Here’s the scene: there is a girl who had a long day at work. And after a crazy work day, has to then attend not one, but two work events. She puts on her happy face (and her drinking pants – she does work in hospitality after all). The events go off without a hitch. She meets and greets with the best of them and then, just before 11 walks home. To crawl into bed and put that crazy day behind her.
Except she doesn’t make it home. Right away. At the end of her street something catches her eye. Two dogs. Two really cute dogs. Two really cute dogs who are attached to a leash and being walked by a man. None of them look like they’re going to bite or anything, so she says hello and bends down to pet the pups.
The four of them start walking towards her house and chatting along the way.
“What do you do?” she asks.
“I’m in the film industry*” he replies.
(*In reality he said his actual title in this industry, but to keep things somewhat anonymous, we’ll just all agree this person works in film.)
“You sound like an asshole.” she says back.
He laughs and says “I’m in the film industry … in NYC.”
“Correction. A pretentious asshole.” she says.
“Wow. Who ARE you?” he asks.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” she jokes back.
They get to the front steps of her house and he says something about it being too bad she’s home already.
“Ok big time movie man, buy me a drink then.” she says.
“Hahahaha ok. Let’s drop the dogs off.”
And they do. And they have a drink. Where, in full disclosure mode, this clumsy, clusmy girl accidentally spills nearly a whole drink all over the two of them and … he laughs. They chat, she calls him out, he jokes back at her and before they know it, it’s really time for her to go home. She has to get up in the morning. He walks her back home.
“It’s too bad you’re such a jerk,” she says. “I’ll be in New York this weekend.”
That’s pretty much how they left it.
Until the next morning. And he uses her name to find and email her. “Hey, it’s me. The movie guy who’s full of himself. I usually don’t give my number to random strangers who yell at me on the street, but you seem nice. Give me yours and we’ll chat.”
So she does. And 10 minutes later her phone rings. It’s him. Obviously. And they laugh about the night before and how absurd the whole thing is.
He had been living in her neighborhood for 2 months while working on movie stuff and she never knew. She met him just days before he had to return to NYC.
He asks her out for Thursday night. They agree to meet up for a drink. And they do. And it’s just as funny and easy to talk to each other as it was that first night.
They talk about how coincidental it is that he’s going back to NYC this weekend and she’ll be there visiting and how they really should meet up because, well how could they not.
So they do. They navigate NYC traffic and walk to a small martini bar. She orders a glass of wine. He orders a beer. And they sit in the window, peering out on Lexington Avenue and people watch and talk. For hours. Until they realize it’s been hours and he has to leave and she has to meet friends.
They walk in the pouring rain and laugh about the ridiculous weather. The ridiculous coincidences of the past week. Eventually they say goodbye and part ways. He heads his way, and she heads her way … which eventually leads her back to Boston.
He called her the next day. And the day after that. And she just got off the phone with him again.
The whole thing is completely unbelievable and absurd and sounds like a story – some kind of urban legend.
But it’s not. “She” is me. And as for him …. we’ll just call him “Lex”.
Who knows what will happen, if anything will happen. But either way, for now, I’m not thinking about it. I’m enjoying the ride and, at the very least, I have this completely insane story to tell.
(And yes he knows I blog. He’s read my blog already. And pending an anonymity understanding, I got the ok to tell this story. It’s a pretty good one too, right?)
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