I Hate LA…But Maybe It Has Some Magic Anyway

So many things happened last night that I am not sure where to even begin. To start, it was M’s birthday and being that M is one of my best friends and I miss hanging with that group of people I felt obliged to go to the club with them even though I am not LA club scene’s biggest fan…

Another reason I wanted to go was a guy I knew but have not seen in almost 3 years was going to be there. This guy, lets call him Mr. Cool is someone who evoked a school girl crush in me back then. He gave me butterflies, he turned me into a babbling bunch of nonsense and I probably looked at him with eyes of wonder and awe that were completely obvious and yet I didn’t care. Mr. Cool was going to be there and I had to see if he was the same Mr. Cool or if I just grew up and he became some regular Joe I could care less about…

Anyways, the night started out with dinner and drinks at Bridge. Bridge is the type of restaurant where they probably spend way too much on lighting so they have to charge double the price for Pizza that I could get anywhere for 5 bucks. Bridge is the type of place where The Rock was sitting to the left of us and Kato Kalin and posse were to the right. The main dishes are the size of a quarter. We then headed to Cabana Club to indulge in more drinking and dancing. I walked in and immediately remembered why I dislike the LA club scene so much. All posers, all fake, not a good conversation in sight.

So I decided to just have fun with it and play some games.

The first game was with us girls which (ok you are all going to think we are mean but if you saw these guys you would understand) we would “spot the hottie” real em in and see who how many drinks we could get bought for us.

And I couldn’t find Mr. Cool… so I had to self entertain

I met a guy who was wearing jeans that, have to admit make his ass look good, but his black tight shirt was incrusted with some silver weird stuff and when he asked for my number I replied, “Aren’t you gay” – I didn’t see him again

Another guy proceeded to take out his digital camera and show me his before, after, and in process photos of his body since he had hired a personnel trainer. – I took the beer he bought me and walked away

I headed to the dance floor with some of the girls and just had the best time.

But, Mr. Cool hadn’t shown up…

I just tossed it in the wind and let myself have a good time with my friends when I got a tap on my shoulder.

“Well hello there”
The room lit up. His charisma and dynamic personality were still impossible to ignore. And, once again I got that sinking feeling in my stomach and nervousness settled in. Was my hair ok? Is my shirt in place?

“So you finally decided to show up”

“Well I couldn’t miss M’s birthday.”

“You missed me accuse a metro of being gay,” oh Rachel you could come up with something better than that!

He cracked a laugh, “hungry”?

“Starved”

We end up at Jerry’s deli where we remained until 5:30 AM. The group of people I was with followed suit and what it turned out to be was the best part of the night. No clubs, no fake, no posers, just me and my friends and Mr. Cool giving me butterflies in my stomach.

“So do you consider this a date”? He asked

“I don’t do dates at 4:00AM”

“Would you go on a date with me?”

Ouch. Swallowed. Coffee. Too. Fast.

“Probably not” I am such an idiot.

“Why”?

Oh because you are too perfect. Because you are this ideal and maybe you will see through me and see I am just a normal girl with normal needs and I am not as cool as you Mr. Cool because I am everywhere except when you talk to me I turn into a babbling nervous teenager and I am afraid to like you because then I will really like you and you might see me cry one day and…I have no idea why you make me giddy and yet nervous at the same time

But instead I say, “Well I want to be single right now. I need clarity on life by myself first. I don’t want to jump into anything too serious yet.”

“Well ain’t that a shame”

He gets up and, after paying, gives me a kiss on the cheek.

I had to have turned beet red.

“Don’t be a stranger” he said as he walked out the door and into the night.

For the next hour I sat laughing and talking with my friends, enjoying life and, well sobering up. A couple of them thought I was a right idiot for not dating Mr. Cool, but they don’t get it. I want to be comfortable with myself alone before I can be comfortable with a guy like him. But, all it takes to bring back those butterflies is knowing there are Mr. Cools out there, some of which I know, looking for a girl just like me. And for now that is all I need.

I drove home at sunrise, smiling…

Maybe LA has some magic left in it after all