Through out the fall we would visit here and there. The only time we may have "hung out" was when I was leaving the athletic center and he invited me to FCA which was in 30 minutes. I obliged and sat down next to him on the bench outside to wait for FCA to start. He continued to do who knows what on his phone the entire time we were waiting for time to pass. Can you say awkward?! I pretended to be busy on my phone trying to not make it more awkward than it already was. (I actually had a flip phone with no internet so I was totally faking haha!)
Later that fall, he came to one of my soccer games. I remember him walking up, duffle bag slung over his shoulder, and he took a seat on the benches that were at the end of the field. I'm 100% positive I got a second burst of energy knowing he was there and that I probably should've been paying more attention to the game and less attention to Alfred.
Life happens and before I knew it I hadn't seen Alfred in months. He had told me he was graduating that December and I heard he was training for the combine which was unimpressive to me. I always dreamed of marrying a farmer so the whole NFL thing was very unappealing to me. I remember hearing Alfred got drafted. You have to realize that was big news for FAU. Everyone was talking about it. That was one of those moments where I was happy for him and at peace to know our little love affair was over. (He didn't know he was my secret BF... But he knows now lol!)
Then came Memorial Day. One of my best friends, Russell was in the Marines and stationed in Pensacola which is Alfred's hometown. A group of us road tripped with Russell's parents to go spend the weekend with him. I text Alfred just to say hi and tell him I was going to be in his hometown. When I text him I had no intentions of actually seeing him. I really only text him because I thought he was in Washington Sate far away. (Yes I thought he was in Washington not Washington DC... Oops.)
What are the odds?! He tells me he was home for the weekend and wanted to meet up. We ended up meeting at a bar, which is kind of funny because neither of us drink. I was my friends DD and of course this bar was right by the chuckie cheese he used to work at. I thought it was the most awkward experience ever. He showed up and somehow we ended up watching swamp people on the TV. You don't realize how much you don't know a person till you see them outside of campus. With no material to go off of, I didn't even know where to begin or what to ask. He didn't seem in any rush to leave either. As soon as he left, I text Ang and told her that I was breaking up with Alfred. (He was unaware of our relationship still.)
When my preseason started Ang randomly asked me if I had heard from him. I told her no, so she encouraged me to reach out to him. She explained that he was probably going through a lot of transitions being in the league and convinced me that I should check on him. God used Ang as a tool multiple times to help stitch this whole thing together. It was as if I text him right when we both needed a friend. From that day forward we communicated daily. About 3 weeks later I tore my ACL in the second game of the season and he was just becoming a starter for the Redskins. We had some full plates to say the least.
The weekend after I tore my ACL, my team was traveling to Vegas. I was going to be home for the weekend so my mom came down to visit my roommate Jacqui and I. (We went to high school together and are still super close! She lived with my family for a summer so we are more like sisters.) Alfred was sending me a good luck package for surgery and said it was supposed to be in that day. I was complaining to my mom saying it was already 5pm and I didn't think the package was going to make it that day.
Bummed at the lack of this package, I went to the FAU football game on crutches to get out of the house. Prior to it starting Alfred said someone from his hometown was new to school and didn't have anyone to sit with and asked if his friend could sit with me. I said yes but got annoyed when he said his friends phone was dying and I was supposed to meet him by the statue. I HAVE A TORN LIGAMENT.... I DONT WANT TO GO DOWN THOSE STAIRS ON MY CRUTCHES. Anyways, as I was just nearing the bottom Alfred pops out from under the bleachers and gives me a big hug. To say I was shocked is an understatement. He explained he wanted to be there for FAU's first home game and that it happened to work out with his schedule. Later he admitted he was really checking on me. We visited and then he told me he would drop the package off at my apartment after the game.
The next week he prayed with me over the phone before my surgery. He had really become such a good friend and encourager to me so quickly. So now we were actually friends and since I had ended our relationship he didn't know about it was a safe situation. He lived a thousand miles away and I was still in school and stuck at my apartment with a bum knee. We started talking on the phone regularly and then he asked me if I wanted to skype. We skyped regularly and I clung to every word loving this side of him that I didn't know was there. He was vulnerable and real with me. We talked about dreams and aspirations. Oftentimes I worried he thought I was saying things to just be agreeable with him because our dreams were matching up so closely. The things we wanted for life were strangely paralleled.
After knee surgery, my biggest goal was being able to run again. Of course Alfred did it big yet again! He sent me a pair of baby blue air Max's that I would've never bought for myself on my parents tab. I was totally shocked and his instructions were to wear them the first time I got to run again.
Then came bye week... Alfred popped up in boca. We went to grab sushi and sat on the beach talking. I kinda had an itch that he liked me and he kinda confirmed that. The problem was that some stuff went down to make me question his credibility and that is when I knew yet again that we were just friends. I told him to not worry about me, but just focus on football. When he would text me I would respond slowly (on purpose)... But see there was one problem. Shortly after my surgery he asked me to come to a game in December. I agreed and he bought my flight right away. So regardless of me slightly ignoring him here and there he had bought a ticket so I couldn't bail.
Shortly before my trip to VA, he was pouring his heart out via Skype the night before a game. He said, "you know it's just hard sometimes being single and lonely. It's so much easier to be in a relationship." I was not going to fall into that trap, so I told him. "I'm sure God is preparing the perfect girl for you that will be strong enough to handle all that comes with the NFL." Little did I know that girl was me.
Shortly before my trip to VA, he was pouring his heart out via Skype the night before a game. He said, "you know it's just hard sometimes being single and lonely. It's so much easier to be in a relationship." I was not going to fall into that trap, so I told him. "I'm sure God is preparing the perfect girl for you that will be strong enough to handle all that comes with the NFL." Little did I know that girl was me.
He forwarded me my flight info days before my trip. He had bought me a first class ticket, something that I told him to never do again. I was really appreciative but I explained that first class was a waste of money. I grew up on a farm! We love the simple life. Since then he never purchased another first class flight for me :).
So I arrived to VA, and he picked me up. I really hadn't spent any alone time with him so I was a little nervous. He didn't have a guest bed so I put a line of pillows between us. I definitely questioned Kenyon his roommate about all of the girls that had priorly come to visit to watch his games. A girl has to do her research you know? Disclaimer: We thought he had also paid for all of those girls to fly up to his games. Jacqui and I thought he was working the system and I was not going to fall for these games. Everything went great and he was so respectful, never trying to make a move to my surprise. We had a heart to heart that calmed all of my caution and hesitations regarding him. So following the trip, that spring we took a little time to pray about where to go next. After a month we were supposed to discuss what we each got from that
time of prayer and figure out what was next for our friendship.
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