The Day We Met

Sometime in April, a Saturday...

     I was attending culinary school at the Art Institute of Sacramento, this was about the fourth week of the quarter and I was taking World Cuisine. It was a small class, only about 10 people total, but only 5-7 that ever showed up.


     I was living with my boyfriend at the time in an apartment about 5 minutes from school, on this morning as I was getting ready to leave for class the idiot decided to break up with me. This of course led to me crying and yelling and finally him buying me a snow cone and sending me on my way. By the time I got to class I was about an hour late, I apologized and luckily the Chef was lenient.

     Before I knew it I was laughing and joking with my friends, and of course recounted the story. I barely even noticed the guy who was talking with my friend, who looked vaguely familiar from week one.

     After class I didn't want to go home by myself, I invited my friend Jessica over and we headed out for the parking lot. When we got out there our friend Megan was still standing and talking to that same guy, I wanted to invite her, but I didn't want to be rude so I invited him too.

     We got back to the apartment and sat down with a glass of wine, I pulled out my laptop and had iTunes going in the background. Soon we were on the topic of books, and I found myself engaged in conversation with this handsome stranger. We were comparing different series we had read and explaining the ones the other hadn't read.

     For some reason his eyes had absolutely captivated me. I couldn't help but want to look into them and their intensity. Why were they so intense anyway? I wondered. Could he be interested in me!? I dismissed the thought, but could not get over the eyes.
    
     Eventually he mentioned that he loved all the music I had on my iTunes and began flipping through it. I was hit with the sudden urge to impress this dreamy stranger. I announced that I needed to change, snuck into my bedroom and slipped into my skinniest pair of skinny jeans, tousled my hair and touched up my eyeliner before returning to the living room.

     We continued talking, almost completely ignoring the other two girls in the room until I remembered my manners and mentioned an art walk the following weekend. We all agreed that it would be fun and we would go.

     It was about 9:30 when my ex walked in and we all went silent. It was obvious that he was confused, because I couldn't possibly have any friends besides him. I introduced him to Megan and the dreamy stranger. The look on his face was quite comical, here I was already socializing with other males, and it was quite obvious that he felt threatened. Maybe there was a reason behind the intense eyes.

     "So do I get a hug or what?" My ex asked.

    "Um, I guess?"

     I was confused, and judging by the looks on their faces so was everyone else. He pulled me into a hug and then sat on the couch pulling me with him.

     Everyone was quick to leave after that, but I couldn't get him off my mind. The handsome stranger, with the intense gaze and the bad boy physique, was it possible, had he already stolen my heart?