As Told By Terry
It was July 2004, and I had recently moved into an apartment, which from my own historical perspective of past apartments and rented houses was pretty nice. I also had my own bathroom and a very large bedroom, and was determined to make it really nice and homey. From the day you move out of a home made by your Mother you miss it, and I was bent on recreating some respectable semblance after a myriad of college roommates and cheap rents. I had some shelves that I needed to paint and decided to do so in a lawn area downstairs from my apartment.
As I was furiously painting, a rather friendly and remarkably handsome dog presented himself and proceeded to inspect my painting job. Not far behind this dog, who later came to be known as Bailey, followed this gorgeous petite smiling girl. Amid her attempt to gain control of Bailey and keep him out of a strangers business we began a conversation and exchanged a little small talk. She also mentioned she traveled a bit for work. I think the pivotal point was when I mentioned that if she ever needed a dog sitter I would be happy to help. It is fainter than a shadow in my memory now, but I think she did a little fist pump behind my back at that point.
Following that brief conversation, she took Bailey and they both retreated back to her apartment. After returning to my painting job after only a moment, Manali and her dog returned, but this time brought her Mother, Kalpna. I could only chuckle at this point, but her Mother, being the gracious host she is invited my roommate and I over for dinner the next evening. Today, I believe my promise to Mrs. Patel of keeping a watchful and protective eye on Manali put me in her good graces very early. Little did she know!
The next evening we attended a wonderful dinner. The following month or two we would occasionally hang out or she would be over at my apartment hanging out with Kyle, my roommate. Amid this casual friendship her flirtation towards me was pretty evident. I can imagine it was pretty hard for her to put up any resistance. Nonetheless, we were both dating and had been prior to our meeting. In fact, six months prior I had decided that I was completely past casual dating, and I really felt that I wanted to find that perfect woman with which to spend the rest of my years.
During that month or two after meeting Manali, I began to realize that I didn’t need to meet any other girl. I came to the realization that she was the most perfect woman I had ever met. I was convinced that if she wasn’t fully aware of her elegant beauty and my contrasting lack of it, I could win her over with my occasional bits of good humor and extended reaching ability. Luckily for me, that strategy or some form of it actually worked and we have been inseparable ever since.
