The Doctor.

Oh, the ironies of this little story still astound me. I'll share just the major ones, because there are too many to list. First, it was pretty much love at first sight. Second, I met him the same way I met The Unexpected. Third, we ended up spontaneously vacationing in the exact same spot where I'd vacationed with The Unexpected. And finally, they both had the same first name. The only good thing about all those ridiculous similarities was that somehow it helped protect me against a lot of the hurt I think I could've had with The Doctor. I needed some protection, because he was about to hurt me. I never saw it coming --- and I definitely never saw him coming. I'd just come off a huge trip for a client --- the trip itself was a blast and I spent days enjoying the southern California coast, but I was exhausted from the planning of a huge event. The weekend after the trip, I found myself at a minor league hockey game, totally not dressed up and in fact wearing the same jeans I'd gotten wet walking along the Pacific earlier in the week. Nope, they weren't washed, my hair was pulled back, loafers were on my feet, and I was sporting the zip-up sweatshirt I'd picked up in La Jolla. Figured I was going to enjoy a low-key night with Mums at the ice rink. Didn't figure I'd sit rightnext to a handsome doctor with the deepest blue eyes I'd ever seen. Once we started talking, I don't think we ever stopped. It was almost too good to be true. And, looking back, it was too good to be true. Oh, sure, we hit it off in a way that would rival a scripted romantic comedy. Three weeks later, we were on a beach on the coast of Florida, our feet tucked in the sand as we learned every little detail about each other. We realized how much we wanted the same things in life. Someone dared to say the words "meant to be" somewhere in the conversation. Even that night as we crawled into bed and behaved ourselves so well, I think we both counted on a future together. I was shocked at the turn of events. Once again, love had unexpectedly found me. ....And then it was gone. As unexpectedly as it began. Oh, we were still as infatuated with each other as ever, but his heart was still with someone else. And to be honest, mine still was too. My new Unexpected couldn't quite replace the old Unexpected. He and I tried to replace old feelings with new, but sometimes, you just can't. I think we'd still be trying if I hadn't decided to just stop. I felt like we were setting ourselves up for prolonged hurt if we didn't just accept that our timing was bad. Maybe it was telling us that even as perfect as we seemed for each other, it just wan't meant to be. I was ...ok, am... still pretty upset about finding and losing him. I kinda thought he was finally it. But I guess my journey is far from over. There are many things I'll remember about The Doctor, but the thing I'll cherish about what we had was that it proved to me that I could fall for someone else so completely, so deeply, and so instantly. It's given me a renewed hope in this Game of Love.