New Year's Party

"I cannot believe I let Sam drag me to this party. He left me as soon as we got here," I cannot help but mumble as I slowly and carefully walk around the room, trying to avoid running into people. After a while of trying to find Sam with no luck, I just give up and decide to try and enjoy this night, which means finding the dessert table. It takes me a little time, but I end up finding it and cannot help but gasp at the number of sweets on it of all kinds.

"I almost don't know what to get," I say as I start slowly walking down the table, looking at all the treats. I am about to grab this delicious-looking cream puff when something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye, a giant piece of chocolate cake. The cream puff appears to be filled with a whipped icing and cut strawberries. It has a light chocolate drizzle over the top of it. The cake on the other hand is a three-layer chocolate cake with what appears to be a chocolate mousse in between the layers. The cake is not iced but has a chocolate ganache drizzle and chocolate shavings on top. I quickly decide the cake looks better and reach for it, but as I am about to grab it, another hand is reaching for it as well.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say, pulling my hand back. I look up to see a man around my age standing there.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. Go ahead, you can have it," the man says in a deep voice.

"Oh, no. I can grab something else. You can take it," I say, smiling at the man as I motion to the rest of the table.

"Why don't we split it?" he asks suddenly, surprising me.

"Uhm," I say, hesitating because I do not know this man at all. After a moment I decided to just go ahead and do it. It is not like I am going to see this man ever again after this night. "Sure."

"Should we cut it and put it on two plates or just sit somewhere and share the plate?"

"I don't see any spare plates, so we should just find somewhere and split it."

We do find an extra fork and take the slice of cake to an open bar table. After he sets the slice down, he pulls my chair out for me before sitting down himself.

"Ladies first," he says, pushing the slice of chocolate cake slightly towards me. I smile at him before taking a bite, making sure to get everything in one bite.

"This is so good. You have got to try it," I say, smiling at the man. He smiles back at me before getting his bite.

"Oh, wow. This is good."

"I am so glad we decided to split this."

"I am too. So, what is a pretty lady like you doing here all alone?"

"Well, I came with a friend, but he left me alone pretty quickly to hang out with some of his other friends."

"If I had come with someone as pretty as you, I would not have left you alone." I cannot stop the small blush from forming

"Are you here alone?"

"I came with my brother. He ran off with a pretty lady a while ago. I don't normally come to these parties, but he begged me to."

"I know how you feel. I don't usually come to these either. I would rather be at home with a good book."

"What do you do in your free time other than reading?"

"I'm an artist. I do photography as well as make stickers to sell. What about you?"

"I honestly work all the time. That is one of the reasons my brother dragged me here. He is constantly saying I need to relax more."

"Sam is the same way with me. Even when I am creating art, I'm working since I sell what I make."

"Is that your only job?"

"No, it is not. I work in an ad agency as a photographer and photo editor. What about you?"

"I am a manager for a restaurant chain located here. They are the ones that catered this party."

"I don't think I could work around food all day. I would be too tempted to eat it all."

"I would be too, which is why I hide in my office for a good portion of the day."

As we are sitting and talking about some completely random things, I start to feel glad that Sam had dragged me here. We continue talking up to the point until we hear people start counting down. I turn towards the nearest TV, which means I can no longer see the man, to watch the ball drop. The room gets louder as everyone counts down, and I smile when it finally hits midnight and everyone cheers. I can hear fireworks going off outside through the open balcony doors. I turn towards the man only to find his seat empty and a napkin sitting on top of our empty plate. I grab the napkin when I notice writing on it.

"I had fun tonight. Thank you for keeping me company," I read out loud. I smile before carefully folding the napkin and sliding it into my jacket pocket.