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I met Caz during the final show of Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre's first season. Toward the final few weeks of the summer, Canteen Services stopped hiring new employees and resorted to hiring tempoary help. Some of these people were good workers, others weren't. As kiosk manager, I had the power to prevent a temp employee from coming back by circling an area of their temp form. I used that power frequently during the last four nights.
Caz was a temp employee that night. We had so many temp employees on hand that we ran out of the uniform puke-green shirts for everyone to wear. She wore a white knit shirt with long sleeves. She was Hispanic and was very cute. When I was at work, I was usually too busy to try to start anything with the female employees, but I took an instant liking to her and felt a connection. After we had closed the kiosk and I was signing everyone's temp forms, I asked her if I could have her phone number. She actually gave it to me.
I called her up a couple of days later. I found out that she had recently moved up to Denver after graduating from high school in Colorado Springs. She didn't know what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to college at the time and was trying to figure stuff out. She was living with an aunt and uncle and cousins. I asked her if there were any movies out that she was interested in seeing. She said she hadn't seen "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" yet. I asked her if she wanted me to take her and she agreed. I was surprised. Wow, I've only been up here a couple of months and I'd already landed dates with two different women. It made me wish it had been that easy in high school, college and the first year I was living in Clovis, NM.
For whatever reason, proabably because of the job I had at the time, we arranged our date to see the 9pm showing at the movie theatre in Littleton where I had seen the movie the first time. (Back then, big hit movies stuck around in the theatres for several months before going to home video. Interestingly enough, this was a trend that would change drastically the next year with Tim Burton's "Batman.") She told me that her aunt and uncle lived at the intersection of Yale and Yale. Actually, it was E. Yale Ave. and E. Yale Dr., but it was the second one coming from I-25. She told me to just drive up and park on the street and she would come outside. She didn't want me to meet her family because she was afraid her cousins would give me a hard time. I drove up and sure enough, she actually came out of the house. Since it was late, we didn't make any plans to go eat.
I didn't realize at the time that I was a considerable distance away from the movie theatre. She asked why I didn't choose a theatre closer to her house. I told her it was because I knew how to get to this one. (I had only been in town a couple of months and was still learning my way around.) It didn't matter, because we still got there in plenty of time.) We bought our tickets, got some snacks and soda and went into the theatre. We were the only two people in the audience, so it was like a private screening. I liked how that worked out.
After the movie began, I got brave and started holding her hand. I interlocked fingers and was suprised to see that she was allowing it. We held hands the entire movie and on the way out to the car. I was very pleased with how this was going. I asked her if she wanted to get something to eat after the movie, but she said it was late and asked me to drive her home. When we got back to her aunt and uncle's house. We quickly hugged in the car and said good night. I didn't try for a kiss, not even a quick peck on the lips. I watched her go into the house and then I left.
I called her a few days later, hoping we could go out again. However, while she had a good time on the date, she admitted that she still had a boyfriend in Colorado Springs. I guess she didn't think I was worth leaving her boyfriend for. I can't really say I blame her, but I didn't get real upset about this. At least she was honest about it and we hadn't kissed yet, so I wasn't that invested. Anyway, I was still working on trying to get this other woman to go out on a date with me. This was a situation I wasn't used to.
I actually saw Caz one last time. About a month later, I was at a concert at McNichols Sports Arena with that woman I had been working on (because she had actually become my girlfriend at that point). After the show, we were trying to find the exit where my car was parked. I had my arm around her. Suddenly, I saw Caz coming toward us. She was wearing a brown dress and appeared to be with a female friend (maybe one of her cousins). My eyes widened when I saw her. However, she didn't see us. I realized that if I thought Clovis was too small a town to try to juggle more than one woman, Denver was ALSO too small to get away with it.
I called Caz up a couple of days later. I asked her if she enjoyed the concert. She asked me how I knew she was there. I told her I saw her and she had passed right by me and my girlfriend. I think she was relieved to hear I had a girlfriend and wasn't going to try to ask her out again. We talked a little bit more, but I never called her again after that.
Because she has a rather common name, I cannot find out where she is right now. Even though this relationship didn't go in a direction I wanted it to, I'm glad I got to go out with her that one time. It made me feel like I was reaching my potential when it came to dating women and figuring out when to make the right moves. I'd had some help in that department with Paz. (I guess I should give Paz credit for something.)
Overall, I'm glad we could part with good memories of each other, but I doubt she has ever thought of me since.
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