Anyway. Aside form lyrical shenanigans, Ne-Yo is on my mind tonight because his video reminds me of a past relationship. My gym has small tvs on each of the cardio machines; and it's a fantastic way to distract me from the upsetting exercise of, well, exercising. One of the videos that came on during my run was "One in a Million." It's a great song...it's classic Ne-Yo wooing the ladies with his warm-your-heart lyrics and creating the impulse that makes a girl go "awww." Likewise, the video is pretty awesome. Here's a brief synopsis (necessary for the point I'm making, I promise): In the video, Ne-Yo sees a girl at a restaurant, and proceeds to attempt to woo her. But the girl? Wholly unimpressed and uninterested. She walks away when his back is turned, and he has to chase after her. When he catches up to her, he gives her a rose, but she waves it away. She makes an attempt at a clean getaway again, but he finally does something to make her stay and listen. She begins with a small smile, and he proceeds to sing her praises in the middle of the street. Aww...
Know what this video made me think of? Astro. Since I've been on a bit of a hiatus, y'all missed the mini-saga (mini is relative, you see) that was my relationship with Astro. But, I think Ne-Yo's video pretty much sums it up. He did a great job of doing the chasing. When we first met, he didn't call. So, I brushed him off as another one of those guys that asks for numbers for sport, rather than actually wanting to call. *Shrug.* A month later, he shows up at my office, and just wants to talk. I tell him he missed the boat and to kick rocks. He says, "I'll pick you up Starbucks." I say, "ok. I'll give you another chance" (sometimes an addiction leads you to make poor decisions). Then, he disappears again. Then he shows up again, and does a masterful mind meld to get me to go out with him. I'll save the details, but it wasn't unlike Ne-Yo's machinations in the video. The next several weeks were fantastic. I was falling hard and fast for a great guy. But, you know what? It's easy to be a great guy for a couple months. Sustainability is what separates the men from the boys.
And this is where Ne-Yo's video comes in again. At the end of the video, Ne-Yo is distracted by gorgeous girls dancing with him. He's still singing the song to the first girl (who's one in a million, of course), but he's so distracted by the performance that he doesn't notice her first getting frustrated, and then walking away.
In a moment where art imitates life, this is precisely what came to be the end of my relationship with Astro. He was still talking a big game, but 4 weeks went by and I saw neither hide nor tail of him. I've never thought it was another woman (I mean seriously, what woman could ever measure up to pheebee? Ok ok, other than Eva Longoria, Halle Berry, Serena Williams, or J.Lo). But business/life/whatever became his mistress. And in that case, mistress trumps girl. And thus, it ended. I took the next cab out, and didn't look back. (Until the aforementioned wedding, apparently).
At the end of the video, Ne-Yo doesn't notice the girl leaving -- and neither did Astro. But, I'm already aware that I'm one in a million. ;).
All of this was over a year ago, so you can forego the pity party. As with any relationship, I learned a few things. I learned that there is a rare breed of guy that still courts a woman when he's interested. And there's also a rare breed of guy that cooks. Sadly, dating Astro only raised the bar of things I'll look for in a man. But, it also taught me the art of putting my foot down. Sometimes girls, and by sometimes I mean always, there's just no reason to settle.
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