Everything Happens for a Reason
Today was just not my lucky day. Stress at work, problems with relationships and family was bringing my mood down. Earlier in the day my best friend, Karen, had called to ask me to come downtown to a new club with a bunch of my friends. Karen was this crazy girl who would party every weekend if she had the chance. I, on the other hand, focused more on my work and put my social side aside. I never felt like going out and meeting new guys because it always ended up the same way. They would ask for my number then pretend to lose it and wouldn’t call back. But Karen, being her stubborn self, forced me to meet them at 9:00. Whatever, I thought. I may as well have fun on one of the last Friday nights of the summer.
The Bar looked like any old brick building from the outside, but you could already hear the head banging music before we walked in. The inside was crowded with dancers in cages hung from the ceiling and waitresses roaming from table to table-delivering drinks. It must have been at least ten degrees warmer in the bar from people’s body heat even though the a/c must have been on full blast. As soon as we stepped into the bar, Karen rushed over to find our other friends. I looked around and observed the mood of the bar. Most people seemed to be in their twenties. Great I thought, I was definitely older than the majority of people here. Not to mention I would be that would stand out because I looked different than most of the girls in the bar. Unlike them I had no shape, tall with frizzy red hair and barely any make up on
I went over and grabbed a seat by the bar and let my feet dangle and rest from a long day of work. Next to me was guy who seemed to be a few years older than me. He was tall, bald, kind of a cute, but it was hard to tell with the bright lights from the dance floor flashing. He bent over and started to scream because it was hard to hear in the bar.
“My name’s Nick” he screamed trying to compete with the loud music.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Emma.”
“ Are you waiting for anyone?” he said then looked at me and smiled. “Actually, yeah I’m meeting up with a few friends.”
After a few minutes of conversation we both started hitting it off and telling each other embarrassing stories of childhood. It was like I had known him for a long time. I always do the same things though. Trust people way too often then end up getting my heart broken. He seemed different though.
We were having a great time until I felt someone behind me. I turned around thinking it was one of my drunk friends, but it was a face I didn’t recognize. Maybe he had the wrong person, I thought. Obviously he had because he was a tall handsome, muscular man with dark messy hair and light blue eyes, and he walked in like he owned the place. Someone who would never in years come talk to a woman who was not that blond chick with big boobs and acted like a ditz. Basically his picture would show up when you Googled “the perfect man.” So why was he trying to get my attention?
He finally he said in a deep voice,
“ Excuse me buddy, but would you mind stop flirting with my girlfriend”. The guy sitting next to me looked at me with a confused look, then stood up and apologized for not knowing I wasn’t single.
Still astonished by this random guy who I’ve never seen before, I had no idea what to say.
He finally interrupted my daze and said, “ Yeah, I was just saving you. He was definitely not your type.”
“ Oh, and you know who my type of guy is,” I replied with a snarky voice.
Honestly, I was having a great time with Nick. He was a few years older than me, but who cares. For once I was having a great time and just enjoying myself.
“ Yes I do. Me,” he replied with a grin.
Great I thought. A cocky guy who thinks he can get any girl and probably made a bet with his friends to see how many numbers he could get. Well I’m not putting up with this, I thought. I excused myself and said goodbye. Just as I was getting up to leave, I felt that gentle hand again.
“ I’m sorry, I am making a horrible first impression. I really am a nice guy and would like to get to know you”.
Get to know me? We have barely said two words to each other. I honestly have no idea what goes through guys’ head’s when they talk to girls.
“ Please sit down,” he asked, this time in a more calm voice.
“ Ok,” I agreed, without being truly convinced this would be worth my time.
“ My name is Adam, and yours would be?”
“ Emma.”
“Well Emma, would you like a drink?”
And here we go, exactly what I predicted. Maybe he was just trying to be nice. Should I give him a chance? He might have been a sincere guy.
“ Yeah sure, just one because I have to meet my friends in a bit.” I replied, hoping that he would catch on I had no interest in staying for any longer.
After we finished our first drink, I decided maybe one more with him wouldn’t kill me. We talked about our friends, job, ex girlfriends and boyfriends, family and what we like to do in our spare time. Our conversation so far had been interesting and he was good looking. This time I bought him a drink. It went back and forth with buying drinks until we both realized we had had too much to drink.
“ Um, would you like to come over tonight and maybe just chill?” he said quickly.
Just when the night was going perfect. Guys can’t just be okay with having fun and that being it. Of course he wanted more, what guy didn’t? I had been so mortified. To think he might actually like me for whom I am. I got up quickly.
“ It was nice to meet you Adam. Hopefully see you around another time.”
“ That’s it? I thought we had a connection here.”
I thought to myself. Yeah well maybe we had, but that ended as soon as he implied he wanted in my pants. I had already given him a chance and now he just blew it.
“ We might have had one, but it ended as soon as you wanted to take me home.” I could tell by this point he had no idea of what to say and neither did I.
“ Well when will I see you again” he asked with somewhat of a puppy dogface.
“ I believe in fate. If we happen to meet up again”, she answered hoping he would believe the uncertainty in her voice.
" I was hoping he wouldn’t try to follow me out when I got up to leave. I didn’t want to make this any more difficult, than it already was. I had made up my mind. He was the perfect guy, very nice and we did have a connection, but really where in life will that bring you. I was definitely interested in Adam, but I got to the point where I started to feel self conscious about how beautiful he was and how average I was. My nerves got to the best of me and I thought it would be best to just leave. As I gathered my belongings, I headed for the door to call a cab. I turned to take a last look if he had followed me. No, of course he hadn’t.
When I got home plunked down on the couch and tried to think straight. Did I just mess up something that really could have happened? Was he really that into me? Probably not.
I sat up and reached for my phone in my pocket to see if one of my friends had called me. Instead I grabbed a piece of paper. I pulled it out to see what it was and realized someone had wrote something.
Adam had wrote a note with his number on one side and a little message on the other. I thought for a few minutes and prepared myself for what I was about to see. I mean, what could be the worst. His address or something?
I flipped it over and saw that he had written a little note. It had probably been when I had gone to the washroom or something. It said…
Caroline,
I really do want to get to know you. I had fun tonight and I hope you did too. I believe in fate as well, but I want to see you again soon. Hopefully you do too.
Adam
I closed the note and I felt my heart beat getting faster and faster. Maybe he was the one. I folded up the piece of paper and slipped it in my purse, hoping someday it would come in hand again. That night spent with Adam and Nick was one of the best nights in a long time. I had realized a few things I need to clear up with myself before I start dating, and I thank them for that. Hopefully I will run into one of them sometime, but I’m letting fate decide our destiny.