Thursday, July 14, 2011

new york, new york

chicago and san francisco.
in new york, new york.
at the nine fine irishmen pub.
on saturday night.

I walk in, the band is playing.  the same band that always plays {I love the predicability of the place!}.  there is never a chair to be had - and only a few worth having!  so I went up to the bar and somehow ended up with jamison on the rocks!  I started talking to the guy next to me {he was from australia} and he was drinking baileys on ice.  a MUCH nicer drink than my whiskey!!  the man bought me a drink.  now, does that really mean much?  like did I owe him something after that?  duds confuse me.  he was a dud.  and he just kept hoovering.  so I escaped by chatting with the people on the other side of me.  chicago and san francisco.  I actually called him chicago all night because he was wearing a chicago blackhawks cap, and honestly, I can talk hockey with strangers.  so he is standing and drinking with this girl {san fran for short} and they're dancing so I just join them to avoid the dud.

so san fran looks so familiar, but just like she has one of those faces.  and I say that to her.  not that I know her from somewhere, just that she looks like someone I know.  a bunch more australians come in, I chit chat with a girl who says it's her cousins' birthday and I say it's my birthday so I meet the cousin and then introduce all the australians to each other {'cause the first one is still being a dud}.  at this point the band takes a break.  chicago asks me for a cigarette.  I, of course, don't have one.  five minutes later, he comes back with a pack of smokes and I left with him for a smoke {like what's it been?  twenty years since I had smoked a cigarette.  and I remember why I never like it.  EWWWW!!!}.  at this point, australia gets the point {I think}, which was really my point {holy redundancy, cor!}.

chicago and I start talking.  he's wearing a wedding ring.  married just over a year.  in vegas for some engineering convention.  no kids.  and we talk about that.  how I was pregnant when john and I got married, and if I could have a re-do, that's what I would change.  that I would have liked to just been a couple, married, for a while.  and we talk about marriage and kids over a smoke in the casino.  but he's super drunk.  we go back in and some nice lady gives me the "all clear/two thumbs up" on the dud being gone!  the band plays some more, we all dance a ton - the german models show up to dance {and they look like 16 year old boys}, all the australians {except the dud, who finally got the point}, chicago, san fran and I.  then san fran and I start talking.  she buys me a drink because it was my birthday {and it's after midnight now, so really, my birthday is over!}.

side note:  red bull and vodka may sound like a good idea, but really is evil on all levels.  all the sugar and caffeine were WRONG.  and maybe one would be okay, but two is BAD.  it took me almost 24 hrs to shake off the effects of the sugar and caffeine!!

okay, so here's my "small world" story.  san fran and I start talking.  and we talk about chicago.  how he's totally her kind of guy.  but that he's married and she's not going to go there.  but she's sad.  and conflicted.  and I really have nothing of value to say {the sugar and caffeine had kicked in - my mouth wasn't keeping up to the chaos in my brain}.  so I just listen.  then she says to me that I look really familiar too.  and was I here, in this same pub, back in december.  and then it all came back to me. we had met before.  had a similar conversation.  she was just about to go in for major knee surgery.  we had danced to, and sang the same songs as we were that night.  okay.  think about it.  HOW STRANGE IS THAT???  very strange.  I don't know what it means, if anything, but we exchanged emails.  she walked chicago back to his room.  and came back down to the pub.  and we danced and sang along with the band until the lights came on.  and she gave me a hug and we went our separate ways.  and I walked back to my hotel because I was getting the shakes from all the sugar!!

I don't believe in coincidences.  and this one was too strange to be random.  things that make you go "hmmmm".

{same time, same place in december}

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