Closing the Gap
Written on 1/18/2026 about the events of Feb 8 - 12, 2023
This week happened to be a gelato week at work, and Holly had expressed interest in trying some, but she couldn’t sneak out of her job at this time, so there was no way for her to come try some. I spent Monday night at target trying to come up with a device that would let me preserve some gelato to bring to her; This ended up being aa small party cooler with some whiskey glasses, saran wrap, and blue ice. On Tuesday, I tried it out; she came over to my apartment right after her work, very eager to try it out. We ended up talking for a few hours.
On Wednesday we had Bachelor. I don’t recall the exact events, but my journal for this day says “I think I’ve got it for sure”. Somewhere around this time, I took my most daring step so far; I ordered her some really nice flowers for valentine’s day, to her apartment. I wasn’t sure what condition we’d be in by then, so all I put for a note was “:) -Drew”.
My memory of the exact events of Friday is hazy, but I believe it’s something like: Holly suddenly texted me during the day, asking if she could come over to use my apartment gym after work (I had previously offered her this, but she hadn’t taken me up on it). I texted Eliza to ask if something was up; Eliza revealed that Holly had broken up with her long-distance boyfriend, but I “wasn’t supposed to know this”. Holly came over that evening and we talked at my kitchen table again for a couple of hours, before I reminded her that she was ostensibly here to work out and would she like me to show her the gym. At some point, somehow, the concept of the evening transitioned to me working out with her instead of her just using the gym.
According to her, much later, she remembers this day fondly because she got to watch me work out.
My notes don’t mention it, but I think she must’ve ended up sleeping on my couch again that night; we ended up at the crepe shop again together the next morning. I distinctly recall excusing myself to the crepe shop bathroom and coming up with a plan for the day. When I returned to the table, I said something like: “This is probably a bad idea, we’re both exhausted; but I’ve really been enjoying spending time with you. If you’d like, we could go down to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. But it’s probably not wise.”
So, we ended up spending the morning at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Holly was and is a wonderful audience; we had a lovely time looking at the glass flowers and the minerals. Then we finally parted ways, and I went home and slept for the entire rest of the day.