Once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to be a nurse. In order to achieve this goal she quit her full-time job, enrolled in school, and began working a few hours a week at an office that offered her flexible hours. She happened to be dating a boy, long-distance, who she was no longer in love with and, in fact, she wasn’t sure she ever really was to begin with. The problem was that this boy was decidedly in love with her, and was making plans to move to her city. When she began her new part-time job she was slowly coming to the realization that she didn’t need to stay in this relationship for loyalty’s sake.

In the office where this girl now worked, there was a man. The two of them were casually acquainted with each other because his younger brother happened to be one of the girl’s best friends in high school. They immediately struck up an easy friendship. Unbeknownst to the girl, this man was pursuing her as more than just a friend. And unbeknownst to him, the girl wasn’t “single” as she appeared, since she had never mentioned anything otherwise.

Until one day, she did. Before the Thanksgiving holidays, she mentioned that her boyfriend was coming into town. He was fascinated. They had a long conversation about her relationship with this boy, and the man left feeling, ironically, closer to the girl than ever before.

When she returned to work the week after the holidays, she shared with the man that she had broken up with her boyfriend, a horrendous ordeal that she was overjoyed to have behind her. Two days later, she was in the file room when he approached her and asked her out. In his mind she had only been dating someone for a week, when in reality it had been over a year. She was caught off guard. On one hand, she was drained from the relationship that had just ended, but on the other hand she thought that she might have fun getting to know this man. She asked him if she could think about it. He took that as a negative.

Instead, they continued to become better friends. She began spending entire days with him and his family on the weekends. Although she still had some concerns about getting into a relationship, she finally let him take her out. Things progressed slowly for a short while, and then she let her nerves get the best of her. On a Friday night she told him that she could only be friends for now. She wasn’t ready.

The following week was difficult, as they had to work together. But the man proved his worth by still being just as good a friend as ever to her. During the next month the two of them continued to talk, and her interest in him continued to grow. She had long conversations with her two best friends, both of who encouraged her to give him a chance. One weekend she went to his house with a group of people for a game night. They sat next to each other, and she let his leg touch hers. Her stomach did a flip, which both surprised and excited her.

A few days later he invited her over to watch a movie. As they watched, his dog sat in between them and they both petted her. Their fingers touched. He asked her if he could hold her hand. She hesitated. He told her it wouldn’t mean anything except that he was holding her hand. She smiled and said yes. She didn’t know it at the time, but her heart had been won.