Well, I found out through the Mrs. Thor facebook page that my cute little play on suspense wasn’t sitting too well with at least one person. For that reason, I am hammering out Part 6 without delay.

Having just sent the man of my dreams a somewhat confessatory e-mail, and not really knowing for sure what I would hear back in reply, I did what any mature, self-possessed 30-year-old woman would do: I hid under the covers. I went back to bed to keep myself from hitting the refresh button on my gmail for three hours.

When I woke up, it was after 11 pm. Sure enough, there was an e-mail from Mr. Thor.

I was nervous, but only a little bit. I trusted him enough that I knew this: even a letdown would be fine. He would not let me fall, he would not insult me, and he would not be mean about anything in the least if he didn’t feel the same way about me.

In the e-mail, he said that he was surprised that people at work had noticed something between us. He said that it had been most of his life since a girl came along that he felt a connection with. He said that, if he made a list of all the characteristics he was looking for in a woman – he would get me. He said that he never had so much fun being around a girl, and that he could write a list of 100 things that he loved about me. He then proceeded to send me a mini-list that included “She is smart in a megazabillion ways” and “She is one of the most compassionate people I have ever known” – And then he estimated that it would probably take him 1000 years to find someone like me on eHarmony.

If you know me, you know how much this all meant. He liked me back. Actually, it seemed that he loved me back! I loved him before I knew what had hit me, and here it was, all coming out. He loved me, and I knew it.

Also, if you know me, you know that I need structure, and rules, and I need things categorized.

So, I sent my own mini list back… And then I asked, “What do we do? Are we supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend?”

And he replied: “You can call it whatever you want – “going out” or “boyfriend and girlfriend” etc. but I have been wishing for something like this for years and years, all the while being extremely doubtful I would find it…Now that I know what I want it just seems like it’s so rare to find, like where would I find it if not for you?”

That e-mail was sent at 2:04 AM on February 5, 2008.

I had a boyfriend. A real boyfriend, who really appreciated key things about me. Someone who thought I was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Someone with a heart of gold, who shared his feelings and appreciated me for exactly who I was.

I didn’t really sleep that night.

So, by the end of Part 4, I was pretty, kinda, mostly sure that Mr. Thor liked me at least a little bit. This was the middle of January. When we both worked at The Dirty Store, I usually worked until 4. He usually worked until 9.

Did I mention the part where I had never had a boyfriend before? Because I had never had a boyfriend before Mr. Thor (other than the handful in 6th grade, but, c’mon.) and I had no idea how we were going to get from where we were to where we should be.

So, I loitered. I stayed after work and kept Mr. Thor company while he wiped up coffee spills and lottery ticket shavings and sold dirty magazines and cigarettes. We talked, and talked, and talked some more. And when we got home, we e-mailed. We were in communication, a lot. We e-mailed on our days off, on our days on. We talked about our families, about our coworkers, about our interests and fears.

In our e-mails, we talked about how lucky we felt to know each other. I called him my favorite.

And then, something happened to me one Saturday. February 2, 2008. A realization hit me: if things didn’t move forward, they would move nowhere. And Mr. Thor would fade off the end of the page into the pile of other guys I have liked too much to be just friends.

Except… wait. Panic! I felt total panic at the thought of losing him. That afternoon, I took his picture. That night, I stayed overnight with my friend Jax – we were planning to watch the Giants play the Patriots in the Superbowl. Tom Petty was playing the halftime show. Mr. Thor and I were both rooting for the Giants, because the Patriots had, up til the Superbowl, had a perfect season and we were going to be rooting for the underdogs, who also happened to be “his” team.

(shut up, I know, I know! I got into football for a guy and I actually love it!)

The Giants upset the Patriots in that game, and Mr. Thor and I sent a flurry of e-mails back and forth throughout the game.

The next day, we kept the string going. I had a job interview and he sent me an encouraging e-mail.

Then, we got into a conversation about work, and how he thought our manager had busted us for having so much fun, because we hardly seemed to work together anymore.

And then, I wrote:

“i think you’re right, PJ has busted us.

well, that, and it might have something to do with the fact that she thinks you have a crush on me. she informed me of her conclusion last week sometime by saying: “Mr. Thor has a crush on you.”

i said, “he does?”

she said, “you didn’t notice?”

(i have no clue about these kind of things.)

she is actually the second person at work to bring this to my attention.

what say you to these allegations? do you have a crush on me?

i hope so,
amelia
xoxo”

I totally put it all out there!

The only problem with my timing was that Mr. Thor was at work when I sent that e-mail.

…for another 2 hours.

So, at the end of Part 3, we were left with our heroine in a car on a cold night with a handsome man. They looked into each others’ eyes… they embraced… she gave him… her e-mail address.

I think that night was some time in December.  After that night, there were no e-mails from Mr. Thor. Nothing at all, except the occasional shift together at work.

Mr. Thor and I worked with relatively few people at the Dirty Store – maybe 5 other people? So there were many, many opportunities for our co-workers to observe as our friendship developed. Two people told me that Mr. Thor had a crush on me, and I pulled off what I thought were the best performances of my life as I scoffed them away. “What? no… we’re just friends!”

I was smitten with this man. Totally undone. I could talk to him about things I could never talk to men about before. I could be completely honest with him. He listened to my stories and remembered the cast of characters. He was interesting, intelligent, clever, funny, and kind. He had a heart of gold.

And then, on January 14, 2008, I received an e-mail with the following subject line: “The Day You Never Thought Would Come!”

It was from him. Finally. Almost a month later.

He had a day off, and he was telling me all about what he did.

Read a book, sat outside, enjoyed the sun.

He sent me a link to a cool NASA website.

And then he said this.

“I’ll see you sometime this week I hope. By the time you read this you should be at
home and done with work, so enjoy your evening, have fun!

Hugs and Kisses,

Mr. Thor”

 

Now.

I am as clueless as they come. Before Mr. Thor, I had never really even had one boyfriend. But, even I. Even I, who thought no guy would like her, ever, who thought love was for other people – even I realized that straight dudes do NOT SIGN E-MAILS LIKE THAT. Not if they are just writing to a co-worker/friend type person.

I forwarded this e-mail to my best friend from high school and said, “I’m gonna date him.”

And then I did. The end.

Just kidding. It’s a little bit more interesting than that.