A Girl Can Dream, Right?

It didn’t feel real at all. I just couldn’t believe it was happening.

I have no idea how we met, but he was in my phone as “William Cute Boy.” He was texting me about how excited he was about our date that night. I had completely forgotten about our plans, but luckily I hadn’t made any new ones. “Shit,” I thought, “I don’t even remember what this guy looks like!” I texted him, “What should I wear?” and he responded, immediately, “Don’t worry about it.” I frowned looking down at my phone. “What the hell do you mean by that?” I thought.

Suddenly my buzzer sounded off. I have the kind of buzzer that makes my cat run and hide under my bed 100% of the time. I answered the door to find a well dressed gentleman. In his hands was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. “Well this is it…” I thought, “This is the guy… Not cute… but has good fashion sense… and money…” I took the dress and said to the gentleman, “Well thank you, William.” He looked confused for a second and then straightened up his face. “Yes. I will pass your ‘Thank you’ to Master William. In the meantime, he requests that you be ready at 5 PM sharp for pickup.” I was so embarrassed, although I did a pretty good job hiding it.

I closed the door and hung the dress up. I must’ve spent at least ten minutes just staring at it. “How the hell does he know my dimensions?” I thought, “There’s no way he possibly could…” Finally I put it on. It had one of those zippers in the back that I couldn’t do myself. I had to get one of my roommates to zip me up. I had never worn anything like this before. It fit me perfectly, over my broad shoulders and everything; yet it made me look like the most beautiful and classy woman who had ever been within ten blocks of my house.

I danced around the house listening to Cat Power and never failing to stop and check myself out in the mirror. I couldn’t believe this. I had never felt so beautiful. Where did this come from? Who the hell was this person? My thought process was cut short by the bone chilling sound of my buzzer. I frantically looked around for a second. I caught a glimpse of the clock. It was 5:00 PM.

I rushed to the door to find the same gentleman from before. In front of my house there was a Rolls Royce parked and the most beautiful man I have ever seen was standing outside of it wearing a tuxedo. Across the street were my neighbors drinking on their stoop. In the yard next to me was an old lady tending to her garden. On the sidewalk there were a couple kids playing hopscotch. Every single one of them seemed frozen in time just staring in awe of this whole situation. My beauty, the car, the gentleman caller, and his help (whom I would’ve been totally fine with in the first place.)

William greeted me with a kiss on my left hand and put a pearl necklace around my neck; not the kind I usually get, but a real one. He opened the door for me and I climbed inside. He walked around the car and entered street side. Away we went. My head was spinning. I still couldn’t believe any of this was happening. I still struggled to remember how I met this guy and especially how I managed to make this happen.

We drove to a part of the city I wasn’t familiar with. It looked like an area that I would be scared to drive, much less walk around in, even in broad daylight. There was nobody around. Nobody. Not a homeless man on the street, not a pedestrian making their way home, not a cop on the beat, not a single soul.

My heart raced as the Rolls Royce pulled over. I immediately thought the worst. I looked at William terrified but he continued to sport his warm smile and simply said, “Don’t worry. It’s not how it looks.” Suddenly my door opened and William’s servant (or whatever you call him) helped me out of the car. I was trying my best to stay calm but every instinct inside of me was telling me to run. I looked at my shoes, “No way am I running in these things.” I looked at the pavement around me. “Broken glass everywhere. No way I’m running without these.” I was escorted inside the seemingly abandoned warehouse in front of us. “This is it, Diana.” I thought, “I knew this was too good to be true.”

We walked through a black curtain and suddenly I was inside the most beautiful restaurant I have ever seen. Chandeliers lit the room up to the perfect ambience, art more beautiful than anything you’ve seen outside the Met donned the walls, and a string band played music that brought me to the brink of tears; although I suppose the sudden shift of emotions was possibly also responsible.

Our maítre d’ brought us to our table. In an already exclusive VIP spot, we were somehow escorted to an even more VIP area. I was in shock. “What the hell am I doing here? How is this happening?” I thought. William held my hand gently as he took me to my seat. The maítre d’ handed us the wine list. I looked at it like a toddler might look at an algebra textbook. William confidently said, “Duck Thorn, Napa Valley, 2017 Merlot.” “Excellent choice, sir.” the maítre d’ responded. I catch a glimpse of the price. “$510 for a bottle of wine?!” I thought. Out loud I said, “I’m confused, I thought merlot was the… bad wine.” I immediately regretted saying anything. I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. William laughed, “No, no. A lot of people think that because of that stupid Sideways movie. Merlot is my favorite, hands down.”

Our server brought our wine and uncorked the bottle. He poured a small amount into my glass and stared at me. William was also staring at me. I waited. “It seems rude for me to sip it before he’s served, right?”, I thought. After what seemed like an eternity, William smiled and said, “He wants you to take a sip and let him know you like it.” I took a sip. It tasted… good. I nodded and smiled as I thought, “What the hell do I know, anyways?” The waiter poured us each a glass and left the bottle on the table. We clinked our wine glasses together oh so gently. I had never felt a glass like this. It was so thin that it looked like it could be shattered by being near a Soprano singing softly. “Cheers to finally getting to spend some time together.” William said, while smiling at me so warmly it made me almost melt right there and then. I smiled a massive smile. “How did this happen? What did I do to deserve this? I don’t even care. I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can!”

I sipped my wine. Suddenly nothing made any sense. For a brief moment everything seemed dizzy, then it all faded to black. The restaurant, William, my wine, my dress, the chandeliers, and the music all disappeared as if they were a bubble on the tip of a needle. I looked around frantically. I was back in my bed, in my dark room. Lying next to me was whatever loser I brought home from the bar last night snoring away. I carefully got out of my bed so as not to wake him and made my way to the kitchen.

I found the last clean glass in the house. It was a coffee mug with a Fleur-de-lis on it from my last trip to New Orleans. I put it under the 5 liter box of wine I share daily with my roommates. I filled my mug to the brim and sat down at the table. I stared at the wall and tried to relive the moment that had only existed in my imagination, just for one more minute.

Maybe one day it will come true. Maybe one day I’ll get to experience that in real life…

A girl can dream, right?