Have you ever met someone who you think you could go far with, someone you get along with really well and could see yourself being with romantically, but it being the wrong time? It's happened to me, and it stinks.
Every now and then to satisfy my need to be in Orlando, as I am desperately awaiting the day that I can finally transfer to school there, I work at Disney for a bit, whenever I can apply for a college program. I was working at Animal Kingdom this summer in outdoor vending (selling the ice cream and drinks at the carts) and got the chance to be a water vendor on my second to last day of work at their nighttime show "Rivers of Light." I was so excited because I had always wanted to work in "Rivers of Light," and this was the next best thing. I was on a slow side of the arena where not many people wanted to buy waters, so I decided to strike a conversation with a cast member who worked at "Rivers of Light." He had these amazing circle sunglasses that made him look super cool. I still think about them. We ended up talking about his previous job at Universal, ourselves, our mutual friends, his current job with Disney and we were having a great time just chatting. You could tell there was some chemistry there.
When I realized everything was going well, I knew that the dreaded "I am leaving in 2 days" conversation had to come up. I hated that I had developed this crush on such a nice guy, but I had to tell him I don't live here full-time. I didn't know if he had a crush on me, I was relieved when he said he wanted to hang out with me if I found some free time before I go.
At the end of the second "Rivers of Light" show I said my goodbyes, we hugged, and we exchanged Facebook names so we could keep in touch, though he warned me that he wasn't great at keeping up with texts so be patient with him. We texted while I tried to trade for a late shift the next day to see him, but it didn't work out. So flash forward to the end of the night next day, we were texting saying we both just left work and that I was so sad to be going. Bummed, he told me he wishes we were both there right now so we could hang out and go out to eat, and then with some careful thinking he said, "I have to bring my friend home, but would you still want to go get something to eat?" (Note that he wouldn't have been able to get to me until 1am and I was waking up at 7am the next day.) Of course, as I said in the beginning of my second college program that this was a program of no regrets, I said yes and he came to get me and we had a great time.
Once I went back home a few days later, I only talked to him a handful of times. I keep thinking, maybe if I had stayed with Disney through the fall, we could have been able to explore our potential. I also think that maybe I'm overthinking this and there's nothing we could have done to build some sort of relationship unless I had met him earlier, or maybe he lost all interest in me as a romantic partner the moment I told him I was moving away. It's either the anxiety or the truth talking, but maybe I'm right.
The truth is, I don't think anyone can really "predict" what would have happened with us unless it actually happened, and while it sounds like the blame is on us, it's not. It's just bad timing. If it would have been meant to be, there's nothing to be done unless we met earlier. Life still goes on.
