Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Or at least that's what I have told myself every day for the past six months. I really want to be different from what I am. I am a not so tiny woman who knows who she is and what she wants... or at least that's what I let people believe. What I really want is different. What I really want is something fantastic. I look at myself in the mirror before leaving my apartment for the day and wonder when I'll actually believe that today is the first day of the rest of my life. When will I really go out and take charge?
All these thoughts were mingling in my mind when I left that morning. It was quiet outside and still early as I walked down the street to the coffee shop. The guy behind the counter was the same one as always. Kind of cute in a geeky kind of way... but I actually like them that way. So I smiled and winked at him while he made my latte. When he gave me the coffee the collar had something written on it so as I walked out I tried to read it without burning my fingers. He had written his name, which was Dan, and his phone number.
My confidence lifted a bit as I continued down the street to the building I worked in. It was really nice working about five blocks from home. You never had to worry about going home when you were sick or how to drive in the snow. A bit of a hike in that same snow but that was the worst of it. I went up to my office and considered the phone number on my cup. Did he really mean for me to call him? I mean, I thought he was pretty adorable.
I gave up around noon. I closed the door to my office and told my assistant that I would be unavailable for a little while. I then went ahead and called the number from the cup. A deep voice I didn't really recognize answered. I asked to speak w/ Dan and was asked to hold for a moment. Then the voice I knew came onto the phone.
"Hello," said the familiar voice.
"Hi. This is Ariel. You had put this number on my coffee this morning." I sounded more uncertain than I'd planned but thought maybe I could use that to my advantage.
"Yeah," he sounded excited. "I was hoping maybe you would have lunch with me."