Newly divorced, Joe Anoa'i, is trying to adjust to his new life. With no wife, or kids around him 24/7, he's somewhat having a hard time with his new found freedom. He doesn't know how to date, where to go, or if he even wants to date yet. One night...
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I was out to dinner with my best friend, Jess.
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Since I've started hanging with Joe, we haven't had much time to just be girls and catch up. Funny I use the word "catch up" because we never need to catch up with one another, we used to always be together. Jess is one of my best friends. I've known her for about five years. We met through a mutual friend that neither one of us are no longer friends with anymore, but our friendship continued on. She's four years older than me. She keeps me grounded. She's like a big sister to me, so it was really nice being able to sit down and spend time with her.
My last couple of months have been great. Obviously, the number one thing on my list is meeting Joe. I really like him a lot and I don't know how to quite explain it. For me, it's just really nice being able to be around someone and not feel judged, or feel like you have to pretend to be something, or someone that you're not. I'm around a lot of that. I just think it's absolutely hilarious that we both tried to have a one night stand and couldn't even follow through with the rules of one. I mean, I guess it's fine, we're just not those kinds of people.
Joe is so laid-back and so easy-going, it makes everything 100 times easier. You can tell he's very reserved and takes some time to warm up to people. I did kind of feel like he was opening up to me but I know he felt like it was too soon. Joe is a really good guy and I can tell that by the way he treats me. He's very concerned with how I feel and always checks on me. He makes me feel like I actually matter to him, even though it's only been a couple of months. He makes me feel secure and like I don't have to worry about anything. I've never had that before and I think that could be why I'm so drawn to him.
My only concern with all of this is, Joe has been through a lot. And a lot of the things that he's going through are still new, and he's somewhat still going through them right now. I don't know how to deal with the situation because I've never gone through what he's going through before. I've never been married, I've never been scared that my kids might get taken away from me because my ex partner is an asshole. So I don't know how to handle this. It's really not my business but I feel bad for him, and I genuinely want to help him, but I can't because there's literally nothing I can do. The only thing I can do is be there for him when he needs me, and that's what I intend on doing.
