Ok, not exactly, but close. Here is how we met - as I know it...

One Wednesday evening in July 2001, after unsuccessfully trying to convince anyone to go out for a beer in my beloved New York, I decided to do laundry. As I was completeing my adventure, I received a phone call from a good friend of mine from Chicago, Sujal. As he proceeded to ask what I was doing this fine evening, I got confused - he lives in Chicago - a full 800 miles away, and therefore he couldn't be calling me to go out, could he?

"No," he explained, "I'm in Chicago - but I have a friend who is stuck in New York overnight. Would you mind taking them out for a drink?" Never one to turn down a drink, I said sure and asked him how do I get a hold of his friend. He responded that he would talk to the friend, and have them call me. About 10 minutes later, I receive a phone call, and the voice on the other line is a girl - odd, I think, as Sujal never mentioned anything about a girl, but once again, I was not one to turn down a drink, so we discussed where to meet, and what time. After unsuccessfully trying to ask her what kind of place she would like to go to, I made a few suggestion. As a person who prefers bars to the standard New York lounge, I made suggestions accordingly - top of my list, as always, is Bull McCabe's, the best bar in all of New York.

I walk over to Bull McCabes (it was conveniently a block away), get a beer, start watching the Mets loose, and about a half an hour later, we meet. I notice that she's pretty, and during the first 10 minutes of the conversation I get the feel that she has "somebody" in her life. Our first thread of conversation revolves around how she got "stuck" in New York. She proceeds to explain that she got stuck in New York that night, because of rain in the Midwest. She relates that she is on her way to a wedding in Charlotte of a friend of hers, and her flight, although scheduled to depart from Chicago to Cleveland, and continue on to Charlotte, was re-routed to Newark because of bad weather in Cleveland.

As the plane arrived in New York, the passengers were told that they could either catch a really late flight to Charlotte, or spend the night in New York, and catch a flight in the morning. As she has many relatives in the area, and was not on a strict schedule, she decided to spend the night, she related. Sunita said that she decided to visit her cousin in Midtown; but when she arrived, she found her cousin busy studying for a test, and now bored, she eventually got a hold of me. I proceed to have fun talking to a wonderful person, with stories flowing in both directions. I find out that she lives in Chicago, that she teaches kindergarten, and she's got a big vacation planned to Greece. We discuss our separate ambitions to see the world, and as we talk, I become fascinated by her travels and experiences. At around 2am, not at all thinking about the fact that I have to be at work the next morning, she notes the time, and suggests that we leave. I walk her to a cab, and she proceeds to go back to her cousin's apartment, allowing her to get some sleep before continuing her journey to Charlotte.

The next day, I get a call from Sujal, asking me how things went. Perplexed, I ask about what. He asks about my meeting with Sunita; I saw that she was nice, and I tell him that I hope she had a good time. He starts laughing, and asks if I like her - to which I respond with the obvious "she's got a boyfriend". Well, he corrects, no she doesn't. Odd, I respond, as I definitely got that feeling. Nope, he says. I promptly ask Sujal for her email address. I didn't want to bother her in Charlotte, as I knew she was there for a wedding, but if I could ship her off a note, and ask her to call me on the way back...

So the story begins..