Saturday On The Town

I boarded the train to meet Ismael. It had been several months since I had seen him and wanted to reconnect. I told him to pick the time and place and I would be there. He said 10:3o at The Duplex. I was proud of myself for knowing where the bar was, even tho I had never been there before.

I arrived first, ordered a drink and waited at a table. A few minutes later, Ismael showed up with someone I didn't know. Introductions were made and we talked a bit. Michael, Ismael's ex-boyfriend, was a nice guy and easy to talk to. It makes meeting someone new so much easier when they are willing to carry on a conversation.

We had three rounds, then I bought shots. Pineapple upside-down cake with a raspberry glaze. The bartender's specialty. I recommend checking it out when you're in NYC. It didn't hurt that after those three rounds, the bartender bought the shots.

I had to use the restroom, so I met Ismael and Michael on the street. When I arrived there was a third. Ismael and Michael were talking to the guy like they knew him, and I was introduced. We chatted a bit and he flattered me with niceties, then asked if I would meet some friends of his. He said one was a future bride and she would love me. Ismael and Micheal said goodbye, and I went back into the bar with Scott.

Scott introduced me to the wedding party, and asked me to sit. It was then that I saw the deck of cards being passed around. They were trying to "Find a Man who..." One of the bridesmaids held up a card that said Find a Man who is wearing a gold chain. Nope. Mine is silver. Find a Man who has been divorced twice. Nope. Only once here. Finally, I took the deck and sorted thru it. I found some cards that applied to me and handed them back to the girl. Has an accent, hairy chest, blue eyes, and a few more. She looked at the cards, looked up and me and said, "You can rap?" She was looking at the 20 cards that did not apply to me.

Scott wanted to smoke, so I went outside with him. We talked about animals-he has a dog. And a car so he can drive his dog around. He talked about his house in the Hamptons-pretentious. I told him he looked familiar-he has been on some TV shows, but none that I've seen.

We went inside again and Scott began telling a story to the bride and her attendants. It was a story about a friend of his who was getting engaged. He said the ring cost upwards of $50,000. I asked who he was talking about, because I like to ask those questions. He said, "A friend, really a nobody." I would love to be the nobody who gets a $50,000 engagement ring.

It was nice to go out and meet someone and hang out for a while, but I decided I had had enough. Scott wasn't terribly pretentious, but I didn't want to hear about the Hamptons, and I thought that talking about another bride's rather large ring was kind of rude. I would have a drink with Scott again, but for this night, I was done. I told Scott I was heading out and thanked him for the drink.

A night that was supposed to be a quiet drink with a friend, turned into being part of a bachelorette party and a late night. It was another fun night in the City.