Love in the Big Apple

Some enchanted evening

Having been married for over 10 years, Julie had been sad to see it dissolve with nothing more than a goodbye and good riddance from her ex. She hadn't seen it coming, he'd found another woman, someone younger, someone thinner, someone prettier. (At least in her eyes) how does someone just walk away. At least there were no kids traumatized. He'd been kind enough to let her keep their cat, Oliver, Ollie for short. Ollie was Julie's saving grace.

Julie loved her sweet Ollie. It wasn't uncommon for her to spoil him weekly with a new cat toy or treat. She had a favorite little pet shop down the street from her Staten Island Apartment. It was a little family owned pet shop and they knew her and Ollie by name.

Not unlike any other Friday night, Julie sat at home flipping the channels on her tv. Ollie snuggled up next to her, purring loudly. Julie sighed, she loved her Friday night mellow, but decided to shake things up a bit and go run her errands instead of her usual Saturday morning routine. She jumped up, pulled her hair back in a ponytail, threw on a pair of leggings and a hoodie and off she went.

First stop, Pet Sanctuary for Ollie's treats. As she walked in the door, her phone buzzed, no doubt, her best friend Kelly checking in. Julie reached into her purse to find her phone and confirm her suspicion when she bumped right into someone. Embarrassed by her lack of awareness she looked up and apologized. The gentleman she had collided with smiled. He had kind eyes.

"I'm so sorry, I should have been paying attention"

"Oh hey, no problem. I do it all the time."

She smiled and kept walking. She usually went for the clean cut look but something about this guy kept her peeking at him over the aisle shelves. The owners seemed to know him too. He seemed like such a nice guy. She grabbed Ollie's treats and headed to the register.

"How's my friend Ollie doing this week?" asked the store owner, Mr. Jipson.

"Oh Ya know, as spoiled as ever." laughed Julie.

She kept peeking to see if the handsome stranger was watching, he was.

"So you have a cat?" Asked the kind eyed man she'd been stealing glances at since their run in a few mins ago.

"Uh, yeah. Oliver, or Ollie, he's my baby." Julie replied. She thought to herself, way to go dork make yourself sound like the crazy cat lady why don't you.

"Oh yeah, me too.", he replied. "Well I have 3 cats, and they're not named Oliver", "but that's a great name though."

She smiled and teased, "what no Ollie, so what are your cats names?"

He seemed surprised that she asked, "oh I've got Benjamin, Brooklyn and Chessie."

He paused and then held out his hand out and said, "oh and I'm Brian"

"Hi Brian, I'm Julie." Shaking his hand.

"Very nice to meet you Julie."

"Very nice to meet you too Brian."

Not sure what to do at that point, Julie picked up her shopping bag and said, "well have a good evening Brian." And she walked out the door.

Brian stood at the register, he knew he should have said or done something. He just drew a blank and like a fool, he let her walk away.

The whole walk home, Julie regretted not stalling or saying something else, she wasn't ready get involved with anyone, but a little mindless flirting never hurt anyone right?

She sighed as she walked up the steps and unlocked the door. There stood her sweet, faithful friend Ollie. She picked him up and he snuggled her neck and purred. Somehow tonight, she still couldn't shake that empty, lonely feeling.