Serendipity? (2) in Open Diary 2001-2018 (Pre-Prosebox)

(…continued from previous)

“Can I take you to dinner?”

I gave him a confused look, and he walked right up to me and said, “I know it’s not dinnertime, but what I was trying to ask is if I could take you to dinner sometime.”

He introduced himself and held out his hand to shake mine as I told him my name.

He told me that he was in the process of moving to the area. I told him I’d seen him before. He said that he’s working on a project that keeps him going back and forth between here and Chicago. We talked a little more, and then he asked me what I do. I told him I work right down the street at [XXX], and he said, “Wait a minute…what’s your last name?”

Huh? I paused and looked at him sideways, and then slowly answered.

“I know you! We met at [Bar #1] a long time ago! You were waiting for your two girlfriends and we talked for a long time. You were headed to [Bar #2] and I never made it there. We talked one other time after that.”

Max!! I hadn’t even recognized him. At all! It was so bizarre. I remember thinking that he was an unusually attractive guy at the bar, but I didn’t remember him. I asked him what was different about him, and he said he’d cut his hair, but…I don’t know. Maybe it’s because we were all bundled up in the wintertime…maybe it was the lighting. Whatever. He didn’t recognize me either until I told him what I do and where I work. Odd. Every last bit of it.

But he asked me if he could call me next week. I told him that I would be in Los Angeles during the first part of the week, but yeah, he could call. And then I asked him if he still had my number! He laughed. I told him I was kidding, and took out another business card. And this time I gave him my mobile phone number too.

I scratched my head and laughed all the way back to the office.

After my presentation (which didn’t go as phenomenally as I’d hoped…possibly more on that later, possibly not), I went back to my desk and checked my e-mail. There was a note titled “Serendipity” in my in-box. It was from Max.

It was a nice little note telling me that it was a really wonderful surprise running into me today. And that he sometimes jogs in a park in that area and he was a mess when he saw me today. And that our beginning was quite odd. And that maybe we could start out with some e-mails about ourselves. And that maybe we could start out again…like this…from the beginning.

Serendipity? Sure.