This story begins in June of 2003. I decided to take advantage of vacation time and accompany my good friends Marc and Norman to a beautiful Caribbean island for some rest and relaxation. The Dominican Republic was the country of choice. This was my first adventure outside of the United States so, I was very nervous. Marc is a Captain with American Airlines and he managed to acquire two low fare tickets for myself and Norman. We met in the Santo Domingo airport around midnight. Norman and I boarded a mini van that Marc had rented, purchased some local Presidente Beer from a roadside vendor and we were off to go party and meet the ladies of this beautiful Caribbean island! Marc had made plans with his good friend Fialo to meet us at a local hotel where Fialo would introduce us to a few lady friends of his. A decision was made to go to a local club called Seven to Seven and enjoy the evening there.
This is where I met Carmen for the first time. Fialo, his girlfriend Jackie and three other beautiful Latin women accompanied Carmen to the club. Everyone spoke very good English with the exception of Carmen. She sat quietly in the corner and watched and listened as the rest of the group carried on different conversations in English. I found that I was immediately attracted to Carmen however, another woman was sitting between us. As I carried on a conversation with the woman to my immediate left, I politely asked if I could exchange seats with her so I could speak to Carmen also. She agreed and I proceeded to introduce myself to Carmen. Being able to communicate with Carmen at first was very difficult however, I tried my best to speak Spanish and get to know Carmen. We were soon in deep conversation and trying our best to speak each other's language. After an hour I asked Carmen to dance. She was pleasantly surprised that a gringo could dance so well.




After spending a few hours at Seven to Seven we left to visit another club in the city. When we got up to leave Carmen grabbed my hand and she did not let go for the rest of the evening. I'll never forget that small detail. I was filled with anticipation and excitement to meet her the next day at the resort we were staying at just outside the city. We enjoyed the next day together at the pool and the beach and agreed to meet again in the evening at the club.

Story continues on Page 2...
 
Copyright © 2005 Tickner Design All Rights Reserved.