I walked into the bar and I knew immediately that Olivia was there. I didn't even have to see her. I could sense her presence. It was like something in my body was attuned to her. I knew when she was around. Even when I didn't see or hear her. It felt special, and I smiled to myself. I didn't even have to look to see if my sixth sense was right. I already knew that it was. I walked over to the bar, I could see tables to the right, and I could see women sitting there waiting patiently. The tables all had red roses on them and I cringed for the women. Speed dating really was a tacky event. And then I saw her, sitting there looking beautiful and bored and my heart exploded. I didn't want Olivia to see me, not right away. So I decided to stay in the far corner of the room. I ordered a beer and sat down and waited. I would know when it was time for me to act, and show myself. In the meantime I would watch and see how this sideshow went.
Chapter 11
Olivia
"Hi there. How are you doing, pretty young thing?" An older man sat across the table from me. And I wondered if he was really within the age group for the speed-dating event. I looked over at Birdy to give her a look of concern, but she was busy chatting to the guy that was opposite her. So I turned back to the guy in front of me.
"Hi. Nice to meet you."
"So what's your name, pretty young thing?" I withheld a sigh. If he was going to keep talking to me like this, he was getting to get on my nerves and very, very quickly.
"I'm Olivia, and your name?"
"I'm David."
"Nice to meet you, David."
"Nice to meet you Olivia."
"So where are you from?"
"Florida, you?"
"Oh, I'm from here in California. Yep. I'm in tech."
"Oh, okay. Yeah. I guess a lot of the guys here will be in tech."
"Yep. I make a lot of money."
"Okay. Well that's good."
"So what do you do for fun, Olivia?"
“I like to go dancing."
"Oh yeah, I love me a girl that can dance. Get on my lap, grind those hips."
"Not that sort of dancing. I'm talking about regular dancing at the club."
"The strip club?"
"No." I looked at him and he looked at me and we both realized this was not going to be a match. I waited for the bell to ring. And then the next guy approached.
"Hi." He said feebly. And I could already tell that he was not going to be the one I was interested in.
"Hi. Nice to meet you." I said confidently hoping that he would speak up a little bit. "I'm Olivia, what's your name?"
"Mike." He said softly again. I looked at him and he looked like he was about 20 years old. Did the speed dating event even care about the age of the guys, or had they just grabbed any guys that were interested in coming?
"Oh, okay. Mike, well it's nice to meet you. What do you do?"
"I'm a student at San Francisco State University."
"Cool. A grad student?"
"No, I'm an undergrad. I'm studying biology."
"You're an undergrad?" My voice dripped with concern. "How old are you, exactly?"
"I'm 21. You?"
"I am 27, and I thought this event was meant to be for 25 through 35?"
"I don't mind. I like older women."
"Yeah, that's good. Okay." I sat back and waited for the bell again. The next guy came to the table and I was praying to God that he was going to be someone better.
"Well, hey there. How are you doing tonight?" A tall handsome black man sat across from me and I smiled at him. Now this was more my speed.
"Hi. I'm good. How are you?"
"Yeah. Yeah. You know, I'm doing pretty well. Pretty fine on this fly night."
"I'm Olivia, what's your name?"
"I'm Malcolm. Nice to meet you, Olivia. You sure are pretty. I didn't expect to see someone as pretty as you here tonight."
"Oh, well thank you. You're not bad yourself."
"I know, I'm an R&B artist. Maybe you've heard of me. Fly Malcolm"
"No. Have you had any like top hits or anything?"
"What do you mean by top hits?"
"Have you been on the billboard chart? Or on the top 100 songs played on iTunes?" "Nah, I don't believe in that sort of thing. That's just for the white people."
"Okay. So where would I listen to your music, if I wanted to?”
"Oh, you can find me down on Powell and Market sometimes."
"What do you mean, I can find you down on Powell and Market sometimes?"
"That's where I be selling my CDs. In the streets, get the music to the people, you know what I mean sister?"
"Oh, I see." And then it dawned on me that he was one of those guys that harassed you as you walked by trying to sell his music. "Okay. Well, it's nice to meet you, Fly Malcolm."
"You know it sister, you know it. You ever want to go out for a drink, you just let me know. You can take me anywhere you want to take me."
"Okay. Thanks." I sat back and this time when the bell dinged I didn't even bother with having any expectations for the next guy that was going to approach.
"Hi. Do you mind if I take a seat?" A man with short, dark hair and dazzling green eyes sat across from me. I looked at him suspiciously. How could a good-looking guy with manners be at this event? It just didn't seem possible.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"You look like you're not having a great time tonight." He said with a warm smile.
"Let's just say it's not been what I expected it to be."
"I know what you mean." He said. "My best friend brought me here and I'm starting to think that this is not really my sort of event."
"Oh yeah? Are the girls just as good as the guys?" I laughed and he smiled back at me warmly.
"Well, you seem like you're very nice, normal. That's all I need normal."
"Well, I can assure you that I am very normal. I'm Olivia, what's your name?"
I'm Brandon.”
"Brendon or Brandon."
"Oh, I'm Brandon. Sorry. I have a little bit of an accent."
"Oh, what's your accent? Where are you from?"
"Missouri."
"Oh, ha ha ha."
"Yeah, I know it's not anywhere exciting, but you don't seem to find many guys from Missouri here in California."
"I guess they stayed in Missouri."
"I guess so. So Olivia, tell me a bit about yourself. What do you do for fun?"
I was going to say dancing again, but I decided to keep that to myself. I didn't need another guy thinking I was a stripper.
"I like to go to the beach. Though that's kind of hard here in San Francisco because the water's so cold, but I do like to swim. I have a membership at the YMCA. What about you?"
"Oh, I love going to the beach. I drive down to LA and go to Santa Monica beach all the time."
"Oh really? That's cool. Do you have a car?"
"Yeah, it's nothing fancy, but it gets me by, a Toyota."