Alias

There was a point in time where I didn't have WiFi in my apartment so I used to take the train to the main station and sit in one of their coffee shops and borrow theirs. I would do this same routine almost every day so that I could keep in touch with my family back home. One day when I was ordering my coffee this tall, dark and handsome man came up to the counter and paid for my coffee as well as a piece of chocolate. It sort of felt like it was out of a movie. I got my coffee and as I was walking to my table, he (let's call him Joe) offered me a seat at the table with him and his friend (Oh, he speaks English too!?) Normally, I'm very skeptical about these situations because I can be a bit shy. Apparently I was feeling confident that day because I sat down with him and his friend.

I sat with them for hours just talking and laughing, which is kind of rare in a foreign country. After awhile, his friend had to leave so it was just the two of us. We stayed a little longer and then we ended up going on a walk around the entire city. It was almost magical...the Christmas lights, the snow, hand holding and kissing. The night ended and I exchanged numbers with 'Joe' and couldn't wait to speak to him again. He messaged me a couple days later, but this time his name was 'Tom.' Don't worry, I probably thought something like "This wasn't your name two days ago." Okay, not that weird I guess (please see below)? Every time we texted each other, I would try out a different name to see if he would correct me, but I got nothing. I eventually ended up just calling him babe. Babe fixes everything. *Note: your significant other is probably calling you by a pet name because they don't remember your real name.*

I ended up going home only a couple short weeks after meeting 'Joe-Tom-Babe.' We kept in touch and things seemed to escalate pretty quickly for him. A few months later he proposed to me. I obviously declined and tried to explain that really seemed to be rushing things. I clearly couldn't tell this man that I just met that I loved him, let alone marry him! No worries, he assured me that he's a good man and that love doesn't matter. Oh. We've lost touch for the most part. I still receive a text once a year with another proposal.

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You're probably wondering why I didn't think it was that weird that this man went by two names. Well, this wasn't the first time I found myself in a situation like this. A couple years earlier, I had been at a bar and met a nice gentleman (we'll call him Chris). I agreed to meet him a couple days later for a bite to eat. We decided to go to the local Panera Bread. You know how you have to give your name to the cashier when you're ordering? Well, he gave his, but this time it was Bob. BOB!? I know I was drunk, but his name was definitely Chris the other night! Now, most people would probably just ask about this up front or maybe even stop talking to this man, but me? No, that'd be silly. So I continued hanging out with him for a couple of weeks just calling him BABE. Yup, he got that title really quick! I tried everything I could to figure out his actual name, but I couldn't.

Then I finally came up with this master plan. I had my sister call me and then told him that she wanted to talk to him. I had her introduce herself and then ask his name. He said Bob once again. And then she proceeded to ask if he had any nicknames, etc. His family usually refers to him as Chris. Bingo! He really did have two names! Of course my sister then asked which name I usually called him. It took him a minute to realize that I didn't call him either.