This story happened about 3 years ago, but really starts about a year before that. I’ll note the sexy part with *’s for those who just want that. But I feel like the background of how this came to pass is at least as good as what actually came of it.
I was in a rough point in my life: I’d lost my job, lost my place to live after my roommates threw me out, and was recovering from a bad bout of mental illness and substance abuse problems. Simply put, I was a wreck of a human being, and at the lowest point that I’d ever been in. So I’d been forced to move back home and was living with my parents until I could get back on my feet. A few months after I’d moved in, I was a bit better put together and started looking for a job, and got accepted at a local restaurant. I was still a bit of a mess internally, but I put on a nice looking exterior at least. I had always been extremely shy, closed off, and kind of aloof, and I was resolved to try and be a bit more…charismatic, I guess would be the only word to describe it. And on that first day of my orientation at my new job, that’s when I met her. We’ll call her Sharon.