So on Thursday night, while Sophie and I were at our traditional hangout, the improv theatre, she got a text from a friend about a photography gig at a charity date auction. Sophie's friend's boyfriend's coworker (Nicole) was hosting it. Does that make sense? Haha. Anyway, Sophie asked me if I would be interested in doing it. And since I'm still jobless, I said of course, even though I may not get paid anything. But I figured what the hell else am I gonna do? So Sophie gave me the Nicole's phone number with instructions to call her asap. I called Nicole the next morning and she filled me in on all the details. She told me it was going to be at a somewhat swanky club downtown, so when it was time to go, I put my heels and a dress on, gathered my camera equipment and hopped on the train.
When I got there, there was already a line going out the door, which luckily I didn't have to wait in, since Nicole already had me put on the list. My first impression of Nicole was that she's adorable and bubbly, and seemed like a really fun girl! She introduced me around, and told me to help myself to the open bar. But since I was working, and carrying a lot of equipment, I decided to hold off on the booze. The event went well, and I got a lot of great photos. Nicole was actually one of the people who were auctioned off. The "dates" took place immediately afterward in the VIP section, where the champagne was flowing. I hung around to get some more shots of the couples and figured I would take off after that.
"Oh my god, you have to stay and drink with us!" Nicole took my arm as I was gathering my things.
"Uh..."
"Come on! It's Friday night, and we have bottles coming! Just stay, it'll be fun!" She insisted.
So I agreed, and she practically thrust a glass of champagne at me. Lol. But I'm actually really glad I stayed. Nicole and I totally hit it off! It may have been the booze loosening me up, but she's so outgoing and disarming that it's hard not to feel like you know her already. Throughout the night, people kept coming up to me asking me, "So how do you know Nicole?" and when I told them we just met, they were shocked. It also turns out that she bartends on the weekends, and she said she could definitely hook me up with a job!
"Omg that would be awesome!" I said.
"Yea we just had a girl put in her 2 weeks, so that would be perfect! Can you come in tomorrow and meet the owners?"
"Sure!" I said. And the plans were made.
So I just sort of loitered around their table, mingling and talking with everyone. One guy in particular (Aaron) approached me and we started talking. At first I didn't think anything of it, because I'd had short conversations with several different guys, but when he didn't take his leave after 5 minutes, I figured out that he must be interested. Too bad he's like a foot shorter than me. But he was nice, and I was enjoying talking to him. Nicole was off being the social butterfly, and keeping an eye on her crush, Chris, who had also been auctioned. They had just had their first date, right before the event, and the girl who "bought" him was shamelessly throwing herself at him. Lol.
It turned out that Aaron was good friends with Chris, and had come to the event to support him. And he didn't really know anyone else either, so the 4 of all sort of linked up. Chris bought us all shots of Patron, and Aaron bought me a drink, and I'd already lost count of how many glasses of champagne I'd had. Let's just say it's been a long time since I've gone out and really partied, so I was totally throwing myself into this one. And it was great!
After a couple hours, people started to disperse and everyone was talking about heading over to another bar, a few blocks away. Aaron offered to drive us. So we all piled into his tiny BMW convertible.
On our way there, an old nasty looking van rear ended us! And then they tried to drive away! Of course we followed them. The van made a sharp right into an alley, but we were right on their tail. Then they made an immediate left, which turned out to be not such a smart move, because there was a car stuck in a snow drift, blocking their path. So the van was sandwiched between us, and the stalled car. Then they suddenly start backing up, and fast! We all simultaneously gasped.
"OMG they're going to ram us!" I said.
Aaron threw it in reverse and backed out quickly to the right. The van started backing out in the other direction, to face us. And as they did so, the people in the back opened the sliding door. The van was full of thugs! Nicole screamed.
"DRIVE! NOW! They're gonna shoot us!"
We were all panicked, and high on adrenaline, but Aaron gunned it down the next alley and they didn't pursue us. Too bad we got their license plates! Idiots... But seriously, it was scary! Finally we pulled over in what looked to be a safe neighborhood. I think Aaron needed to get his bearings and figure out where we were.
"I'm gonna take a look at the bumper." I said, and hopped out of the car. Luckily, there wasn't really any visible damage. Just a bit of paint transfer. I reported this when I got back in the car.
"Omg that was terrifying!" Nicole sounded shrill. "Let's get out of here!"
"Are you going to file a police report?" I asked Aaron.
"I don't know, what's the point?"
"Well, you could get them in trouble, I mean they were obviously trying to threaten us."
"Yea...I just don't know if it's worth it." He said.
"Ok, well gimme your number and I'll text you the license plate in case you change your mind."
Nicole and I had been chanting the plates out loud to memorize them. Lol.
So I texted him the plates and we drove off. We made it to the next club without incident, and headed inside. Most of the same people from the event were there, and they had a bottle of Grey Goose. I helped myself to a cocktail and Aaron and I danced a little. I'm not gonna lie, I was totally flirting with him. But it's been a long time since a guy has given me that kind of undivided attention and it felt...great! So I took advantage of it. Aaron is really nice, but I know I could never get over the height thing. I mean he's reallllly short.
Anyway, the club closed at 4, and at some point we lost Nicole and Chris, so we decided to hop on over next door for some pizza by the slice. Aaron paid for that as well. :) And boy was it satisfying! After that we hooked back up with Chris and Nicole and started the drive back home. Of course, Aaron dropped Nicole and Chris off first, and I was chattering away so much in my tipsy state, that I didn't even think about how far out of the way he might be driving me. When we were almost to my place, he asked if he could crash with me.
Awkward!
I mean, first of all, I just met the guy, so I was totally not comfortable with that idea, and second, I haven't been living with my roomies long enough to just bring random dudes over. I wouldn't want them to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn (like they always do) to find a stranger on their couch. Ya know? So I apologized and told him I didn't really have a place for him to sleep. Which is true, cuz it's not like I have a couch in my room. I can't really remember what else I said, but I'm sure I rambled. I tend to talk a lot in awkward situations. I thanked him profusely for the ride, and everything else, and we hugged and he kissed me on the cheek as I got out of the car. When I got back inside, I texted him another thank you, just for good measure. He responded with, "No problem. You're a sweetheart. See you soon?"
"Sure!" I said.
Then I peeled off my clothes, and crashed.
