Ètienne Benoit

~ It Happened

"Winter, you've been waiting for years, but honey, there's no such thing as the perfect guy".

I stared blankly back at my best friend's face, which was creased with worry, and slowly blinked.

Jack and I have had this conversation more times than I can count already and I was tired of being told the same thing over again. It almost felt as painful as when this bully at my elementary school told me that my mother didn't love me. It hurt bad.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat and clutched my mug of hot chocolate for dear life.

Being thirty and single was not part of my plan, so far nothing had gone according to my plan.

If everything had gone according to my plan, I would have met 'the one' at twenty three, we would've dated for three years before he proposed as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. We would have welcomed our first child into the world a year later. If everything had gone according to my plan, I would have been on my third child right now and my perfect husband and I would still be hopelessly in love.

Now of course, I was thirty and have never been in a relationship, I lived with my cat, Miss.Purr, in a secluded small house in the middle of nowhere and taught chemistry to a bunch of teens.

My plan failed me.

"Okay," I choked out somewhat reluctantly. "I'll say yes to the next guy who asks me out".

That was probably really stupid of me, but I was tired of being single and who knows? Stupid might be good for me.

Jack's eyes lit and she beamed at me, "Perfect," she squealed.

I smiled a wobbly smile in return, hoping and praying I hadn't made a mistake.

Funny how it happened one week later, while I was covering for Jack at her book store.

The evening was dragging on. I only had an hour left before I could close ship and go home to Miss, Purr who definitely missed me. I mean, there's no doubt about it, the cat loved me...I think.

I didn't look up as I finished putting in the register the money from the previous customer, but once I did, I'm pretty sure my heart stop beating.

That was when I knew. That was when I knew Jack was wrong. There was the perfect guy for me. "The one," and he was standing right in front of me.

"Good After-," I trailed off and my eyes widened at the vision of beauty standing in front of me. He was tall, extremely tall and he had perfect thick dark brown hair that was slicked back, not a strand out of place. His eyes, they were a simple icy blue, but they held so much. No not pain, agony and or even torture, something else...something worse. His eyes gave away practically his whole persona. They were cold and guarded. His lips were a shade or two darker than the average guys lips and they were thin and set in a straight line. He was dressed exquisitely which, to be honest you didn't see much of these days. You can tell he makes a good living for himself. From his tan Italian leather loafers, his pressed dark stylish trousers and to his rich crème blazer, the man had power and wealth oozing off of him.

I though I was in love.

Then he opened his mouth. His voice was deep, and elegant, just like his appearance. "Sortir avec moi," he said in what I presumed to be French.

I took Spanish and Latin in high school. I was thinking it might have been a good idea to take French instead.

An unsettling though sunk in, what if he didn't speak English?

I squinted in confusion and waited for him to translate the phrase for me.

His beautiful eyes twinkled at my confusion and his perfect mouth stretched into a blinding smile. A smile I was sure didn't appear often.

"Sortir avec moi," He repeated the same sentence just a bit slower than before.

My fog of confusion remained.

"He's asking you out," A teenage girl waiting in line behind him gushed.

"W-what? you must be mistaken," I mustered in shock. My eyes flickered away from the teenager who shrugged at me.

"She wasn't wrong," The man said in a deep voice that was laced with a French accent.

Oh my.

At that point my hands were shaking, my heart was beating so loud I bet he could hear it and my eyes were wide with shock and confusion.

"Y-you're a-asking me out?" I stuttered out in bewilderment.

The man responded without hesitating, a amused smile on his beautiful face, "Yes belle, go out with me".

"B-but I'm-I'm-" I stuttered, at lost for words

Guys like him didn't go for girls like me. It just wasn't possible. I was plain and he's exquisite. It simply didn't happen.

His eyes slightly darken but his smile remained intact, "Breathtakingly beautiful? Yes, you are". He arched an brow as if daring me to argue with his words.

My face flushed in embarrassment and I looked away.

"Excellent," He said, "does eight tonight work for you?"

"Um...Yes," I whispered still somewhat dazed.

I couldn't believe what was happening. I've been waiting for that moment for years and now that it was actually happening, it didn't seem so real.

He slipped a sleek black phone out of his trousers pocket and looked up at me expectingly.

I furrowed my brow and blinked in confusion.

The man grinned and softly chucked to himself, "Digits belle".

"Oh, right," I muttered, still staring at him.

He raised his perfectly arched brows at me.

I blinked in embarrassment then quickly tallied off my number.

"Alright, Belle, Tonight," He said firmly, before throwing me one last dazzling smile and strutting away.

Yes strutting. A man that good looking didn't just walk. He strutted and I watched every second of it until he turned a corner.

It wasn't until after I closed shop and started my short walk home, that I realized I never got his name.

Thank you for reading
Vote and Comment please
-MaDDzz_Pen