She Said…She Said…Shane's Side...

Shane's Side...

She Said...She Said...

 

SHANE...

She must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that Saturday morning but for some reason, she felt extremely hopeful for the day. She had been in a slump lately: unable to find steady work; fighting with her mother about future romantic prospects and 'when was she getting married'; and ah yes, two months behind on her rent. She went to bed last night hoping that something would change. She wasn't a spiritual or a holy woman by any means. In fact she would often check off the "atheist" box on any type of forms that she had to fill out but last night she prayed to someone out there and asked for a second chance (or third or fourth, whatever) at helping to make things right.

Carlisle had found a comfortable spot on the pillow next to her and purred softly hoping to wake her up. She would normally be quite annoyed by this but for some reason, she woke up smiling and feeling grateful for her loyal kitty. She reached over and pet the top of his cranium letting her fingers linger on the soft fur. 

For some reason, today felt like a different day.

Normally her routine for a Saturday would include scouring the help wanted ads, speaking to her agent in between running back and forth to the laundromat. As she swung her legs over the side of her bed she opted instead to take a quick walk to the local Starbucks and treat herself to a latte. She quickly grabbed a pair of faded jeans off the floor and threw on a v-neck t-shirt. She wound a colorful, striped scarf around her neck and pulled on a faded leather jacket that she inherited from ex-boyfriend #4 (she didn't call them by name after they left her life--she had to make room in her head to store new and important information). She walked over to the mirror in the hallway just as she headed out the door and tugged a teal knit hat over her head. It was only October, but the temperature outside was quickly moving from "nice fall day" to "brutally cold". Her long, dark curls fell softly to the side and her blue eyes quickly scanned her face. She took a fingertip and picked the crust out of her eye and pinched her cheeks to give her a bit of natural color. She stood back for a moment, surveyed herself and instead of the usual, "who gives a fuck" she actually liked what she saw.

"I'm telling you Rona, I am NOT going out tonight. No way. No how." 

But there she was, shimmying her slender upper body into a fabulous little sequin tank that she bought for $12.99 at Pretty Girl and matching it with a pair of faded denim jeans that she borrowed (coughstolecough) from her roommate Sharonda.  She slathered on some lipgloss that appeared to be clear with a hint of sparkle and piled on mascara so that her feeble eyelashes had a lift of some sort.    She would have loved to be doing anything but this: going out into the dark night; teetering on 4-inch heels; promising herself to NOT get drunk (only to come home later completely incoherent) and above all, not waste another minute of her time searching for Mr. Right in a place that was entirely filled with Mr. Wrong's.

This Saturday, however, would prove to be different.  And again, perhaps it was because she actually woke up on the wrong side of the bed (or perhaps it was finally the RIGHT side of the bed) but luck, it seemed, was finally going to go her way.

He stared across the dance-floor at her (as cliche as that sounds) and their eyes locked for what seemed an eternity. Rona had been busy chewing her ear off about her latest dish du jour but  Shane was barely listening.  Slowly Rona's chatter was drifting off and somehow becoming part of the background music that the DJ was playing.   He didn't seem to fit the part of the normal dude that hung out in this club.  He seemed somewhat older (well, at least older than Shane's mere 26) and his hair was not fashioned into a spikey do or quasi-mullet, as appeared to be the trend lately.  It was more of a modern, close-cropped Ken (Barbie's boyfriend) do.   It was primarily black but there were salt & pepper strands here and there that she could make out even at this distance.  He had an olive complexion, warm brown eyes and a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled, which is what he was doing at her for the last five minutes.  She shook her head quickly from left to right as if waking herself out of her daze and heard Rona's voice coming in a bit more clearly now.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"  

Rona was stretching her neck into Shane's view to try and decipher what had caught her attention.  

"Nothing, nothing.  I just thought I saw..."

Her words were cut mid-sentence as her breath caught in her throat and she noticed him walking toward her.  She tried to convince herself that he was only making his way toward her to get a drink at the bar (since she was leaning up against it) or that perhaps he had mistaken her for someone else (that happened to her all the time) but there was no way in hell, she thought, this gorgeous man was coming to talk to her.

But, today was like no other day Shane had experienced and before she knew it, this gorgeous man and her were making polite initial conversation, followed by doing shots of tequila, followed by some delicate kissing by the side of her car as he walked her there at the end of the night.   It was then that she realized she would never see him again. She only knew him for a brief few hours but already she felt like he was too good to be true: a Harvard graduate; a successful lawyer; devastatingly handsome and just a nice guy.  She braced herself for the final goodbye as he pulled away from their last kiss.   

She waited.  And waited.  But, it never came.  Instead he leaned into her ear and whispered:

"When can I see you again?"

And pulled back with the dimple on his face and she melted right into his arms.

"Let's get together later this week."   She safely replied.

"How about tomorrow?" he insisted.

She looked into his eyes for a hint of mischief or for deceit but she saw none.  She only saw a pure and open heart waiting to become hers.  She was not normally a fool for romance and her friends often encouraged her to be a bit more trusting and open to the opposite sex but Shane never found a man who gave her that good feeling.  That is, until now.

"Tomorrow" she confirmed.

He grabbed her tightly and lifted her up in the air and Shane felt like she was standing atop a geyser and it had exploded and lifted her up.  As he set her down, and she climbed into her car, he started to walk back a few paces to watch her go off.  She put the car in drive and right before she drove off, she looked at him and for the first time in her life, she saw her future flash before her eyes.