Part 3: The Pursuit

I forgot to mention something very critical. Well, actually I didn't forget to mention it, I thought it happened later in the story, but now I remember that it happened at the party. I had a trip to California planned with Brad Stoddard at the end of July. Sometime during the party, I brought that up, saying that I wouldn't be able to hang out with anyone that weekend.

Ok, back to the story. For the next few days after the party, I called anyone I knew that might have known Jake in high school, to see what he was like. Everyone in high school knew him as Jacob, and all anyone really knew was that he was shy and skinny, but they all thought they remembered him as a good kid. I also hung out with Danny's friends one day (Danny was on a mission at the time) and told them all about Jake.

Anyway, apparently my "I dare you to use it" statement worked. Jake remembered it, and said that it was one of the main reasons he actually did call. He called and invited me to a work party the weekend I was going to California. I had to reject him. I was so mad. But, I did point out during the phone call that he knew I wasn't available that weekend. (I later learned that he has zero memory, and I shouldn't have assumed he remembered our conversation). I didn't think about much else on my trip to California. I even told Brad about him, even though Jake & I never really hung out.

After California, I knew that the ball was in my court. I had to call him so he would know I really was interested, and I really did want to go out with him. I called his cell, and he was at work. He told me he worked for a law firm in Phoenix cleaning their toilets. I believed him. (why wouldn't I? I was unemployed at the time, so anything sounded like a good job to me.) I got his e-mail address and we began IM-ing each other from 10:00am until noon every day. I then realized that a toilet cleaner wouldn't have that much access to a computer, and figured out that he must do something else besides janitorial work.

During this IM-ing time, I saw Justin at a Post event, and told him that it would be fun to set up "Game Night" with his friends and kids from the Post. This, of course, was my passive attempt to see Jake again. It worked, and game night existed every Sunday night for a couple of weeks until Jake & I began hanging out without the excuse of game night. Then game night stopped - it had fulfilled its purpose.

Next: The First Date.