Unlikely Encounter

It's hard to find someone when you don't know if they exist. I've been looking for this person all my life and he has yet to appear. I've watched my friends and family find their person and start a life with them all my life. In the process, I've gotten left behind. My friends are too busy to hang out often because they all have husbands and kids. They're all moving on in life and I'm still on my couch drinking wine while watching Rom-Coms. I've never had a boyfriend in my 26 years of living. At this point, I have almost given up on my search. My friends always try to set me up with their husbands' friends and every date goes horrifically.

I walk into our usual monthly meet-up spot (our favorite Italian restaurant in the city) to catch my friends up on the latest date disaster. I see Amanda, Hazel, and Demetria in the waiting area. They've been my best friends since my freshman year of college. I give each of them a hug and we get seated right away. "I thought for sure this guy would be the one Rach," Hazel says as we find our seats.

"Well, I'm glad at least one of us thought so," I mumble.

"What was wrong with this one? He owns his own business, he's attractive, and he's a nice guy."

"He may be attractive but I've never met someone so bland. It was like he had a document of what he would answer to every question I would ask. It was like talking to a computer," I answered, placing my coat on my seat. Winter in New York City is no joke. "I knew she wouldn't want to be with him," Amanda says, "She needs someone less up-tight."

"I remember the closest she ever got to a second date was that artist friend that James had," Demetria says. Her husband's friend James was definitely the closest I ever was to wanting more, but he didn't seem very interested in me. I read the menu as they chatted about my failed dates of the past. As I try to decide, the waiter approaches our table. "Good evening. Can I start you ladies off with something to dri-" He stops, "Rachel?" I look up when he says my name. My friends look at me confused as I look at the man. He has dark brown eyes with matching hair and tanned skin. He also has a splotchy birthmark on his neck which looks a lot like... "Anthony?" He smiles and circles the table as I stand up to hug him. "When did you move back to the city?" I ask, pulling away.

"Recently. A month ago actually," He says. I can't believe how much he has changed, but to be fair, I haven't seen him since we were 17. He's gotten quite tall, 6'2 maybe, and definitely started to work out more. I don't realize I'm staring until he clears his throat. "I should probably take your drink orders now," He says with an awkward smile.

"Oh, yeah, right," I sit down quickly and scan the drink menu. What am I doing? Why am I acting like this? I decide to go for something a little stronger than normal because of whatever just happened. "I'll do a dirty gin martini, please," I say without looking back up. The rest of the girls order their drinks and when they finish, I finally look back up at him and he was already looking back at me. I quickly look down and then at my friends who stare at me like I have three heads. "Rach, what just happened and why do you know that gorgeous man," Amanda asks, scooting to the edge of her seat.

"Anthony and I were neighbors our whole childhood. Until he and his family moved to Maine for his dad's work," memories flood my head of the day he left. I had cried for days because he was the only person who really knew me. He was my closest friend growing up and I dreaded a life without him. We tried to stay in contact, but eventually, I got busy at school and we stopped texting each other. "Are you sure you were just friends?" Hazel asks, "The way he looked at you said otherwise."

"Yes, seriously we never-" I pause as Anthony returns with our drinks. When he hands me my drink, I go to grab it and our fingers brush against each other. Suddenly I'm a teenager again, obsessing that our fingers touched each other. I take a quick three sips of the martini before I even put it down. He takes our food orders and we look at each other as he walks away, again. "Rach don't even lie you so want him," Demtria says, sipping her drink.

"I will admit, he's changed a lot," I say, picturing his new physique.

"You should ask him to hang out after his shift," Amanda suggests.

"Are you crazy? Why would I ever do that?"

"Because you want him, duh," Hazel adds.

"I don't know guys. I would love to hang out with him, but I'm sure he has a girlfriend if not married."

"You won't know for sure unless you ask," Amanda adds before Anthony comes back with bread for the table. They all look at me expecting something, but I just say thank you and hold eye contact for the third time that night. They all start plotting a way for me to ask while I keep drinking.

Our food comes after I finish my second martini and I'm feeling much more comfortable. I get distracted by the muscles placed in front of my face when he reaches over to put Hazel's plate down next to me. I hear a giggle escape Amanda's mouth and make a gesture behind my hand. "Enjoy your food," Anthony says with a smile.

"Wait," Demetria says.

"Yes, can I get you anything else," He asks. She makes eye contact with me and I know exactly what she's about to do. I widen my eyes and shake my head. She ignores me and asks anyway, "Rachel would like to know if you're free after your shift," I don't even look away from her as I feel my face burn up. I'm mortified as I slowly look towards Anthony who is... hiding a smile, "I am. I get off at ten," I don't even process what happened and I'm unable to respond until Hazel bumps me in the side. "I- uh- okay. I'll meet you out front at ten then," I say smiling to hide my embarrassment.

"Perfect," he says and walks back to the kitchen. Once he's gone, I turn towards Demetria, "Are you kidding me? Why would you do that!" I yell in a whisper.

"Did you not see how excited he was, Rach! Trust me I did you a favor." She says. God, I hope she's right.

At ten, I say goodbye to my friends and make sure they know they will be blamed if this goes horribly. As I'm waving goodbye, I feel a presence behind me. I turned around and it was Anthony, standing a little too close. I take a step back and clear my throat. "Ready?" He asks. I hope so.

"Yep! I was thinking of going to the bar around the corner. Sound good?" I suggest.

"Sounds great," He says with a smile, and feel my heart soften. We walk to the bar that normally me and my friends would go to after we eat dinner. We said that at dinner, I should bring him and they would go hang out somewhere else. We get seats at the bar and order drinks. "So, how did you end up back here?" I ask, starting off the conversation. He looks down and hesitates for a moment. "My parents passed away in a car crash earlier this year." I always loved his parents. If mine were away for work, they would always check on me and let me eat with them. They were the kindest, most caring people I knew. I blink away the tears that start to surface. "Anthony," I say putting my hand on his, "I'm so sorry. They were such amazing people."

"Thanks, Rachel," He says. I keep my hand on his as he continues. "Anyway, I sold the house up in Maine because it felt too lonely after a while. I figured coming back here would be a good way to get back on my feet so I bought an apartment and got a job. I chose something that would keep me busy and on my feet to distract me. It's been working pretty well so far." Once he's done, he looks me in the eyes. I squeeze his hand and say, "For what it's worth, I'm so glad you're here." He smiles and squeezes my hand back. We sit like this for a few minutes, hand in hand. It feels like forever before he pulls his hand away to get the bartender's attention.

We talked about the years we spent apart and caught each other up on pretty much everything. My atrocious dates with finance bros and his struggle to find a girl to even go on a date with. We talked about our families more and this time, I did cry. It felt like we'd been together this whole time after we finished. I couldn't stop smiling when I looked at him and we laughed until our stomachs hurt. We don't even think about stopping until the bartender walks over with our check and tells us they're closing. "Oh my God, is it really one in the morning already?" I cannot believe we've sat here talking for almost three hours.

"I guess so. I'll take this," He says, picking up the check before I can even reach for it.

"No, we should split it, Anthony."

"Absolutely not. I've got it."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind."

"It's done," He says, handing it back to the bartender.

"Fine. But next time, it's on me," I say crossing my arms. He stares at me. "Next time?" I didn't what I said until it was too late. I quickly spit out, "Well only if you wanted to of course. It's fine if-" He takes my hands in his and smiles.

"Rachel, of course, I want to do this again. Maybe next time, dinner too. Where I'm not serving you, obviously."

"That sounds great," I say through a smile. We leave the bar together and start to walk home. I live right across the street so he offers to walk me across the street. I don't want our time to end as we stand facing each other outside of my apartment building. We stand here for a minute in silence until he pulls me into a hug. I wrap my hands around his neck and his arms circle my waist. We stand there like this for a while. "I had a great time tonight. I honestly never thought I was going to see you again." He says into my ear.

"Me too." We part just enough that our faces are inches from each other. We look into each other's eyes for a few moments before he plants a soft kiss on my lips. When he backs away I can't hide the smile that covers my face. Eventually, we break apart and say one last goodbye before parting ways.

Who knew that the 'someone' that I saw looking for was someone I had already found.