Improbable

On my flight home for Thanksgiving, I sat a seat over from a cute girl named Rae who was around my age. We eventually chatted, and I learned she studied art history at the University of Washington, she was from California, and she was going home for the holiday too. I was gauging our conversation and toying with the idea of asking for her number, but I chickened out and figured I could find her online later. We parted ways at the Sacramento airport, and I wondered whether I would regret not seizing the day right then and there.

Turns out I regretted it. I looked for her on Facebook, but I could only search the Seattle network and not the University of Washington one, since I wasn’t a student there, and I came up with nothing. Not wanting to feel like a stalker, I gave up, and resigned myself to learning a lesson about missed opportunities.

A few weeks later, another Cal Poly student, Nate, interviewed at Microsoft here in Seattle for a summer internship. Nate and I have a mutual friend, Michelle, who reminded Nate I was here. Nate and I got together the Saturday morning after his Friday interview, and we went to Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. We said goodbye in the early afternoon, but he called me sometime later to say that his flight had been cancelled until the next morning. We arranged to meet for dinner that night and afterward meet at the Whiskey Bar some people he had met Friday night.

Nate introduced me to Hallie, a Microsoft concierge he met during his interview on Friday, and who had brought him along to a party she was going to that night. I kept in touch with Hallie, who works in a building close to mine, and I’ve hung out with her and her friends several times since.

The night of the Superbowl, after it was all over and I had returned home, I looked at Hallie’s Facebook profile, which I hadn’t had a chance to do yet. And there, lo and behold, was a comment from a girl named Rae. I clicked on her profile link, thinking, What are the odds that this is the girl I met? And it was!

In case you lost track, to reconnect with Rae: Nate had to get an interview with Microsoft; Michelle had to remind Nate I was here; Nate had to meet Hallie; Hallie had to invite Nate, a total stranger, to a party; Nate and I had to connect; Nate’s flight had to be cancelled; Nate, Hallie, and I had to reconnect; Hallie and I had to become friends; Rae had to comment on Hallie’s profile; and I had to see her comment before it disappeared. Improbable.

Hallie sadly informed me Rae had a boyfriend, but I didn’t mind that; I knew she was studying abroad soon anyway. More than anything else, I was excited to find her again after feeling regret for not pursuing her. I exchanged a few messages with her, and she ate sushi with me and my other friends on my birthday.

Also, through my friend Dan I met another cute girl who has a boyfriend and will soon be traveling abroad. One more girl like that and I’ll start to think I’m cursed.