threatened.
“And how do you plan on doing that?” I asked.
“Before you leave, I will call you and set up a time.”
“If you say so,” I smiled at the thought of being able to see him again.
He drove us back to where Jen parked the car and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t sad to see the night end but he needed to get home so he could get ready for bed because he had an early morning skate to get ready for tomorrow’s game. When we got back to my Ford Escape he shook Jen’s hand and said that it was nice meeting her.
After she was in the car he leaned in and gave me a hug and whispered that he would see me after the game tomorrow; then he pulled away kissed me on the cheek and got in his car and after I got in my car and started it, drove away.
As soon as I got in the car Jen started grilling me just as I knew she would. She asked how the hell I had met Alex and I told her and told her more in detail about the rest of the day. When we got back to the hotel, I showed her some of the pictures that I had taken during the day and as expected she freaked out when she saw the ones with Mike in them. We talked for a little while longer before we both went to sleep. I feel asleep that night with a huge smile on my face thanks to an extremely handsome Russian.