Love At First Sight

Bonnie was a freelance writer and graphic designer for a fashion magazine who lived in New York City. She would have been beautiful if not for the glasses and ponytail that she wore every day. She was perpetually single. Her mother wondered why she couldn’t just meet a nice guy, but Bonnie wasn’t worried because she believed in fate. She knew that the right person would come into her life when she was least expecting it. If it was truly meant to be, the universe would make sure they found each other.

Despite being unlucky in love, Bonnie was a huge fan of romance. She attended seventeen weddings already this year, and it was only March! This week, her friend from high school, Liz, was getting married in Los Angeles and she was very excited.

~

On Monday Bonnie was shopping for a wedding gift for Liz when a young man approached her.

“Which of these candles smells better to you?” he asked, holding up Alfresco Afternoon and Williamsburg Pineapple.

She took a quick sniff of each. “That one,” she said as she gestured to the yellow candle. Then she walked away and finished her shopping.

Her next stop was the grocery store. She and a handsome man both reached for the last avocado at the exact same time. Their hands met and they looked into each other's eyes.

“I was planning on making guacamole tonight,” he said.

“Me too.”

“Why don’t we share it and make guacamole together?” he offered, nervously scratching his head.

“Nah, I’ll just grab some tomatoes and make salsa instead.”

On the way home from the grocery store, there was only one seat left on the E train. It was next to a cute guy. Just as she was about to sit down, the train jerked. Bonnie fell into his lap, spilling some of her groceries. He kindly helped her pick them up. She thanked him, took her seat, and then exited at the next stop.

When she arrived home to her apartment, her new neighbor was carrying in boxes, so she held the door open for him.

“Thanks, I’m Trevor. I just moved into the building. Haven’t even unpacked my pots and pans yet,” he said eyeing her bag of groceries.

“There’s a great Chinese restaurant right down the street,” she suggested.

“Oh, that sounds lovely, would you like to join me?”

“No thank you,” she smiled, as she entered her own apartment and closed the door.

~

On Tuesday morning, Bonnie ordered her favorite drink at Starbucks. When the barista called out her order, “Venti Iced Coconutmilk Cascara Latte with Blonde Espresso and two pumps of chestnut praline syrup, one pump of toasted white chocolate mocha sauce, and extra ice,” she went to grab her drink. A handsome stranger reached out for it as well.

“Looks like we have the exact same order,” he said, “You can take the first one.”

“Thanks!” She grabbed the drink and walked outside, but as she was leaving, she walked straight into another handsome man, knocking her purse to the ground and spilling her iced coffee. As she picked her up the items from her purse, he apologized and offered to buy her another drink. She let him, took her newly made latte and left.

She walked to the park to drink her coffee by the fountain and read her book Billionaire Bear Mate. A man holding the same book approached her.

“Caroline?” he asked hopefully. He thought she was his blind date who never showed up. It was an honest mistake since she was reading the same paranormal alpha werebear shifter mail order bride romance novel, dressed in the same hot pink polka dot romper that his date was supposed to be wearing, and sitting outside the fountain in the same place his date was supposed to be sitting. “I guess she’s not coming,” the man sighed.

“That sucks, sorry, better luck next time.”

Later that day, she stopped into the office to meet the brand-new editor of the magazine, Damien Santiago. It was the same man from the coffee shop who almost took her drink. He smiled in recognition.

As she was leaving, she heard an unfamiliar ringtone coming from within her purse. She pulled out what she now realized was not her phone and answered.

“Hey, it’s Max, from the coffee shop this morning. I’m the one who spilled your drink,” he said. “We must have accidentally switched phones when we bumped into each other.” She agreed to meet him the next morning at the same Starbucks to trade phones back.

When she arrived home later that day, there was a knock at her door. It was her new neighbor Trevor who had some of her mail that had been misdelivered to his apartment. She thanked him and closed the door.

~

On Wednesday morning, she met Max at Starbucks to trade phones.

He joked, “Can I call you sometime?”

She looked at him, puzzled. “What for? We already switched our phones back.”

She then went to pick up her friend Becca’s dog to walk it as a favor. While walking the dog, out of nowhere, it ran off and into the lap of a handsome young man.

“Hey, don’t I know you?” he asked. “You ride the E train sometimes, right?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes. It depends on where I’m going.”

After dropping the dog back at Becca’s apartment, she saved a man’s life when he was nearly hit by an air conditioner falling from a window above them.

“How can I ever repay you?”

She shook her head. “That’s not necessary. Have a nice day!”

Back at the apartment, she ran into Trevor in the lobby.

“Any fun plans this weekend?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m going to a friend’s wedding.”

“Oh, if you need a date, I’ll go with you. I’ll even pretend to be your boyfriend so your friends stop trying to set you up on blind dates.” He winked at her.

She squinted at him. “Um, no thanks. I don’t mind going alone.”

~

On Thursday, she had to go to the office for a work meeting. Her editor Damien had brought her an iced coffee. “I remembered that we ordered the same thing.”

“Oh, thank you,” she said. “That’s so thoughtful.”

After the meeting, she and Damien were alone in the elevator when it suddenly stopped.

“We could be stuck in here for hours,” he sighed.

“Nah, I used to repair elevators part time to pay my way through college.” She climbed through the shaft and helped him escape. He was so grateful he offered to buy her dinner to say thank you. She declined.

On the way home she witnessed a flash mob wedding proposal. “How nice,” she thought to herself.

When she was just about ready for bed, she heard a knock on the door. It was her neighbor, Trevor, in a towel. “I somehow locked myself out of my apartment!”

She loaned him a sweatshirt and called him a locksmith, but didn’t invite him in.

~

On Friday, Bonnie had to catch a flight for Liz’s wedding. While crossing the street, she saved a man from almost getting hit by a cab. It was the same man she had saved from the falling air conditioner just the other day.

He looked shocked to see her. “You’ve saved me twice now! That must mean something.”

“I think it means you need to start looking where you’re going.”

“I don’t know how to thank you!”

“Just be more careful.”

At the airport she saw a man running through the terminal with a dozen roses. She briefly wondered what that was about.

She boarded the plane and found her seat next to a handsome man.

“Oh hey! You’re that girl with the dog.”

“No, I don’t have a dog. You must be thinking of someone else.”

He started to introduce himself as Steve, but she put in her earbuds and closed her eyes to take a nap.

Unfortunately, her connecting flight was delayed due to bad weather. No planes would be taking off until tomorrow morning, so everyone would have to stay overnight. By the time she got to the closest hotel, she discovered that Steve, the man who sat next to her on the plane, had just booked the last room.

“You’re welcome to share it with me,” he offered.

“But I don’t even know you,” she said, “It’s fine, I have a friend in the area, I’ll crash with her.”

When she called her friend Kate, Bonnie learned that she was out of town, but she insisted that her roommate Ricky wouldn’t mind and texted to let him know.

When she arrived at Kate’s apartment, Ricky invited her to share a bottle of wine and listen to him play acoustic guitar, but Bonnie went straight to bed.

~

On Saturday morning, after a homemade frittata made by Ricky, she caught the first flight to LAX.

Steve, from the previous flight, sat down next to her and happily said, “what a coincidence, we’re sitting together again!”

She glanced at his ticket. “Actually, it looks like you’re two rows back.”

Just then her actual seatmate boarded the plane and approached them. Overhearing their conversation, he offered to switch seats with Steve. “So you can sit with your boyfriend,” he explained.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, “I don’t know him.”

“Oh, so that means you’re single?” he asked, taking his seat next to her. “My name is Alan, I’m from --”

“Uh huh,” she interrupted, as she put in her earbuds and pretended to sleep.

When the flight landed in LA, she ran into both Alan and Steve at the rental car booth.

“Looks like there’s only two cars left, would you like to ride together?” Alan offered.

“Or we could ride together,” Steve countered. “I’m headed north.”

“Me too,” Alan said.

“I’m actually going in the opposite direction, but maybe you guys can share a car,” she suggested as she completed her rental paperwork.

On the way to the hotel, Bonnie’s rental car got a flat tire. As she was changing it, another car pulled up along the side of the road, “Is everything alright ma’am? Oh my god, it’s you!” It was Max from the coffee shop. “Crazy running into you in California of all places. Let me help you with that.”

“No, that’s okay, I know how to change a tire.”

“What are you doing in town? I can’t believe--”

“Thanks,” she cut him off. “I’m fine.”

She finished changing the tire and drove the rest of the way to the hotel. When she arrived, she ran into Eric, a friend from high school who was also invited to Liz’s wedding.

“I was hoping to see you here! Would you like to grab some lunch before the wedding and catch up?”

“No, I’d really like to take a nap,” she said, “but I’ll see you there.”

Later that evening, when she got to the wedding venue, she was surprised to see that Max from the coffee shop was the best man.

“Wow. This must be meant to be,” he smiled. “Would you like to dance?”

“No thank you.”

“Is this guy bothering you Bonnie?” asked Eric.

“No, I’m fine.” She walked away to talk to Liz.

Bonnie had a nice time at the wedding, even though she didn’t have a date. She danced with Eric to “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri and he whispered in her ear, “You know, I always had a crush on you in high school.”

“Wow, I had no idea,” she said. “That’s so flattering.”

Just then the music stopped and all the single women were asked to gather on the dance floor for the bouquet toss.

Liz threw the bouquet over her head straight towards Bonnie. Just as she was about to reach for it, the groom’s Aunt Gladys dove for it, shoving Bonnie out of the way.

Bonnie stumbled backwards into the arms of another wedding guest.

She looked up and into the eyes of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Time froze. Fireworks exploded in the sky and her hair blew in the wind, despite them being indoors. Bells began to ring as a choir of angels descended to sing “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer. Kiss me beneath the milky twilight, lead me out on the moonlit floor...

“Hi. I’m Bonnie.”