Monday, June 9, 2008

High School Heartache - Part 6

Purple Paisley Guy (continued)


Since he lived so far away, we never got to see each other. The letters continued over the next few years, but our communication became fewer and farther in between. He dated and so did I, but we always ended up talking at lulls in love. When I finally graduated high school, I took a road trip to his hometown while he was home for Christmas break from college. I'm not sure what expectations I had for this visit, but they clearly weren't in line with his. Upon seeing him, for only the 4th time since our original meeting, something felt different. I no longer had those romantic notions towards him. Possibly because I had just come through a really rough relationship earlier that year and possibly because he had changed also. I just knew things weren't the same. I returned home, dazed and confused and ready to leave him in the past. And then I got the shock of my life.

A couple of months later, I received a phone call out of the blue from Purple Paisley Guy. He went on and on about how much he missed me and loved me and couldn't imagine life without me. HUH?!?! And then, he proposed. (I'll wait while you pick your chin off the ground) He was ready to head to the jeweler to buy me a huge diamond ring and wanted to know what I thought. Hmmm, what did I think? Oh my, where to begin?

First of all, letter writing and mix tape making, does not constitute a proposal-worthy relationship in my book. Secondly, we had been in each others company only 4 times in the past 4 years and the last get-together, frankly, wasn't all that great. Was his brain not functioning? Was he so caught up in this harlequin romance novel that he couldn't see the forest for the trees? Apparently so. I politely declined his lovely offer and explained that I just thought we wanted different things in life. I think I actually heard him cry. I felt like crap. And so, that ended the chapter that was the Purple Paisley Guy. Or did it?

Several months later, I ended up meeting my (now hubby) and well, obviously we got married. The week before my wedding, I had this overwhelming urge to call Purple Paisley Guy and let him know of my impending nuptials. I don't know why, so don't even ask. It took some major tracking down, but I finally got him on the phone. I couldn't believe it. Surprisingly, he didn't slam the phone down upon hearing my voice on the other line. I think a small part of him hoped that I was crawling back to ask for forgiveness. Alas, I instead sprung the news of my wedding. I was met with silence. And then he informed me that I was the 2nd former "girlfriend" in a week to call him and tell him about wedding news. He was not amused.

Then, he sprung some news, that didn't exactly amuse me. He informed me that he had written a book and I was one of the main characters. He was kind enough to change my name, but I was clearly identifiable. Oh brother, this is just what I needed. Some jilted ex-boyfriend to paint a not so rosy picture of me, for all the literary world to stumble upon. We bid our farewells and never spoke again. And to this day, I still check Google and amazon to see if he has published anything under his name. So far, nothing.

I did discover, recently, that he is married and actually living not too far away from my little brother. Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing?

The summer of 1990 (between freshman and sophomore year) yielded a rather hilarious story that I'll revisit next. He was blond, a slacker and he rode a motorcycle...he was Tom.

{to be continued}

6 comments:

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Wow! You always hear stories about clingy women and guys that won't commit. And here you have the opposite. Ready for happily ever after...after just four meetings...and so many years. Amazing.

You know...when I got engaged...I was also compelled to call old boyfriends to spread the love. I am not sure what that says about my psyche...

Rhea said...

Poor purple paisely guy. His heart was broken...but it sounds like it was for the best. He sounds like an over-committer! I mean, four visits in four years does not a marriage make!

Fun stories! I'm enjoying them.

Angela said...

I still have the copy you made me of one of PPG's mix tapes. It's somewhere around here. The guy did have a way with music!

Michelle said...

Oh I so wanted to hear about you reading the book! If it makes you feel any better, revenge type books apparently don't get published well. A good friend of mine's mom wrote a horribly trashing novel about her ex-husband (not my friend's dad) that she's still shopping to this day....

But the poor naive guy. Obviously it just wasn't in the cards for him. I do hope he's happy with his wife. Do you still keep in contact with any of your exes?

Angie's Spot said...

Kat: It really was an amazing part of my life. And I don't know what it is about looking up the old boyfriends. I guess to show them what they missed out on?

Rhea: I did feel bad because he was upset, but it was definitely for the best. Glad you're enjoying the stories!

Angela: I NEED a copy of that tape! :-)

Michelle: I'm still interested in reading his book. I might have an update on that very soon, so stay tuned. As of right now, there is only 1 ex that I still talk to regularly. His story will be coming up in the next couple of weeks. Look for the story about Eric. I'm sure it will be MANY parts.

sky said...

LOL! Your stories are great!
I feel sorry for purple paisley guy - he got 3 special posts though!
Him writing (or wanting to write) about you is funny - reminds me of that movie Music and Lyrics.

 

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