How I Met Serach, Part X

As today is our fourth (!) anniversary, it's as good of an excuse as any to continue this series.

This is Part IX of a series about how I proposed to Serach. Part I is here, Part II is here, Part III is here, and Part IV is here, Part V is here, Part VI is here, Part VII is here, Part VIII is here. Part IX is here. Or, you could simply use the dropdown menu on the left side of the blog titled "How I Met Serach".

We left off last time with Serach threatening to force me to eat raw fish. On our second date, that's exactly what she did.

After night seder, I got a ride into Manhattan. Serach was staying in a friends' dorm room on the Upper West Side, where at the time there was a small kitchenette under the lobby. While I thought she was kidding, when I showed up, there she was holding a couple of rolls of sushi - less "fishy" ones, but nonetheless, this was raw fish. The truth was that I didn't really know what sushi was - I kept imagining slimy herring, while in reality, the sushi was anything but. After much consternation and stalling, I finally took the chopsticks and put a piece in my mouth... and survived. Somehow. After a few more bites, I actually started to like the stuff, much to my surprise and dismay.

But I skipped a slightly important part. When I walked in, there were a few other people there. And those people, of course, were some of Serach's really good friends.

The truth was it was unavoidable. One friend's job was to monitor the lobby and halls. Another was on her way in or out. And another had come to visit the monitor. But I think that any guy is always a bit wary of meeting his date's friends early on, knowing that this translates into an analysis of every breath he takes, every move he makes, every single day, every time he prays... and here I was, sitting down on a couch across from three of Serach's closest friends, talking. Fun stuff.

Thankfully, somehow, I passed the test. It might have been my pathetic look when I saw the sushi; it might have been that I was about 50 pounds less than I am now. But Serach told me much later that one had commented to her later, not really joking, that if it didn't work out for some reason Serach should set her up with me. After the time spent in the lobby we went for a nice walk outside, and came back a couple of hours later. We sat back down with her friend the monitor and another one of the friends when another girl came into the room, with a guy... and they were both drunk. Serach was acquainted with but not really friends with the girl; after the girl wouldn't stop talking for a while, she turned to ask Serach who I was. Serach didn't feel like dealing with a drunk bugging her about her date, so she answered (to her friends' amusement) that I was her cousin. After a while, I believe the monitor friend - who was quite annoyed to have to deal with this - sent the girl up to her room and the guy she was with out the door.

This actually caused a funny story later on when we got engaged - the girl saw Serach and asked who the guy was; Serach asked her if she remembered meeting me that night in the lobby. The girl made a face and said "You're engaged to your cousin!?", before Serach laughed and explained that I was not actually her cousin and why she'd said it.

All in all, date two was a success - next time, Central Park & Starbucks.

Ezzie: I'm writing the story as I remember it, and unfortunately that sometimes results in skipping some details. When I remember them, I'll try to fill them in; possibly in the comments, possibly in the posts if it won't make it too disjointed. If anything is unclear or you have any questions, feel free to ask! Serach won't admit it, but she's been reading the story [and lately, other posts, too!] - maybe she'll fill in some of the details and her perspective at some point. I'm still hoping. :)