Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“When doesn’t our lives call for wine?”
“Never.” Dorian poured them both a generous serving then clanked her glass against Maisie’s, and they drank. “Thank you for the goods. I appreciate you stopping at the store.”
“No problem, although I’m never going back. I made a massive fool out of myself with this guy.”
“Tell me about him.”
Maisie recounted her meeting with Mr. Butter, and how she wondered what his voice sounded like, and how her lady bits wanted his attention right there in the cereal aisle. “I’m telling you, if he would have said ‘right here, right now,’ I would’ve bent over the freezer and let him have his wicked way with me. Love at first sight.”
“Which is something I don’t believe in.”
“It’s because you’re holed up in your room all day, chatting online with people you’ve never met,” Maisie pointed out. “If you actually went into an office or something, you might have your meet cute and fall madly in love with someone.”
“Or I might gouge their eyes out with my fingernail.”
“Stop being dramatic,” Maisie said. “I really feel like I missed my chance with this one. He took me off guard, but there was something about him that made my heart do a triple beat, and now the moment is lost forever. You don’t get that back and you definitely don’t get a second chance at making a first impression.”
“What book did you get that from?” Dorian asked.
Maisie shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe we should read more crime than romance.” The friends had a book club which they hosted once a month in their apartment. In a good month, they’d get twenty people to show up, but most of the time they had about ten. Their group consisted of coworkers, neighbors, and a few college friends.
“Nah, I like that you’re this hopeless romantic.”
“Hopeless is right.” Maisie took a sip of her wine.
“So do something about it.” Dorian told her.
Maisie scoffed. “I’m not camping out at the grocery store until he comes back. It’s bad enough that I followed him around the store like a stalker.”
Dorian got up from the table, went to the living room and came back with the newspaper in her hand. She spread it open across the table and pointed to the column, Missed Encounters, and then tapped her finger on it for emphasis.
“Huh?” Maisie was confused by Dorian’s actions to say the least.
“This is what you need to do.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you ever read the paper?”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t have time for that,” she told her bestie. “Tomorrow, on my day off, I plan to lounge on the couch all day, eating the pie I bought and watching reruns of SVU.”
“What season?”
Maisie shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”
Dorian shook her head. “You’re getting me off track. This, right here, is the answer. Missed Encounters is a column for missed opportunities. You write in, they publish your story, and you wait.”
“Sounds like finding a needle in a haystack,” Maisie told her.
“Sort of like your love life.” Dorian leaned back so Maisie couldn’t smack her.
“I hate you sometimes.”
“Except you don’t. Let me go get my laptop.”
Maisie read over the column while Dorian went to her room. Each story was about someone who had a similar meet cute as she had, whether it was at a gas station, stoplight, or the bank. The one that caught her attention the most was about someone who longed for their coworker but was afraid of telling them. Reading that hurt Maisie’s heart. She believed in love and knew her prince was out there somewhere. She thought she had found him in her ex-boyfriend, Mitchell. They had broken up six months ago when he took a job three hours away without talking to her first. He expected her to come and see him on her days off. When she told him no, she thought he’d fight for their relationship. Instead, their three-year relationship ended that night, and they hadn’t spoken since.
Maisie cleared her thoughts when Dorian returned with her laptop tucked under her arm. She sat down and started typing. Maisie thought about standing next to her but figured Dorian would show her what she wrote when she finished.
“Okay, how’s this?” Dorian turned the laptop toward Maisie, and read.
On a dreary day we had our missed encounter. Me in my yoga pants and hoodie, while you looked dashingly handsome in a suit with a red tie. You winked at me as we crossed paths in the aisles of the grocery store, and when I needed help, you were there with the assist. I may have said something unladylike after our heads collided, but you knocked the wind right out of me. Anyway, this is me, shooting my shot for a second-chance meet cute. Meet me at Rose’s, on Valentine’s Day at 8 p.m. I’ll be the one at the bar in a black dress. Until we cross paths again, I’ll be waiting. ~ Maisie