Brian's POV
After a day of shooting, Sal had dragged me to Target with him. He had come up with some scheme to return his broken Nintendo Wii, and get a brand new one. I was supposed to help him out, but I got tired of listening to him argue with the Target employees. So, I decided to wander over to the video game section, and see if they had anything of interest to me. As I came down the aisle, I accidentally bumped into a woman, knocking her to the floor.
"Oh, shit. I'm so sorry. Let me help you," I said.
I reached my hand out to help her up. She took my hand, looking up at me with these beautiful green eyes. I was mesmerized. When she stood up, and I got a full view of her, I was at a loss for words. She had this long flowing brunette hair. I also noticed some tattoos on her arms. I have always thought girls with tattoos were really sexy. Seeing her tattoos gave me a strong desire to explore the rest of her body. I suddenly realized I had been staring at her for an uncomfortable amount of time. I should probably say something...
"Sorry about that. My name is Brian, by the way. Brian Quinn. Some people call me Q though," I introduced myself awkwardly.
"Don't worry about it. I'm okay. I'm Jessica. Most people call me Jess though," she said smiling.
"So what do you have there?" I asked.
She had a video game in her basket, but I couldn't tell which one it was. She reached into the basket and pulled out the latest WWE video game, which had Randy Orton on the cover.
"You're not a wrestling fan, are you? You must be buying that for someone else? A boyfriend maybe?" I asked.
Certainly, a beautiful woman like her wouldn't be interested in wrestling, right? She must have been buying it for someone else. Maybe her boyfriend... Because why wouldn't she be taken?
"I don't have a boyfriend..." she said. I couldn't believe it. I tried to keep my cool, hoping that I would be able to ask her out.
"This is for me. John Cena is my favorite," she said, pointing to the man on the cover, who definitely wasn't John Cena. Maybe she has no idea what she's talking about, and she doesn't know anything about WWE.
"That's not..." I started to explain, but she cut me off.
"I know, I know. It's Randy Orton. But what do I know, right? Cause girls can't like wrestling," she said.
I stood there, speechless. She seemed serious at first. I was worried that I offended her. Great job Brian.
"I...I didn't mean to..." I tried to apologize.
She burst out laughing.
"I'm only kidding with you. You looked so scared there for a second," she said, as she continued to laugh.
"So you really like WWE?" I asked, still a little surprised.
She nodded and told me that she had been a fan since she was a child. We stood there for a few minutes, chatting about wrestling. We talked about some of our favorite matches, and favorite wrestlers. Mine was Rowdy Roddy Piper, hers was Stone Cold Steve Austin. It certainly seemed to fit her. She gave off that 'I don't give a fuck' attitude. As we were talking, I noticed her staring at me intently. But not in the same way I had been staring at her...
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"It's just...You look very familiar. I just can't put my finger on it. Have we met before?" she asked.
"I doubt it. I'm almost positive I would've remembered you." I said. How could I possibly have forgotten a girl like that?
"But I could swear I've seen you before," she insisted, "Are you on TV or something?"
"Well, not yet. I've been working on this TV show with my three best friends from high school. But it hasn't come out yet. It's called Impractical Jokers," I explained.
Her eyes grew wider, "That's it! There's a huge poster right by my office. I walk by it every single day on my way to work. I can't believe I didn't recognize you earlier! When does the show come out? It's probably on the giant poster I keep walking by, but clearly I haven't been paying attention to my surroundings," she joked.
"It premieres December 18th at 10 P.M. on TruTV," I answered.
"Well, I'll definitely be watching," she said, "It's not too often that people from Staten Island get a TV show. You guys should be proud," she said.
"Ehhh, I don't know. I appreciate that. But it probably won't last too long anyway. I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm certainly not quitting my day job," I explained.
I appreciated that she was excited for me, but I didn't want to get her (or my own) hopes up that this would be some majorly successful television show. The truth is, I was just happy to hang out with my friends, and I was grateful for whatever the network had given us.
"What's your day job?" She asked.
"I'm a fireman. I work at the firehouse over on Richmond Avenue," I told her. I assumed that would be less impressive than being on TV. Most of the time when people find out I'll be on TV they treat me differently. But the truth is, I'm still the same regular guy from Staten Island.
"A fireman? Wow. That's cool. I had an uncle who used to be a fireman, so I respect your service," she said. She seemed more impressed by me being a fireman than me being on TV.
"I appreciate that. So what do you do?" I asked her. I was worried that I was talking about myself too much, and I wanted to get to know a little more about her.
"I'm a venture capitalist. Basically, I invest my company's money in small start-up businesses and try to help them grow," she explained. It's a good thing she explained it because I had no idea what a venture capitalist was.
"So, it's like Shark Tank?" I asked, probably sounding like an idiot, talking to this intelligent woman.
"Kind of. It's not as exciting as the show. But I still find it interesting."
We continued chatting for a little bit. Asking her out was completely in the back of my mind at the moment. She was incredibly beautiful. But beyond that, she was so easy to talk to. She was witty, sarcastic, and smart. But she also seemed like a genuinely kind person. I felt like there was an instant connection and chemistry between us. Then I remembered what she said earlier: she didn't have a boyfriend. So, she was fair game, right?
"So, how can a beautiful woman like you be single?" I asked.
I made her blush, and she said, "Thank you for the compliment. But who said I was single?"
Wait. What?
"But you don't have a boyfriend..." I said, confused. I looked down at her hands. No ring. So, no fiancé. Or husband. Just as I was trying to figure it out, another woman began calling for Jess.
"Jess! There you are! Who's this?" a blonde woman asked. WOMAN. This woman was pretty, but certainly not as beautiful as Jess was.
"OHHH..." I said, realizing that Jess was dating a woman. How did I not figure that out?
"Brian, this is my girlfriend Katie. Katie, this is Brian. He's a wrestling fan," Jess said, introducing us.
Katie rolled her eyes when Jess mentioned wrestling. "You like all that crap too? It's so fake."
"Yeah, cause the Housewives are completely legit, right? That's NEVER staged?" Jess teased.
"Whatever," Katie mumbled. I felt that Katie instantly disliked me. She kept glaring at me.
"Speaking of wrestling, I usually have some people over my house to watch the pay-per-views, and Survivor Series is coming up. You should stop by. Both of you," I said.
The truth is, I almost never had parties for the pay-per-views. Once in a while, Sal and I would watch them together, but that was it. I just needed an excuse to hang out with Jess again, without it being a date. And I figured it would be less awkward if I invited her girlfriend too.
"I would love to. Why don't I give you my number, and you can text me the details?" she asked.
She offered me her number, I didn't have to ask for it. That's a good sign, right? Don't get your hopes up, Bri. Remember she's dating a woman.
"Sure," I responded. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and handed it to her so she could put her number in it.
"There you go," she said, handing it back to me. Jess was smiling, but her girlfriend wasn't. She wouldn't stop scowling at me. This was probably a good time for me to leave.
"Well, I should get back to my friend. He probably needs me. But I will see you for Survivor Series?" I asked.
"I will definitely be there," Jess confirmed, with her girlfriend still glaring at me.
I waved goodbye and starting walking away. I felt a bit defeated, but still somewhat hopeful. I found this gorgeous woman who I had a lot in common with. But, I couldn't date her. But that's okay. It doesn't mean we can't just be friends, right? As I was contemplating my situation, I found Sal.
"Dude, where did you go? I needed backup," he said.
"Sorry, buddy. I just took a little stroll around the store," I said.
"What are you smiling about?" he asked.
"Nothing. It's nothing," I said, clearly not convincingly enough.
"I know that look Q. Just tell me. I'm your best friend."
"Well, I met this girl..."
"OHHHH. I see how it is. So you ditched me to go flirt with some girl?"
"No, actually I ditched you to go look at the video games. I just happened to meet a pretty girl there."
"A pretty girl? Did you get her number?"
"Well, yes. But I can't date her."
"Why not?" he asked, just about as confused as I was a few minutes ago.
"She's dating a girl."
"Oh... I see how that could be a problem for you."
"By the way, I need to have a party for Survivor Series,"
"Why?"
"I needed to justify seeing her again," I said. I explained to Sal how Jess was interested in wrestling, and how that's how we first started bonding.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You're just going to hang out with an attractive woman that you can't date? That seems like it might end badly,"
"I can't be friends with an attractive woman? I'm not an animal. I can control myself. But it's not just looks with her. Trust me, she's a really cool girl. I think you'll like her."
"If you say so. I just don't want you getting hurt," Sal said. I appreciate his concern. But at the same time, I didn't want him judging Jess before he had met her.
"I'll be fine. I'm sure it'll all work out." I declared.