I've lived in my building for 3 years now, and this little tale spans that entire time. This tale is about the man who cleans my building. We'll call him Mexico.
About six months after I moved in, and six months of saying good morning to this man (and any other of the maintenance staff in my building when I saw them), Mexico pulls me aside and tells me that he really likes me. Please understand that I have never talked with this person for longer than 30 seconds. He gave me a CD. A mix CD. Of love songs. (So cute!) I told him that I had a boyfriend, which was true at the time, even though we actually broke up about 3 days later.
I've continued to smile politely at him and say hi on my way to work every morning. Me, being apparently naive, thought he would get over it and move on.
Last summer I was moving (within the building) and he saw me hauling boxes. He stopped me and asked me if I was moving:
"Are you moving?!"
"Yeah"
"No, you can't move!"
"... I'm moving upstairs."
"Oh! You can't ever move. I like you so much. You're my light. You're my light!" (gesturing at the light in the hallway)
I reassured him that I'm not leaving the building and went on to my new apartment. I still see him every day, though now I wonder what stories he's made up in his mind about me. I don't think it's arogant of me to think that he's dreampt up something in his mind about me, I think it must be true.
The other day, I was again carrying boxes and he came running down the hall to towards me, yelling my name.
"Hi"
"Are you moving?!"
"Yeah.. I am."
"Oh no, I'm never going to see you again!"
"Ummm..."
"Where are you moving to?"
"I'm actually moving out of Canada for a while"
"What? No! I'm never going to see you again!"
"I'm not moving until the end of August"
"I'm going back to Mexico for 3 months to get another visa. I'm never going to see you again."
He must have said "I'm never going to see you again" 5 times in our short conversation.
He kept inching closer to me. I could tell he wasn't going to leave unless I a) gave him a hug or b) told him to leave me the f*ck alone. I'm too nice. WAY too nice. I gave him a hug and he squeezed me until I really thought he'd never let me go, and then when he did release his grip on me, he grabbed my face and kissed me squarely on the mouth. WOAH! It was quick, so quick I didn't have time to react, and then it was over and he said goodbye and walked away. I ran into my apartment to re-evaluate what just happened. He just kissed me! Not okay!!
Later, when talking to my roommate about it, she cleverly pointed out that he's probably been thinking about doing that for 3 years. He finally got up the courage, and just did it! I'm really sort of proud of him. Don't get me wrong, I am not okay with people just walking up and kissing other people. For all he knows, I'm taken. But I am proud that he seized his moment, took a chance and went for it with everything he could!
I think courage is a very important part of relationships. It's important to take a chance and talk to the person you like, or ask them out or declare feelings. It's important to stand up for your relationships, to your family and friends or whoever else might think they should have an opinion. It's important to have the courge to talk openly with your partner. Thank you Mexico for reminding me to seize the day! (But don't ever do that again).
