For The Love Of Her

Then I Met Her

Hey there, Andrew Williamson here. Welcome to the memoir of my adventures finding the love of my life. It is a saga of epic proportions that includes lots of joy, depression, heartbreak, loss, and love. But hey, I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe it's best to start at where it all began, the night I had moved back to Virginia from Nashville.

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I hopped off the plane at Richmond International Airport, which was oddly quiet for the late evening. I walked past multiple terminals, up and down escalators, and through the TSA area, but I saw no one except the people that were on the same plane as me. None of them seemed to be weirded out by that, for some reason that I still don't understand to this day. Anyway, I finally went to baggage claim and got my bags. As I stepped outside to the 10 pm June warmth, I saw a familiar van. Going over to it, I knocked on the window, got in, and dapped up my best friend and brother, Gene. He shooshed me, and I looked in the back seat to see my amazing niece, Maya. She was a year old at the time and was the most precious being I have ever seen. I whispered to Gene, Hey, bro, it's been a minute! How have you been?

He responded in an equally quiet whisper, Man, things have been crazy trying to raise her on my own. I gave him a sad nod, showing that I understood. His ex was really toxic and left him for another guy. For the rest of the trip to Fredericksburg, we were silent, and I ended up falling asleep. 

+I was walking down a street I didn't recognize in an area that I was unfamiliar with. The heat was sweltering, and I was trying to find a place to relax with A/C. Suddenly, I saw what looked like a church, so I went to see if they were open. By some crazy happenstance, they were. What I saw when I walked in was mind-blowing. There were a bunch of people dressed up quite fancy. I heard singing, talking, and praying, but before I could get my bearings, my vision went black.

I came to when a bucket of cold water was poured on me, causing me to gasp and exclaim, "What the heck?!" I could feel a powerful grip on my arm, holding me up, and my vision slowly came into focus. I saw that I was in a bathroom, and a very tall, very wide man was looking at me with extreme concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, to which I answered sarcastically, "I mean, I just passed out from the heat, so what do you think?" "Touche," he remarked, chuckling lightly. "My name is Brother Doyle, and I can see you've never been here." "I'm Andrew, and you're right. I haven't. Where is 'here' exactly?"

He smiled and said, "This is an LDS church. Are you okay to walk?"

I grunted as I straightened up and responded dejectedly, "Yeah, sure." He nodded and said, "Let me introduce you to a couple people."

With not enough energy to refuse, I nodded and followed him out of the bathroom. As I walked out, I saw two females with name tags on, and one of them caught my eye. She smiled at me with worry and concern in her eyes, and I was mesmerized. I couldn't believe anyone could be so beautiful. I must've zoned out because I suddenly started hearing my name being called.

"-drew? Andrew? Andrew! ANDREW!!!!"+

I jerked awake to Gene shaking me. "Dude!" he said in exasperation. "I've been trying to wake you up for a half an hour now! That must've been one heck of a dream!"

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sighed. "You have no idea. It was definitely a weird one, even for me." He chuckled and says, "I've heard that before." Before I could respond back with sarcasm, he opened the sliding door behind me and grabbed Maya. "Let's go inside." Following him into his apartment, I see a mess. The kitchen sink was filled to the brim with dirty dishes, clothes were strewn all over the bedroom floor, empty snack trash littered the living room floor, and the TV had a PS4 attached and a game booted up.

"Dang, dude, this is a pigsty," I said incredulously. "Yeah, well, I'm working all the time, so I am usually too tired to clean up." I nodded in understanding and ask, "So where am I sleeping?" Since we agreed beforehand that I would live here and help pay rent, I needed to know the sleeping arrangements.

"Well, I hadn't really gotten to that yet, but I guess you can have the couch." Plopping down on the couch, I asked him another question, "You're off tomorrow, right?" He nodded, and I continued, "Cool. We are going out on the town tomorrow." He shrugged and said, "Okay. Well, I'm heading to bed. Goodnight, bro."

"Goodnight."

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The next morning, I was up at 11 am and went about my morning routine. As I was finishing up, Gene woke up and started getting ready. We were able to get out of there by 12:30, and I was shocked at how hot it was. "Wow, it's crazy hot today!" He laughed at my exclamation and said, "Yeah, it's June." Leaving his sarcastic comment in the air, I looked next to his van to see a green Camaro. Smirking, I looked at Gene, and he looked confused. "That's weird. I know I don't own a Camaro." He then looked at me and realization hit him. "Wait, you cappin', bruh!!" Out of my pocket, I pulled a key fab and clicked the unlock button, and Gene's jaw dropped. "Get in. I'm driving." The look on his face was priceless as he got in the car. When I heard the engine growl as I turned on the engine, I grinned from ear to ear, elated, and drove us to Waffle House for breakfast. As we sat down, the waitress came over and took our drink orders. When we decided what we wanted to eat, very quickly, I might add, the waitress was coming over with our drinks. After she took our orders, we were chatting, and I could see everyone that came in because I was facing the door. It's that exact reason why I suddenly froze mid-sentence, jaw agape, as I saw someone coming into the restaurant by herself. Gene looked back to see what I was gawking at and immediately turned back to me, smirking. "Talk to her."

"No, bro, she is way out of my league." I was severely blushing, but Gene made it even worse when he called out to the young lady and said, "Excuse me, miss, my friend here thinks you're really cute." She blushes and says, "Aw, thank you." Putting my head down in shame, I whisper-yelled at him, "Bro! What are you doing?!" He chuckled and whispered back at me, "I'm helping you." Addressing her again, he said, "Would you care to join us?" She smiled again and said, "Sure, why not? I mean, I have some time to kill, and your friend is kinda cute too." I blushed ever more fiercely when she said that and scooted over to let her sit down next to me.

"Hey, my name is Jessica." I looked up to see what looked like an angel's face and stammered, "I-I-I'm A-Andrew." She giggled and said, "Nice to meet you, Andrew. So where are you guys from?"

From then on, we were talking through the meal. Well, I was stammering, but she didn't seem to mind. At the end of the meal, me and Jessica exchanged numbers, and I paid for all three of us. Thanking her for the chat, I told her we had to go, even though I was secretly wishing we didn't have to. We shook hands, which felt like electricity, and me and Gene headed back to the apartment. Collapsing on the couch, I feel asleep.