Four years ago, my friends and I turned 18. We could legally get piercings, tattoos, buy tobacco products, but most importantly (and coolest, clearly) was the fact that we were old enough to go dancing in night clubs.
So at least once a month for a short-lived time, we picked Providence, RI as a hot spot, got all dolled up, and thought we were just fabulous people leaving for our big night out at 10pm. We'd pass around a water bottle of vodka of some sort in the parking lot for a few minutes once we arrived, and attended the "Ladies Free" night at Club Hell, ready to dance.
We mainly stayed with each other, being pretty picky about which guys wanted to dance with us, and had a secret ambush dance to remove a friend from an uggo. On this particular night, I was in a new relationship, and tried to stick to my friends, until this one guy asked me to dance, and for some reason I said yes to him. Years later I'd know him to be Eric Dorschied. He was a respectful dancer, keeping his hands where they should be, and seemed really nice. So, at the end of the night when we all left, and he came racing down the sidewalk to ask for my number, I didn't see any harm. Maybe we could call him next time we came out this way, I thought. (What boyfriend?) He texted me later that night (or morning, at this point) and he was saved in my phone as "Club kid Eric".
The next day, this boyfriend of mine wasn't too happy with this phone number exchange, rightfully so I guess, and decided to take his number from my phone for his own use, and give Eric a few "kind words" later that evening. Needless to say, Eric and I stopped talking. That is until one year later, when this boyfriend of mine and I broke up, and my girls were planning another trip to Providence.
Heartbroken and on the rebound, I was in Maine with friends Michaela and Terri for the weekend while we planned our big night out yet again. Scrolling through my phone, I found "Club kid Eric". They coaxed me into texting him, vaguely remembering that he was good looking. Hey, why not? Probably the most awkward text message anyone has ever received. Something along the lines of: "Hey, this is Lauren. We met last year in Providence, I'm the one who's boyfriend was an asshole. Anyway, I came accross your number and decided to text you because my girls and I are going to Providence this weekend..." Turns out, not only did he have a girlfriend, but she was the one to receive this message, and wasn't too happy. He abruptly explained his relationship status, and that was that. Club kid Eric, deleted from contacts.
Then, a week or two later, I get a text from an unknown number. It was him! And now he, too, was single. Turns out, things with him and his girlfriend weren't as peachy as they seemed, and Eric literally went back and looked at his phone records, just to find my number. We had chatted about hanging out, but I started seeing Lyla's father, and Eric worked things out with his ex-girlfriend. But this time, we stayed in touch via AIM & Facebook.
Turns out we had a lot in common. We would chat about our daily activities, relationship problems, etc. We even talked about double dating at somepoint, but how do you explain that to your significant other? "We're gonna go hang out with some guy I met in a club a few years ago, cool?" ...probably not. So, our online friendship continued.
When I began having a hard time with Lyla's father, Eric actually encouraged me to stay with him. But clearly, that is not what happened, and once our split was final, Eric and I saw opportunity to finally hang out. Him and his girlfriend had broken up a few months before. I was excited to finally hang out, but not looking to date, so we talked about exercising together. I thought this was something healthy to do with a new friend. But as you all know, he swept me right off my feet and just over a year later, we're married.
All of this is crazy!! We talk about it literally everyday. "I can't believe I married club kid!" I say, and Eric follows with "I can't believe I married Greenbean", which was my AIM screen name at the time. Any minor detail of our story could have completely changed the outcome; what if one of us didn't go to the club that night? What if he didn't ask for my number? What if I had given him the wrong one? What if I didn't decide to text him back a year later? What if he never found my number again? Absolutely crazy. It blows my mind to think of all of this, and the fact that we are so happily married today. Everything happens for a reason, our relationship proves this.
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