I met my third girlfriend ever the second night I worked at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre in the Denver area. I was assigned to a kiosk behind the green. Interestingly enough, it turned out to be the kiosk I would manage toward the end of the season.
This was a hot dog kiosk. In addition to hot dogs, they sold Polish and German sausages, which were heated up and served right there. They were actually already overstaffed, so they had me just helping out at the roller grill. There was a woman there, who had been preparing the food. Her name was Bez. She had long blonde hair and slanted blue eyes. She told me which ones were the hot dogs, the Polish and the German. However, when she said "German," it came out as "Herman." Since just about everyone who worked for Fidder's was rather young, I thought she was about 18 years old. We started talking and kind of flirting with each other. She seemed to enjoy it. I found out a little later that she was actually 28 years old. I was impressed at how young she looked.
Pretty soon, I got sent over to a kiosk that was definitely understaffed. I got put on a register, which I was not expecting, especially since I hadn't gotten my Arapahoe County Liquor Server's ID yet. I worked there the rest of the night at that kiosk, but I had to go back to the kiosk where I started because my personal items were there. Bez was still working there, but things were wrapping up. I told Bez that it was very nice to meet her and I looked forward to seeing her again.
There was an afternoon concert the next day. I stayed in one kiosk the whole shift. During my break, I ran around the venue to the other kiosks to see if I could find Bez, but she wasn't anywhere. I was disappointed.
The next concert was two nights later. I was assigned to the back of one of the main concession stands. I was mopping the floor before the show started. I turned around and I saw Bez standing there. She was smiling at me. I said hello. She was sent to a kiosk in the courtyard outside the main stand. I went over to her kiosk when I got my break. She was getting her break at the same time. We went out to the green, watched the concert a little and ate our free hot dogs. We talked some. I asked for her phone number and she gave it to me.
I called her up a few days later. Her story was that she had lived in Los Angeles for the last six years. She had a good time there, but never could land steady employment. She decided to come back to the Denver area and try to get some solid footing by moving back in with her parents. She was working a temporary position doing demonstrations at King Soopers, which was the kind of work her mother was also doing. She had gotten hired at Fiddler's the same day I did, but didn't work the Friday night show because she had already bought tickets for it. After working the Saturday night that I met her, she felt really worn out and decided not to work the Sunday afternoon show. And she decided she wasn't going to work there anymore. (I wouldn't realize it until later, but this was why she had problems finding regular work.)
I told her we should try to get together and go do something sometime, like have lunch or go to a movie. She said she would like to do that. I called her up a couple of days later. Then she told me that she was seeing somebody and really didn't want to hang out with me. I was rather disappointed, but I wondered why she didn't mention this before.
A few weeks later, I was still thinking about her. I decided to send her flowers. Her address was easy to find because I had called and gotten the answering machine at her parents' before and her father listed the name of every person in that household. I found his name in the phone book and the address was listed. (I sure didn't need the Internet back then!) And yes, this was me in stalker mode, but I was working hard to tone that down.
She got the flowers and called me. She appreciated them (and didn't ask how I got her address). She agreed to go to lunch with me, as friends. At the time, we were doing a survey at Phone Survey, Inc. for Round the Corner restaurants. I had never eaten there before and she figured it was a good place for us to go hang out for a bit.
She told me that her parents were going to be there when I came to pick her up. She described her parents (who I will refer to as Mr. and Mrs. T) as being in their mid-50s. Her father had worked for the US Department of Labor and retired at the age of 50. He then went to law school, passed the bar and became a lawyer so he could work on behalf of Veterans Affairs. One of the things Bez warned me about was to not say anything about her mother's appearance. I didn't know what she was talking about.
So, the day of the lunch date came. I drove to their house. Her father was doing something to one of the cars in the driveway. He was just as I pictured him: Slightly bald and overweight with white hair. I introduced myself and he seemed pleased to meet me. He took me into the house. Bez was in the foyer. She seemed happy to see me. Then I saw this woman come down the stairs from the living room. She looked to be about 35. I thought she was Bez' older sister. Nope, I was wrong. It was her mother! THAT'S what she was talking about! I didn't say anything, but I know my eyes must have widened. I figured that looking youthful ran in the family. That was a good thing.
We had lunch and I drove her back home. Not once did I ask about the "boyfriend." I told her I had fun and we should hang out again. She said she would like that.
Our first "date" is a good place to stop today, because a whole bunch of stuff happened next before she officially became my girlfriend.
More tomorrow.
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