Little Things | An Original

2

Dalton

A little over two years ago, I proposed to someone who didn't want to marry me. I didn't know she didn't want to marry me, and I'm not even sure if she knew. However, Hannah and I had a long talk after I proposed, and we decided our relationship was better off ending.

I had wanted to take the next step, and she didn't. Simple as that.

It's not like we ended on bad terms, but I was still very hurt for a while. I loved Hannah, and I felt like she was the rest of my life. When we had our talk, Hannah told me that she felt like I was the person she was supposed to be with before she found her future husband. I was crushed.

We were together throughout most of college. I had moved down to Georgia from Chicago, to go to my mom's Alma Mayer. My grandparents lived very close to the University of Georgia, so I decided to go there. I wanted to go to college in the place where I spent most of my childhood summers. My grandparents would be twenty minutes away, and I was even going to college with two of my cousins. It felt good to call Georgia home for four years, and I even thought it could be the place I'd raise my family. 

After Hannah and I broke things off, I moved home to Chicago. I wanted to be back in the same town as my siblings, lifelong friends, and of course, my parents. It didn't feel like it at the time, but this was the best decision.

I went on a trip to Europe with just my brother and sister, and I got a great job in sales management for a huge book publisher. I have a great apartment near the downtown area, and I finally feel like I am right where I'm supposed to be. In a way, I'm glad Hannah and I didn't end up together after all. I wouldn't be as happy if I was still down in Georgia.

Everything kind of worked out the way it was supposed to, even if it didn't feel like it during those initial days.

There's a couple of bars in downtown Evanston that my friends like to go to once in a while, and I say once in a while, because that's where we run into a lot of people who went to high school with us. These bars aren't necessarily college bars because they're on the other side of town from campus, but a lot of Evanston High alumni show up there, who are around my age.

Really, there's three main bars we tend to frequent: Tomlinsons, if we want a social night where we can really talk to people, 414 if we are looking for a true party (honestly, more of a club than a bar), and the Black Bear Tavern if we want a chill night out to just get drunk. If we want anything fancier than that, we just go to downtown Chicago.

Tomlinson's is the place on our agenda tonight. Lately, I've been hanging out with my sister and her fiancé a lot, mostly because her fiancé is my lifelong best friend, Zack. I still remember how uneasy I felt when I found out that my best friend was interested in my little sister, back when we were all in high school. As reluctant as I was, I'm happy that they're still together to this day. Paisley was a sophomore when we were seniors, and now she's been with Zack for almost seven years. They're getting married next summer, and Zack will finally be the true brother I've always felt he was to me.

I'm not necessarily looking for a relationship right now, but I'm also not opposed to the idea of one. If I found someone I could really connect with, I'd be honored to be a part of another serious relationship. I've felt ready to settle down for a while now.

There was a summer fling I had right before college, with a girl who was a year or so younger than me. Her name was Maeve, and I was friends with her throughout most of high school. She was gorgeous, and one of the sweetest people I've ever met. Maeve had been dating one of the hockey players, but he dumped her two weeks before Prim. So. I asked her to go with me instead. We had an exceptional time together, and ended up being kind of inseparable throughout the summer.

We agreed that when I moved away to college that our fling would be over. We'd remain friends and wouldn't be opposed to dating in the future (given that we'd both be single and living in the same city). I've honestly been thinking about Maeve a little bit lately. I wonder how she's doing. If she still lives around here, and if she's single. I'd ask her out in a second if I knew she was single. Technically, I owe her a real first date if she's single. However, girls like Maeve don't stay single for that long. She's too valuable to stay on the market.

I told her a long time ago, that she deserves the world. I still very much feel that I would be so lucky to have the chance to give it to her. Maeve is someone I consider an Earth-Angel. She's equally as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside.

I'm really hoping that one of these days we'll run into each other. Maybe tonight will be the night.

My sister has been bugging me about when I'm going to start dating again. She even downloaded all of the dating apps onto my phone and told me to sign up for them. I haven't even opened any of the apps yet. I'd rather meet someone organically, and I'd also rather run into Maeve somewhere and catch up with her.

That's if she's single, of course.