Last Friday afternoon, before walking out with my peer after weekly meeting with my boss, he stopped me and said “He can leave, you stay!” my peer hummed “Oops, someone is going to get pwned .”
I was kind of nervous and asked my boss “Why me ? did I do something wrong ?”
“No, not yet. But I want to talk to you beside your work.” He smiled a me and pulled his upper desk draw out and tried to look for something, then continued “Here it's, please give her a call.” He handed me a piece of paper.
On the paper there was a girl's name and a phone number, I was a little surprised “What is this ?”
“Don't playing dumb with me. It is your date's digit!” His voice turned peaceful, “You see, my wife Janet thought it is holiday season , you should have someone to be with, so she thinks her friend, Alison would be a good fit for you. I met her a couple of times, she is young, brainy, funny and very sexy, I am telling you, she is a hot chick. What do you think ?”
“I don't know, Is blind dates on my new job req ? I tried to be funny.
“ Look, don't get smart with me, Ok ? What I am asking you to do is just give her a try, if you two don't work out, then that is ok. Big guy, I hate to see you work day and night in the office . And the truth is I don't want to see my “money tree” to be burned out. By the way, you don't need someone to hold you hands to go on date, do you ? ” he laughed out
“Ok, I'll give it a shot. But, I'll put my dating expenses on my business tab. ” I fired back.
“Don't push it, smart pant. Lyn, (my boss's sectary) has made the dinner reservation for two already at Alfredo of Rome tonight, Janet and I like that place. I'll ask Lyn to see you and give you all the details you need to know. Now get out here, don't let me down. He shouted after my back.
Walking back to my office, I was speechless, why ? Because when someone's social calendar is filled by his boss, then he must be a loser.
Later, I picked the phone and called Alison to find out our meeting place, she sounded sort of sweet, but demanding over the phone. Going a date with someone you've never met in person before is always a risky business. It's like Forrest Gump said “ Blinddate was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” Ok, I switched the the subject of the his line. what he really said was “My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Whatever, all sound the same to me.
I picked Alison in front of her office building, and she appeared fitting the descriptions that my boss gave me in his office earlier. We had a pleasant dinner at Alfredo of Rome and changed some laughers, in between wine and food courses. Alison told me that she works for a IB I know in HR office. She is sweeter than I thought about her over the phone. I felt guilty about thinking evil about my boss and Alison before even I met her. When we walked out, I asked her “ “Do you like chocolate ?”
“Duh, for your information, every girl likes chocolate.” She smiled.
“Ok, I know there is a shop called La Maison du Chocolat which is very closeby, it sells superb French chocolate. “ I said softly.
“My friend told me about it,but I haven't try it yet.” She seemed happier already.
When we passed the NBC Network studios and pined the store, it had already closed for the day. Seeing me in embarrassment, Alison comforted me “It is ok, I'd take your offer as the rain check.”
As we stood by the stone railing of the Rockefeller Center, admiring the magnificent and the brightly-lit Christmas tree in close range, my mind started drifting away obave the crowds and the sensational holiday decorations.
I was thinking “What is love anyway, you start liking someone, afterwards, you fall in love. For a while , everything goes great , soon you hit the wall when she hints you the marriage, but you are afraid of commitment, she gets angry; before you know it, it's all gone. Pretty soon, you forget the hurting and start the same cycle all the over again. At the end, it is all the same, deferent faces, but repeating the same old story. I don't know how my grandfather and grandmother or my father and my mother are able to hold on their marriages . Together, their years of combined marriage is about 104 years. That is more than a century, My grandfather, grandmother and my father, my mother are still happy in their marriage, today. It sounds like “miracle” to me.
I remember my grandmother always sat next to my grandfather, rubbing grandpa's knees to reduce his pains during and before the bad weathers because he has arthritis and broken bones done by the red guards, how about my father, he always tries to make my mom smile, by making my mom's favorite dishes at home no matter how busy he is, even during the visiting days here with me, he still got up early to make breakfast for mom and me. True, they all fight, time to time. But they still love each other and stay together after all these up and downs in their lives. But, looking at my generation, majority of my college classmates are devoiced or in some mayhem in terms of marriage and relationship. Myself, don't even bring it up, I would be the worse type, how many girls I have dated in my life, I can't even recall their names after these years. Yet, I am still empty handed. It is really pathetic, isn't it ? In our era, we are capable to love , but poorly deficient to hold on. Something is wrong here, either the world or us or me….
Sensing my quietness, Alison jolted me “ Are you ok, you are awfully quiet. Did I said something upset you ? “
“No, no. It is nothing to do with you.” I replied
“They said you are soft-spoken, good breed , smart, quiet and oh yeah a workaholic …. I didn't realize you are this much quiet.” Alison tried to be humorous.
“You'd buy what they tried to sell to you ? “ I frowned
“Maybe, maybe not. But if you'd like to tell me what is bother you, I'll lend my ears.” she chuckled.
“Ok, you really want to know, here goes, I am wondering if I can get lucky with you, tonight” I teased her.
“Gee, you are a pig, too? they didn't warn me that. But I am flattered .” she laughed as she was putting her long hair which blew lose by the wind behind her ear.
“No, I am kidding. I was just thinking of my family back home” I assured Alison.
Maybe it was the beautiful lights on the tree in romantic setting of Rockefeller Center in early December night or maybe it was the cold north-west wind Alison was sympathetic and tender next to me. I don't have the answer.
It seems to me that girls get softer during the winter than that in summer, the colder the weather would be, the sweeter the girls could turn. Maybe during the winter, they realize a man's shoulder could be a warm and safe place to park. Just a theory, don't quote me, OK.
As we walked off from the site, my iPhone rang, it was my friend Nick, he asked me if I wanted join him and his wife for a drink in a bar, I asked Alison “Would you like join me and my friends for a drink ?”
“Sure, just one drink.” she smiled
“Yes, just one drink, ma'am.” I chuckled
In minutes, our cab joined a river of cabs which carried so many guys and girls to their destinations in this never-sleep city. It is a Friday night in December 2010, not a silent night, but a craze one.
Note: a. the photo comes from Internet. b. If anyone listens to this video , please close your eyes for a while and, you won't believe it comes from a child. Sometimes, a person's talent does not have to correlate with the age at all, this is a proof: It is amazing that a ten years old girl can have such beautiful and bright voice of a soprano.
