Goodbye

I’ve been slacking on the crazy single life part of my agreement. The truth is, my life hasn’t been all that crazy or single.

It all started back in August, which was when I met Linda. We were just two randomly placed souls on a commuter train sitting next to each other. Her looks were stunning. I don’t normally talk to the people I sit next to on a train, but she had with her so many things that invited conversation. For one, she had two baby chicks. Who brings live baby animals on a train? Another is she was using an mp3 player that I had just bought for my dad. Not the ones that Apple makes, but an obscure brand. “What are the chances?” I thought.

At the time I was going through a rough breakup and felt lost in the world. I wasn’t in any mood to talk to anyone. It seemed that the universe was speaking to me. I asked her about the mp3 player and what she thought of it. (The baby chicks were just too obvious.)

From there we just went on and on about everything. We clicked right away. Turns out she was a psychologist. Parts of me felt that I was getting psychoanalyzed. I never been to a shrink before but it felt good to talk about my upside down world. The most important thing that I took away was that humans, even “normal” humans, have a certain degree of delusion. These delusions explain why both successful and unsuccessful people can’t be happy. People have told me all of this in one form or another, but Linda made it congeal in my head. It was eye opening for me. I felt amazing ever since.

One slight problem, she already had a boyfriend and I was just someone she met on the train. We got off at the same stop. Another coincidence in a night full of them. I gave her my card and we shook hands while saying good night. I was thankful for the good conversation and otherwise dull trip. She said the same.

Days later she still hasn’t called. I thought to myself that luck was kind enough to give me someone that’s saved me from my misery at the time. If nothing else, she already gave me a lot. In a way, she was a like an angel to me that night.

A couple weeks later she called. Normally I don’t pick up unknown numbers but something told me to and I did. I really started to believe this was fate. She apologized for not calling sooner and asked if I wanted to get together sometime. Trying too hard not to seem too eager, I said sure let me check my schedule.

Another two weeks lapsed and we had our first dinner. The conversation was more personal this time. She told me that she’d been thinking of leaving her boyfriend for awhile now. A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions were swirling through my head. But I felt that I couldn’t be selfish. It could also be that I was meant to help fix her life, like she did mine. So I asked her why she wanted to leave him. She just wasn’t happy anymore with him and they’ve been drifting apart for awhile.

I hate to be the rebound relationship. I told Linda that she knows her situation better than I do and if you’ll be feeling this way for awhile than do whatever you need to for happiness. In the meantime, I’ll be more than happy to have more dinners with you, I said. Perhaps, we could do a movie too.

For three months, we did just that, cultivate a friendship. At times I wonder if our good times together would blossom to romance.

Something happened a couple weeks ago. We were at this place called Wine and Roses. Not our usual meeting spot as it’s a bit out of the way for both of us. Linda said her friends thought it was a really cute place and wanted to go there for herself. Of course, I could not say no to Linda. We went and stuff happened.

It’s not really a restaurant, more like a wine bar. There were roses everywhere, full stemmed in empty wine bottles, petals all over the bar counter, and huge fully blossomed bulbs floating in glasses. I think it could be up there as one of the most romantic places in New York. Perhaps it’s true that Linda just wanted to go for wine. If that’s the case, then she got more than she expected. There’s been a certain amount of romantic tension between us for awhile now. In hindsight, putting us in a romantic setting is nearly the same as putting fireworks in a room full of dynamite. Just a little spark and you’re bound to see a good show.

I don’t even remember what we talked about that night. I just remember constantly starring into her eyes and how beautiful she was. I’m happy now. We get along so well. We make each other laugh till our cheeks hurt. We love being together. Quickly, she has become my best friend.

In a life before her, I would worry that love is something that constantly runs away from me. With her, I have no worries at all.

Oh, and she was carrying baby chicks to replace the ones that her nephew had.