Part 3 of my story

Today I was at Schiphol to say goodbye to Ry's parents who were going to Aruba. I didn't have to work, because I've taken the week off. Because I live in Papendrecht which is 5 minutes from Dordrecht, I picked up Ryan's parents at their home and parked my car in the Unilever underground car park which is just across Rotterdam Centraal. Paid parking around the train station is super expensive!

One of Unilever's World Headquarters. The other one is in London.

At the station we met up with Ry who was heading for work, but a few hours later. We took Fyra to Schiphol and his parents (Junior & Pamela) checked in on the first KLM flight to Aruba in about a year. They were standby passengers on Delta issued tickets, so we had to wait and see if they would get onboard. If they didn't they could try a Martinair flight a few hours later and if that didn't work they would go to Paris to take Air France to St. Maarten or Delta to Atlanta and from there onwards to Aruba. We said goodbye and they headed to the gate, while Ryan and I headed to Starbucks. Around 09.00 Ryan's dad called to say that they got on board. So I took the train back to Rotterdam and Ry took the bus to Amstelveen.

So back to my story. This is the final part. As I previously posted, Ryan gave me a huge kiss on the mouth. Our first kiss. After he pulled away he said, he doesn't know exactly what this all will mean and how far it will go, but that he was willing to take it day by day to see how it goes. He wasn't going to jump into a relationship. I could live with that. And as quickly as he came, he left to go home and go to bed to sleep of his jetlag. I went to my parents for dinner, but with such a great feeling!!

The next morning he called me on the job and we talked for hours. He decided we should start dating. Real dates to get to know each other on a deeper level. I agreed and on our first real date we went to Pizza Hut and then we went to the movies. I know it does sound cheap and cheezy, but we had so much fun that evening! My feelings were very strong and after we were dating for 2 months, I told him for the first time that I loved him. You know what that a-hole said? "Dank je, ik vind je ook leuk". (Thanks, I like you too). I was so pissed-off, but didn't show it. He told me from the beginning not to force him into anything! So I had no choice then to let it go. But on top of all things we weren't having any physical fun either. And I like that kind of fun! A lot! I was getting sick of waiting :-p

When we were dating for about 3 months I decided I wasn't waiting any longer. It was time to take it to the next level. I went on the internet and found a great minicruise on P&O Ferries to Hull in England from Rotterdam. Without asking him, I bought the tickets and told him we were going on the cruise. Surprisingly he agreed without any hesistation. It was an overnight trip to Hull and I made sure and booked a cabin with one bed. Unfortunately I 'forgot' to mention this to Ryan. When he saw the cabin and the bed, he looked at me, just smiled and didn't say a word. That Friday night was another 'first' for us :-p

We had a great time exploring Hull and then we took the bus to the City of York where we spent 2 nights in a hotel. All I can say is we didn't see much of York. Ha, ha! Then we returned to Hull and took the ship back to Rotterdam. He wrote about this trip on his blog in a previous post. But at the time he wrote that we were there as friends. Now you know the real reason. That trip was great!!! :-D

Ryan secretly taking a pic of me outside the ship terminal

Ryan secretly taking a photo of me sleeping



On the cruise

What was even better was the end of the trip. We were on the highway and I was driving. I was going to drop Ry off at his apartment before heading home myself. At one moment he just turned sideways and said "Rem, bedankt voor dit reisje. Ik hou van je". (Rem, thanks for the trip. I love you). And a kiss on the cheek. It took almost 4 months, but he finally said it.

Then everything was different. He told his parents about our relationship and I told my family, kids and ex-wife. It wasn't all too easy in the beginning, because no one ever saw me in a relationship with another guy. But my 5 brothers and 1 sister were great and accepted him at once. My parents were holding back a little in the beginning, but now are very cool about it all. My kids get along great with Ry as well. That was very important. And after my ex-wife got a new man in her life, she came around as well.

His family was great from the start. His mother is such a funny lady! And his Dad is so relaxed. I often go play soccer with him with some of his friends and we go to Ajax games together in the Amsterdam ArenA. Junior, his brother, is almost my brother as well. He's car crazy and so am I, so we had that in common. I'm even allowed to call him Jun-Jun which is a nickname only reserved for family. I think it helped that we knew each others family before we even got into a relationship with each other. So there was already a bond.

Since then things are going great! Of course we have arguments and fights, but in a relationship you have to fight to keep it going. And although I travel sometimes and Ry travels a lot more, we do make time for each other to do stuff with each other. Very important! What is also very important is trust. Especially when one partner is a traveller you definitely need to have a strong base. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but for now I am enjoying the ride. And even though he's Catholic and I'm Hindu it is very doable. When he cooks, he makes sure that there is no beef involved and he attends Hindi functions, Hindi festivals and participates in Hindi holidays. And I do the same.

So that's the story and I hope there are no more speculations or crazy comments. Cheers!