Shortly after Derek and I returned from the Dominican he said he had a surprise for me. He picked me up mid afternoon and wouldn't tell me where we were headed. I had become quite smitten with him because the time we spent alone he was mesmerizing. We shared the same end goals in life and he spoke with such passion about life. At this point he hadn't shared too much about his family except he was quite tired of being used by his sister Helen. She was making a move to Colorado as to gain her own "life", in her own words. And he was elated.
We drove to a suburb about 45 minutes out of the city and there was never silence. We finished each others sentences, laughed alot and held hands the entire drive. In my mind I was toast. We pulled into a very nondescript strip mall of sorts. Once parked, he rushed around his car to open my door for me. Apparently chivalry was not dead... I asked again, "what are we doing?". He simply answered, "you'll see...". We walked into an office and it was at that point I realized he had made an appointment for me to see a hypnotise to quit smoking. Wow. We had never even discussed it, and I smoked very little around him.
Living in Chicago, smoking just sort of becomes a lifestyle. Yes, I am aware of the dangers and knew I would quit when I was ready. But having someone make this decision for me without even discussion made me uncomfortable. Not real comfortable with my voice yet, I submitted and sat and allowed a hypnotise to work his magic. I am sure this works for some, but I am willing to bet it is because they are ready to quit. But, because I was falling in love with Derek, I was willing to give it a shot. Let's just say when the session was over, I walked out of the office and wanted to light up. Out of respect for Derek, I didn't but asked him to drive me to Walgreen's so I could purchase the nicotine patches. I was actually going to try to quit for Derek.
He told me how proud of me he was and that he believed in me, and I was truly going to make a valiant effort to quit. He took me to dinner after to celebrate my new found non smoker lifestyle. Over dinner we talked politics, he told me about his kids, I told him of my love for horses and shared my bucket list. He asked me if I was ready to meet his children as he was ready to introduce them to me, knowing in his heart I was the "One". I was petrified but agreed. I didn't even know if I was good with kids as it had been decades since I interacted with them. And I also knew that initially they would be tough to win over and resentful that I wasn't their mother. I hadn't met anyone else in his family yet so I guess meeting his children was the natural progression.
We set a date for the following evening as he had his kids 4 days a week. His daughter wouldn't be able to join us as she had her rigid ballet schedule. So it would be just me and the boys. I was nervous but looked forward to it. I hope they liked me because I too started to believe that Derek was the "One".
When Derek dropped me off at my apartment I immediately lit a cigarette and called Laney to tell her of the latest events. Looking back I should have realized that you can't change for anybody, only for yourself. Such an obvious lesson, but one I was too blinded by falling in love to see.
To Be continued....
*Oriana
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