My roommate says I’m the queen of getting picked up. I find that somewhat hard to believe but I suppose (by last night’s standards) it’s true.

So anyway I went over to my ex from college’s office to chat with him and pick something up. That’s weird enough. So basically that puts me in a place I’m not usually at (midtown east) at a time I’m not usually there (8pm). This is important because I’m about to talk about how random life is. How you make choices and it effects the rest of your moment, your day, your life.

So anyway I’m walking to the subway from my ex’s office and I pass by the old Navy on 34th. I decide that I need yoga pants. I walk into Old navy, pick out my pants and browse around. I pass by a slightly dorky looking guy with a beard, glasses and a total Gilligan hat. We glance at each other and I walk by. So I keep browsing and I see him again. This time he’s making his way upstairs to the men’s section. He turns, sees me, smiles and waves. I smile and wave back and continue to browse. I think to myself, “he’s adorable, you should go upstairs and talk to him.” But then I think “what the hell do you need in the men’s section that would bring you upstairs?” So I ignore that overwhelming instinct to follow him upstairs. I manage to linger around the cashier’s counter a little too long and time it ever so perfectly that he’s coming downstairs just as I’m about to “leave.” He smiles, waves and calls me over. He asks “did you find what you were looking for?” and I smile and look at him empty handed and say “I did, but you didn’t.” And he smiles and goes off on a diatribe on how he was looking for a jean jacket and the men’s small was too small. He asks what I think of the men’s medium that he has in his hands. I tell him it’s too boxy. We laugh and giggle and decide that he is not finding a jean jacket tonight. He asks me what I’m doing and I tell him I was about to find something to eat and I bravely ask him to join me. He hesitates…he tells me he has to be somewhere in a hour and then with that “fuck it” look in his eyes he agrees to join me.

We go to a bar/restaurant near old navy and he buys me dinner. Turns out that he is a) in a band and b) only here for the night. Yes folks, he lives in North Carolina!!! Clearly, the world revolves around North Carolina. Ugh! Well anyway his band is playing at Rothko on the lower east side. I harassed him about not telling me this earlier and his response was priceless. He said to me “I didn’t want to be the guy, who sees the really fucking cute girl and is all ‘I’m in a band.’” It was adorable, really it was.

So then we get into this conversation about grasping moments in time. Like I could have easily walked out of that store, satisfied in knowing that someone thought I was cute and waved to me. But instead, we both chose to grab that moment and make it into something. And there we land, in a bar in midtown, staring at each other and clearly goofy about each other.

We eat quickly because he has to get to his show, which he still hasn’t asked me to come to. So we pay our check and walk out the door. He looks at me and asks if he can see me later in the night. I look at my watch, it’s 10pm already. He has to play a show and then meet up with me? Man! I was going to go to bed at like 9! So I tell him that I’m coming to his show and he smiles and agrees. I told him I’d give him some time to get ready and I’d just meet him down there.

I leave him and walk home grinning like an idiot. I run to my apartment, drop off my shit, look up the address for Rothko and hop right back on the subway. I get down there (he’s put me on the guestlist) and he’s standing talking to some girl. As soon as he spots me he drops her mid sentence and walks over to me. We talk and he’s clearly nervous about having me there. I decide to let him as much prep time as he needs and I tell him that he doesn’t need to baby sit me and he should do what he’s gotta do. So he laughs, asks me if I want a beer (actually, HIS beer because he doesn’t want it while he’s playing). So I take his beer, he goes to set up and his band takes the stage. They’re good. Not fabulous, blow you away great, but good. They play for an hour, get off the stage and he comes directly to me. He’s nervous and scattered and clearly wants to get out of there. He attempts to hurry his bandmates along in clearing the stage and packing the van but it takes about an hour. This puts us at about one am.

We get to the subway platform and we hold hands. We are disgusting. It’s as if we’ve been a couple for years and we’re on our New York honeymoon. We stare into each other’s eyes, hug each other and make stupid faces.

We take the train up to Rockefeller center and take a walk around midtown. We stop and get a slice of pizza. We start to talk music…this is where it gets dangerous. We’re both so passionate about it and you can tell he’s excited that I’m excited about what he has to say. He tells me about how Holst’s the Planets changed his life. He got so excited that he whipped out his ipod and insisted on playing it for me. With one ear bud in my ear and one in his we listen to Venus. He leans over and kisses me. It’s one of those perfect, music geek, new york nights.

So it’s 3am and he has to leave to catch his plane at 6:45. He insists on walking towards my apartment with me. I walk him to the train closest to my apartment. As we’re walking a classic New York crazy starts yelling at us. This clearly makes him nervous and he wants to walk me all the way home…if that’s okay with me. He really was a perfect gentleman the whole time. So I agreed to let him walk me home and then…yes, I invited him up.

We sat and talked and made out and laughed and tried not to wake up my roommate. I closed the door, we turned down the lights. We made out more. We tried not to look at the clock. Somewhere around 4 am I end up half naked, under the covers with an adoring, adorable man engrossed in me. It’s so surreal. So we have sex. And I feel weird about it. I don’t even know this guy. The sex is alright. He’s a bit…older than I am and his energy is…different than mine. It’s not mind blowing but it’s not bad either. And the whole thing was really sweet and tender and loving.

Anyway it’s 5am. It’s time for me to kick him out and back to the hotel room that he never slept it. He ponders aloud how he can possibly postpone his flight and stay tangled up in my arms in me bed. Inevitably we come to the conclusion that he has to go. I walk him out and say goodnight.

At 5:45 my phone rang. I did not get up to get it but I knew it was him. Sure enough, I checked my voicemail this morning and his sleepy, yet satisfied voice was cheerfully thanking me for an amazing night.

So…had I not gone into old navy, none of this would have happened. I Would have gone home, as planned, and gone to bed. Instead, I chose to buy into that big old corporation and tell myself that I needed yoga pants, then tell myself that I needed to stick around and see what happens with the goofy guy with the glasses. I’m glad I did. I can’t stop smiling. Too bad he lives in fucking North Carolina!