The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture
She was told I was not. In fact, she was told I had a reputation
as a player who’d never settle down (well, to the extent that a
computer scientist can be considered a “player”).
As for Jai, she had been married briefly to her college sweetheart,
and after that ended in divorce, with no children, she was gun-shy
about getting serious again.
From the moment I met her the day of my visit, I just found
myself staring at her. She’s a beauty, of course, and she had this
gorgeous long hair then, and this smile that said a lot about both her
warmth and her impishness. I was brought into a lab to watch students
demonstrate their virtual reality projects, and I had trouble
concentrating on any of them because Jai was standing there.
Soon enough, I was flirting pretty aggressively. Because this was a
professional setting, that meant I was making far more eye contact than
was appropriate. Jai later told me: “I couldn’t tell if you did that with
everyone, or if you were singling me out.” Believe me, I was singling.
At one point during the day, Jai sat down with me to ask questions
about bringing software projects to UNC. By then I was completely taken
with her. I had to go to a formal faculty dinner that night, but I asked if
she’d meet me for a drink afterward. She agreed.
I couldn’t concentrate during dinner. I wished all of those
tenured professors would just chew faster. I convinced everyone not to
order dessert. And I got out of there at 8:30 and called Jai.
We went to a wine bar, even though I don’t really drink, and I
quickly felt a magnetic sense that I really wanted to be with this woman. I
was scheduled to take a flight home the next morning, but I told her I’d
change it if she’d go on a date with me the following day. She said yes,
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