once upon a … bobo + me

When I read June’s recent blog post on Love Stories, like many I just couldn’t resist reminiscing about ours.

Realized that I hadn’t document one to remember (also for Liam’s benefit if he’s ever interested to impress some girl with) so here goes…

*CAUTION: It’s going to be a long one…

It was end 2003 when I first met the Bo. He was part of the ‘brothers brigade’ from the groom’s side to gatecrash the wedding that morning while I was one of the 3 ‘sisters’ from the bride’s up against those..erm, 8 men.

[Digression: Me and another ‘sister’, we had been colleagues for a few months when she (bride) suddenly asked if we would help out with her wedding affairs. And being first timers at this whole gate crashing affair, we thought…why not? Turns out it was part of HIS plan.]

So anyhoo…

During the wedding day, the bo + friend & me + friend were grouped together (2 bridesmaids + 2 groomsmen) to make logistics such as traveling from place to place easier. I didn’t think much of the bo initially, though I did steal a few glances in between, wondering why he was all coy unlike his other good friends who were such amicable folks.

It wasn’t till the wedding dinner later that evening that I found out that the Bo was going to sing during the couple’s 1st wedding march. Woahh. I joked out loud that for a person who barely uttered a sentence all day, it was difficult to believe that he was actually going to sing (and not lip sync). Turns out he was quite the singer (from what I heard), I wasn’t able to hear the performance as I had to manage the reception for guests who arrived late (bummer).

Nothing else happened that evening. The Bo remained his aloof self and I ended up drinking and laughing my night away with the groom’s younger brother instead.

During that same period, I was also going through a rather rough patch with my boyfriend of 3 years then. I yearned for my personal space & freedom to do the things I wanted instead of constantly spending weekends at the garage checking out the latest automobiles modifications.

It was after a BBQ at a friend’s one night. It was 10pm – I didn’t feel like heading home yet and it being the weekend, I started texting friends and asked they were game for a night of chatter & supper. None of my usual kakis were spontaneous enough and so I moved on to texting some of the “brothers” from the wedding as I chanced upon their contact numbers in my phone list. Not sure what went through my mind when I saw Bo’s number (I was probably really desperate for some company!) but I sent a “game to meet now?”

Within minutes he replied “sure, why not”.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. For a while, I thought that I had probably mistaken his number/name for the wrong person. But hey, I wanted company right? So I responded, “I’m serious. Now now now. How long will it take you to get out”.

In an instant I received another reply: “20 minutes. Where are you?”

It felt so exhilarating and exciting! For a start I wasn’t sure if the person who was responding so quickly was indeed the Bo. Yet if he was, this was obviously another side of him that I didn’t know about. Before I knew it, the phone was ringing. He called for my exact location.

Turns out it was the Bo alright. He picked me up and the moment I got into the car (note: we hadn’t had a proper conversation prior), I was just chatting away about my day and asking how was his. We hit it off rather naturally. No awkward silence. No weird vibes. We even had a petrol stop where I said I was going to get some mints to freshen up my breath for his benefit since I was going to be talking a lot. Honesty much?

We went on to have coffee & cakes and there I was, talking and talking like I’ve never had anyone listen to me talk before. And by the time we left for home at 4.30am, I was still yakking away.

Over the next few weeks, our wee night supper & coffee meets became a regular affair (also because I had an insane job which ended at 10pm & beyond). Going out with him was something I constantly looked forward to, because it just felt so comfortable and nice. There were no hidden agendas –  he knew I was with someone and I knew he was almost going to date exclusively with someone else. We respected that. Our outings mainly revolved food, tek tarik and a lot of conversations.

Some months later, the Bo started to ignore my text messages after I wished him Merry Christmas that same year. I texted several times asking if anything was wrong to no response and this continued into weeks and months. Initially I thought that he might have been posted overseas for work but it wasn’t till I got in touch with the bride (we were now ex-colleagues) that I found out that he had been seeing someone else since that Christmas. I was a little cheesed off. He had gone all silent without a word. But after hearing his explanation some years later, I could see why he did what he did. Being him, he definitely didn’t want to stir any feelings of insecurity or two-timing with the girl he was seeing hence he chose to shut out every other female in his life. Hmm.

During other conversations with the bride some months down the road, she would sing praises of the Bo occassionally and mention how I should consider someone like him if I was ever looking to date again although ironically hinting that it might be a bad idea due as we had quite the age gap. I wasn’t keen in what she was saying anyway – I was in midst of a great career jump, new phase of life (just turned 21!), he sounded like he was in a great r/ship and was looking to settle down the last we spoke.

Until some 3 years later.

I received a text message while on my way to work one morning from the Bo. “Dinner tonight?”, it read.

I paused for a while, thought long & hard, before replying “if you can wait for me to end work at 10.30pm”.

“Sure,” the reply came in seconds after. “Text me your address and I”ll be there”.

To be honest, I wasn’t overly excited about ‘the date’. But hey, I could do with some dinner and I was available anyway.

So we met that night. Felt good to see him again though.

Over dinner, he apologized for his sudden disappearance, gave me the cheesiest of explanations but what surprised me was how we managed to pick up so easily from where we last left off even after 3 years. The laughter, chemistry & conversations came on so naturally.

Soon, we were meeting for dinners almost every week. During one random dinner, he offered to drive me & my girlfriends up to KL after I mentioned that we were intending to make a trip there. Funny how my mom (yes my mom!) wanted to tag along the girls trip too! We weren’t dating or anything but I remember being bugged by my mom and my girlfriends a lot during the frequent toilet breaks if we were an item because they could sense the love that was sizzling between us during the long drive. Oops.

I reinterated that we were just good friends and I remember mom going “just wait and see.”

So long story short (….. I’m getting there!)…

Bo asked me over to his place one night on the pretext that his bedroom was sparse and he could do with a woman’s touch. “Whatever for? To impress the next girl you’re going to date ah?” I asked nonchalantly, telling him that he had better thank me should he impress the socks out of the next right one that comes along, before dishing out my critique & suggestions.

It was when he said “out of all the suggestions, what would impress YOU the most?” that I started to blush. I knew where this was heading… and because the dynamics of our relationship was too honest & comfortable, it started to feel awkward… I tried brushing it off but he knew how to get the answer out of me eventually. And that night I lay in his arms for the very first time as we star-gazed ourselves to sleep.

And each time I saw him after that, my heart would skip a beat. It still does today. He just has that effect on me.

{Dating – Jan 2007}

{Dating – Feb 2007}

 

10 months into the relationship, the Bo suggested a trip to California. He had planned an itinerary which sounded so exciting, I couldn’t say no. Mom speculated that there was probably going to be a proposal involved but I didn’t think much of it.

Turns out mom knew best.

It was just right after sunset at the Grand Canyon when the Bo went down on a bended knee and asked if I would be his. My heart literally stopped. It felt so surreal – a proposal from the man I love against the gorgeous backdrop of God’s creation *hyperventilates*, with a gorgeous ring that fit my fourth finger perfectly. Oh golly! I was in tears of joy!

I was curious to how he managed to get my ring size and planned it all so nicely, sneaking the ring through customs without my suspicions! Called mom to inform her the news the moment we got some network reception a day after and guess what was her response? “I knew it!!!”. Hah Mom also surprised us with champagne & chocolate coated strawberries during our stop in San Fran later in the trip.  Aww…

{engaged! in California}

We tied the knot exactly a year after the proposal on 14 June 2008. And on that wedding night, I finally got to hear my husband sing for the first time via a sabotage request by our emcees (who were also part of the groomsmen). And boy, he’s quite the singer 🙂

{post wedding tea ceremony – 14 June 2008}

I always wondered how would one know when they have met the one. And now realizing how everything worked out so nicely, such as being in the same company as the bride for a mere 5 months which led to me being one of her  bridesmaid which led me to meet the Bo; and how it was only 3 years later that we were both available & ready for a relationship with each other that it made PERFECT sense how it was part of God’s beautiful plan. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Now, we’re bobo + me = baby chungkin.