Have you ever met someone you really connect with?  And then you don’t hear from them?  And you think, “What the….?  Was it all in my head?”

I’d been back in Los Angeles for 10 whole days after meeting Lorenzo.  And I still hadn’t heard from him!

Didn’t our meeting on Le Ponant (the sailboat in the Mediterranean) mean anything to him?  (see October 2007 blog)

The last thing I expected was for him NOT to call…or e-mail…or write!

DATING DIRECTOR TIP #1: It can be normal for a man to wait 10-14 days before calling a woman after meeting her.  Shocking, I know…but true.  Remember…Boy time is different from Girl time.

I was going out of my mind.

My “male friends” were soooo supportive telling me it’s normal for a guy to meet a girl on holiday and never see her again.  (Thanks guys. Love you.)

My Italian teacher, Mirella, wasn’t so discouraging.  She suggested I e-mail Lorenzo telling him, “Ho photographia per te”. (Translation: I have photographs for you.)

I wasn’t sure if I should be the first one to make contact, but by this point, I was so anxious that I took the risk.

I sent the e-mail.

And then…NOTHING.

Two days later, at my next Italian lesson, I complained to Mirella.  I simply didn’t understand why Lorenzo didn’t respond.  It felt terrible.

Then lo and behold, I arrived home and discovered not only a Fax…but an E-mail and  TWO Phone messages from Lorenzo!  It worked!!

DATING DIRECTOR TIP 2: What I did was “jump start” the relationship from the US to Italy.  Like dropping a handkerchief.  Like saying, “Yoo hoo.  Remember me?”

When I returned Lorenzo’s call, he told me he couldn’t come to LA like he’d planned because his company was flying him directly to Costa Rica for his next job.  But since he had time off, he invited me back to Italy.

“When?” I asked.

“Tomorrow,” he said.

“Tomorrow?”  Is this a joke?

“If you can,” he added casually.  “If not, we’ll think of something else.”

“Let me see what I can do.”

I got off the phone not believing I was EVEN considering this.  I thought, “I’ll call my travel agent.  And then bargained with God that if the ticket was over $1000.00 I wouldn’t go.”

Monica, my travel agent, was skeptical…telling me she didn’t think any flights would be available for the next day.

When Monica called back she was just as surprised as I was.  The round trip airfare to Venice was $500.00!  Incredible.  (Apparently, Italy isn’t a high destination spot in November).

I called Mother who said, “You’re not going are you?”

I called Pat Allen who said, “You’re going aren’t you?”

Yes.  I am.

Keep in mind: I don’t speak Italian.  I’d never been to Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites…(didn’t even know where it was!)  I don’t really know Lorenzo.  But I did have a credit card!

DATING DIRECTOR TIP #3:  Always have Plan B.  Go where you feel it’s safe.  If you don’t feel comfortable, leave.  I’ve had enough travel experience to believe I could find my way back from Italy if I didn’t want to be there.

So I flew to Venice.  Staying up all night.

Lorenzo picked me up at the airport.  And we stayed up all night.

And the next day, when I was feeling exhausted (but warm and cuddly), he tells me his “ex” called.  Some big drama (I never did fully understand).  But I did get that she was back in the picture and he wasn’t done….(even though he’d stopped wearing the yin/yang necklace she’d given him.)

Uh oh.  Long distance booty call?  I don’t think so.  Time to go.  I do not want to build and bond with a man who’s not over his “ex”.  Thank you very much.

Okay…one more day.  (Please.  I’d just arrived the night before.) I decided if I felt the LEAST bit uncomfortable, I would find a way to get back down that mountain to Venice.

But I NEVER felt uncomfortable.

Lorenzo cherished my feelings.  I didn’t feel pressured and he didn’t punish me when he didn’t get his way.  (I am soooo done with getting the “silent treatment” when I don’t give it up for a man.)

At that time I couldn’t “define” our relationship.  It wasn’t a romance, although there was tons of chemistry.  It wasn’t a friendship because who knew if we’d ever see each other again.  It wasn’t a business deal.  (Obviously.)

But it was fun.  I liked hanging out with Lorenzo.  It was easy being together.  He made me laugh.  He took care of EVERYTHING.  Especially me.

Here we are hiking in the mountains.

DATING DIRECTOR TIP #4: Ladies, if you EVER want a TRUE
experience of feeling feminine, go to a foreign country where you can’t
speak the language and depend on a man to get you around.  It’s
humbling.  And rewarding.  And it feels GREAT not to have to “take care
of things”.

After the first week, Lorenzo invited me to stay an additional week to meet his parents who were returning from France.

So I did.

On the day I was leaving, Lorenzo loaded my bag into the elevator and looked at me.  I’ll never forget it.  I knew I was looking at my husband.

On the way to the airport, we went to see the Catholic church in the center of Cortina.  We walked in as the organist was practicing in the balcony above.  Walking down the aisle, I couldn’t look at Lorenzo.  My eyes started to water.  It felt eerily familiar.  Although I’d never been in that church before, I felt as if I had.  I decided then…if/when we ever marry, it will be in this church.

At the same time, I felt like an Idiot for thinking like this!

Arriving at the Venice airport, it was a scramble to get through security and get to the gate.  As Lorenzo emptied his pockets, out came the yin/yang necklace that his “ex” had given him.

I felt like Christopher Reeve in the film, “Somewhere in Time”…when he sees the penny with Jane Seymour.  Hello, people!  Back to reality!

“He’s off to Costa Rica.  I’m back to LA.  I’ll never see him again.  He’s still in love with her.  I’m such a fool…”

Or so I thought.

But that’s another story.