1-Grocery Shopping in New York City

The worst part about being single in New York City is grocery shopping. You only have two hands to carry a week’s worth of groceries, and it’s never enough food to last a week. Married couples might eat for two, but at least they have a man to haul the heavy bags home. My best friend, Nicky Webb noticed this every week, and she always whined about it. Maybe she should just settle, she’d say, at least she would have someone to carry her milk and eggs.

Nicky never dressed up for the grocery store, but on this particular trip, she definitely wished she had because it was a trip that forever changed her life. Nicky was in the produce section, sifting through tomatoes, when a handsome man dressed in a dapper suit started feeling apples next to her. Nicky --never one to miss an opportunity to talk to a good-looking man-- seized the moment with pride. Deep inside, she knew he would be flattered by her bold approach.

“How do they feel?” Nicky asked. It was an exceptional approach today because Nicky was wearing sweat pants, with no makeup, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Still, her natural beauty was evident.

Without hesitation, the stranger replied, “You have to love a good pair of apples.”

“Well, you know what Freud said about apples,” her coy smile was luring him in, and Nicky knew he was about to bite.

“Yes, I do remember that from college. They represent” but he stopped, abruptly. “Nicky? Oh my God, I can’t believe it.”

Nicky’s mouth stopped in mid-sentence, still open, unsure if her ears were registering the right message to the brain. Did she hear him right? Did this handsome eligible bachelor really know who she was?

God, please don’t let this be a dream, she thought, please, I beg you.

Then he touched her wrist and Nicky realized this wasn’t a dream because she felt goose-bumps all over her body.

“It’s Wade. Wade Tankersley. Freshman year in college. Cornell. You remember me,” he said.

If Wade’s smile was any bigger, his ears would have touched his mouth. He looked like a 7-year-old on Christmas morning with a batch of unwrapped presents in front of him. “We were in the same study group for three years.”

Nicky’s memory slowly came alive as Wade’s features started to reveal a sense of familiarity. His eyes looked wiser now. He must have been a virgin then, Nicky thought. And he certainly didn’t have those muscles. The Wade that Nicky knew wore thick glasses.

Nicky didn’t say anything back. She just looked deep into his hazel eyes, trying to figure out how the little nerd blossomed into a George Clooney look-a-like. Actually, Wade was better than George, Nicky thought, because he was 10 years younger and two inches taller.

“I do remember you.” It was only four words, but Nicky said them so slowly, she thought she sounded retarded. “How could I forget our all night study sessions over coffee? I could never understand why you wanted to study with me, because God knows, I never read the material.”

Nicky reached out to give her long-lost friend a tight embrace. She touched his clean-shaven face with affection. He had grown up.

“You were always there for me,” Nicky said. “After I got dumped senior year, you sent me flowers. I’ll never forget that.”

“I also sent you flowers when you got dumped junior and sophomore years too.” he said proudly. Wade and Nicky were laughing together, reliving their mutual college memory from a time of pure innocence.

“I still can’t get over how you changed,” Nicky said. “It’s like, Clark Kent-Superman.”

“Where are you working now?” Wade asked.

Nicky never liked this question. She found it made men uncomfortable when they discovered she worked for a prestigious, international marketing firm. It made them even more nervous when they learned she was a high-level marketing manager, pulling in six-figures. She always tried to downplay the company and title.

“I’m in marketing,” she said.

“That’s great,” Wade said, enthusiastically. “I’m in marketing. Which company do you work for?”

Nicky had mastered the art of steering the conversation into a different a direction without you even realizing it, but Wade was too quick on his feet to let this happen to him.

“Global Images,” she said, waiting for a shift in body language, that insecure move Nicky had seen so many times when she revealed her status in life. Only with Wade, it never came.

“That is awesome,” Wade said, giving her a congratulatory embrace. “They are a very well-respected firm and I have no doubt you are on a the fast-track to be their youngest partner.”

No one would ever describe Nicky as humble, but she shrugged her shoulders like the job was just any another assignment.

“What about you?” she asked. “What are you doing now?”

“I’m a Vice President at Citibank.”

“No way, I bank at Citibank. It’s practically my second home. I’m there three times a week,” she said. “And I love your commercials. So funny, so funny.”

“Well, I didn’t have anything to do with that commercial campaign, but I’ll let our advertising team know that it’s working,” he said, as he straightened his tie. “You know, I always hoped I would run into you before I got married. I always wanted a chance to tell you how funny and witty and absolutely gorgeous you were in my eyes. I had the biggest crush on you.”

Nicky nodded and listened closely. She didn’t dare interrupt. She knew he had a crush on her in college, but what he thought now mattered most.

“You were always so confident, even in college. You made us all laugh, and every guy wanted to sit next to you in class, just for the odd chance that you might need to borrow a pen.”

“Aw, you are so sweet. Go on. I’m listening,” Nicky said, patting him on the back.

“You know, I’m getting married next month,” Wade said.

You could have heard the refrigerator in the dairy section turn on. It was that quiet. This can’t be, Nicky thought. You just met me, only, she didn’t think it; Nicky said it out loud.

“What? You can’t be getting married. I mean, you just ran into me,” Nicky’s voice cracked at a higher pitch.

“I know, and it took such a long time to get over you, but after you ignored me for several years, I decided you were too good for me,” he said.

“But I’m not too good for you.”

“I know that now, but it took me a long time to discover that. You have no idea how big of a crush I had on you,” Wade expressed his thoughts with such vulnerability, which made him even more attractive to Nicky.

“Well, how long have you known her? You can’t rush into marriage these days. You know, divorce rate, 53 percent,” The words were spilling out of Nicky’s mouth faster than her mind could comprehend. “How long have you two known each other? Where did you meet?”

“We met at a Christmas party three years ago,” he said.

“Don’t you think that’s a little soon to be popping the question? I mean, three years, c’mawn.” Nicky said, dismissively.

Wade laughed and gently touched her wrist. Nicky didn’t move her hand.

“See, always so quick on your toes,” he said.

“Do you love her?”

“I do. I really do love her,” Wade said. “I couldn’t imagine my life without her. I want to grow old with her. I want to share a patio with her and drink pink lemonade as the sun sets. I want to see my children through her. I want to keep her from harm and hold her when she cries. I want to.”

Nicky cut him off.

“I get it,” she whispered. Nicky put her hand on her heart and touched Wade’s heart with her other hand. “I really get it. I’m happy for you.”

Nicky could see unconditional love, coming out of his mouth, and she was jealous, envious and yes, even happy for him.

“You are so cute, and she is the luckiest woman in the world to have found you,” she said.

“No, I’m the luckiest man.”

Nicky rolled her eyes.

“Enough with the cheese. I’m getting nauseous.” Nicky pretended to put a finger down her throat.

“Hey, in one month, we’re going to be in Sunday’s New York Times Wedding Section. Do you ever read that?”

“Sunday wedding times? No, I’m a New York Post kind of girl,” Nicky looked down at the tomatoes and pretended to sift through them. She was a bad actress. “I didn’t even know the Times had a wedding section.”

“You know what?” Wade said. “You probably know my fiancée. Tara McBride. She went to school with us, but she was in the journalism program.”

Nicky racked her brain. She seriously couldn’t remember Tara McBride, but then again, with the exception of her close friends, Nicky rarely remembered girls longer than a week.

“I can’t recall her,” Nicky said.

“Well, pick up the paper that Sunday and you’ll remember her when you see her. You know, we would love it if you attended our wedding. It would mean a lot to me, for us.”

Wade pulled his business card out of his wallet and handed it to Nicky.

“Email me your details, and I’ll make sure you get an invitation. It will be a reunion for all of us,” he said. “I’d be upset if you missed it.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t want that now,” Nicky blurted out sarcastically. “I’ll email you tomorrow.”

They hugged and said goodbye.

On her walk home, Nicky kept running their encounter back and forth through her head. How could she have been so stupid, she thought. Wade was a great catch, and she missed it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the weather made her walk home even more unbearable. The rain was pouring down and Nicky didn’t have an umbrella. She was now soaking wet, head-to-toe, and the groceries were getting heavier by the block, but even if she did bring an umbrella, she couldn’t use it. Both hands were overstretched with seven plastic grocery bags, one of which was about to slip onto the wet concrete.

Luckily she was only a few blocks from her apartment. But then, came the next overwhelming task: grabbing the keys from her purse, unlocking the door, opening the door, all without dropping a bag.

Where was her Wade, she thought?