Unexpected Love

Unexpected Love Part 1

Tabitha had moved to Hoonah, Alaska a month ago from Maine. She had an opportunity through her work to transfer to Hoonah for a year and she jumped at the chance. She had always wanted to see Alaska and this might be her only opportunity.

One of the girls she works with in Hoonah, Lisa, keeps asking her to go out with a friend of her boyfriend's but she wasn't interested in dating anyone. She had bad luck with relationships back home and needed a break from dating. "You just need to get back out there", Lisa says. "I don't think I'm ready Lisa", she answered. "He's a really nice guy. What could one dinner hurt?", Lisa begged. "OK.", Tabitha finally gives in. "I guess it would do me good to get out of the house for a night." Exactly!", she said excitedly.

After work that day, Tabitha got ready and walked over to the restaurant to meet her date. When she got there, she told the waitress she was there to meet a man named Mark and the waitress brought her over to his table. She sat down and they introduced themselves and made some small talk. He seemed nice and she started to look at the menu. After they both gave their orders to the waitress, he says to her "Don't worry about paying for dinner. I got it. And you can give me something later." Then he winks at her! "How dare he assume that I would be sleeping with him tonight!", she thought to herself. She grabbed her purse and excused herself, telling him that she needed the washroom but she was actually going to bail on him. She found the waitress on her way out to canceled her order and apologized.

Tabitha rushed out of the restaurant and saw her friend Kenny walking by with a friend. He notices that she looks a little out of sorts. "Everything OK Tabitha?", he asks. "Hi Kenny! Yeah, I'm fine. I just bailed on a blind date though so I should keep walking before he comes out and finds me.", she replied with a giggle. Both of the men laugh and Kenny says,"Well, me and Matt here were going to the cafe for supper. Sarah is meeting us there if you want to join us." Sarah is Kenny's wife and they were the first 2 people Tabitha met when she came to Hoonah last month. They are both extremely nice people and they helped her find her way around. "Sure, that would be great.", she replied. "I'm Tabitha," she said to Matt while holding out her hand. She looked into his eyes and as he shook her hand, she could feel the electricity pass between them. "Nice to meet you Tabitha.", he replied.

When they got to the restaurant, Sarah was already there and when Tabitha told her what had happened with her blind date she said, "What a jerk! It's hilarious that you just left him there though! Maybe he will learn a lesson from it." Tabitha rolled her eyes and said,"I hope so." Matt says, "Yeah, I went on a blind date once. I don't think they ever end well." She laughed and responded, "Well that was my first and last one."

Matt was really chatty all through dinner but Tabitha didn't mind. He told her about Browntown and how he and his family were living off the land as much as they could. He also told her about their hauling business. She found him interesting and funny and he definitely wasn't hard to look at. When everyone was finishing up eating, Matt asked her,"So where are you from? I can tell by your accent that you're not from Alaska." "I'm from Maine.", Tabitha replied. "The company I work for sent me here on a one year work term." Matt looked a little disappointed with your answer. "So you're only here temporarily?", he asked. She wondered why he would be disappointed by her answer but then thought she must be reading him wrong. "Yeah, I've got about 11 months left.", she answered. "We should get home.", Sarah says. "We'll see you guys later." "What do we need to get home for?", Kenny asks her. Sarah gave him a look and said,"We have that thing to do remember?" Kenny clues in and says, "Oh yeah, that thing. See you guys later!" Tabitha thanked them for inviting her for dinner and then Matt offered to walk her home. "Sure, that would be nice.", Tabitha answered with a smile. He's cute and he's a gentleman, she thought.

They kept talking as they were walking to Tabitha's apartment. She caught herself staring at him a couple times and hoped that he didn't get freaked out by it, although she had caught him staring at her too. After a few minutes they were coming up to her apartment. "This is my place here.", she said, pointing to her apartment. "Nice.", he said. She turned to face him and he looked a little nervous. "Tabitha, I'd like to take you out sometime on a date if you would like to." She could hardly believe her luck. This very handsome and very sweet guy was interested in her! Tabitha smiled and replied,"I'd really like that Matt. I had a really good time tonight." Matt smiled a huge smile showing his sexy dimples and said, "I'm leaving to do a hauling job tomorrow with my family. I should be back in 3 days. I'll come see you then if that's OK?" "That works out good for me.", she answered. "I have that day off so I will be free the whole day." Matt smiled again and said, "Great! It's a date! See you in 3 days Tabitha." "See you in 3 days Matt.", she replied and kissed him on the cheek.