Shopping For Wine

Dee slammed the door to her condo in frustration. She had let herself be talked into yet another blind date. This time it was someone that her best friend Jenny's husband John thought she would be great with. Dee had reluctantly told Jenny that her husband could give his friend Kyle her number. When Kyle called he suggested they meet at a pub near her shop on Church Street. She couldn't leave the shop until 8 and he said that was perfect. She arrived at the pub to find him already there drinking with his teammates to celebrate their win in the softball game they had just finished. He joined her at a table, sweaty, still in his uniform and continued to engage with his friends while he chatted with her. And then he asked if she wanted to go back to his apartment. They'd spent half an hour together and he asked her back to his apartment. What in the world made Jenny think this was someone she'd be interested in? She called her and Jenny answered saying, "Dee I thought you were meeting Kyle after you closed tonight."

"Jenny he was the worst, the absolute worst of all the guys you've had me meet!"

"You say that about every one of them. And he was John's idea anyway, he thought you would really hit it off."

"God then he just doesn't know me at all." She gave her the gory details and Jenny agreed that it sounded terrible. When the conversation ended, Dee poured herself a glass of wine, picked up the latest copy of Seven Days and went out on her deck to unwind. She didn't think she was a snob but at 38 and the owner of a boutique that had been voted best in the city, she wanted more than someone who thought it was okay to meet a potential date in his softball uniform. Really, she was okay on her own but her married friends kept finding guys who would be 'perfect' for her. Why did coupled people have such a hard time understanding that single people can be happy.

She sipped her wine and opened the newspaper. It was a free weekly paper that leaned a little to the left politically which was appropriate for Burlington, Vermont. It featured in-depth articles on timely topics, ran movie, book, and restaurant reviews and most important to Dee, had a great advertising department. She flipped the pages looking for her newest ad and was pleased when she found it. The boutique's vibe was portrayed perfectly. She continued thumbing through the paper pausing to look at the restaurant reviews and then came to the "I Spy" column. It amused her to read the pleas of people trying to connect with someone they'd had a very brief encounter with. She giggled as she read them until she came to the one captioned, "Shopping for Wine." It read, "We reached for the same bottle of Merlot and I felt a spark when our fingers touched. When our eyes met I felt it again. I let you have the bottle and I've been wondering about you ever since. You were wearing a black Canada Goose full length coat and I had on a red North Face jacket. Maybe we could meet and share a glass of wine? When: Friday, February 26, 2021. You: Woman. Me: Man. #205698."

"Oh My God!" Dee gasped, "that's me he's talking about." She remembered it exactly as described and yes, she had felt a spark when their fingers touched. He had black hair, blue eyes, a well shaped beard and a rugged build. She had wondered about him after she left the store. God, it was over two months ago since it's now mid-May. What was she going to do with this? She had no idea and she needed to go to sleep.

She tossed and turned all night thinking about the ad. In the morning she called the paper to see how to respond and was given the telephone number affiliated with it. She still wasn't sure what she wanted to do and she thought about it until the weekend. On Saturday she wasn't due at the shop until early afternoon so mid-morning she dialed the number Seven Days had provided. It went to voicemail and she left her well-rehearsed message.

"Hi, my name is Deidre. In the winter I wear a Canada Goose coat and I shop at City Market. I think you might be looking for me. I'll be available to answer my phone until 12:45 today if you want to call. After that we'll probably be caught in an endless voicemail loop."

Brett was looking forward to a quiet weekend. He was a lineman for a local utility and it had been a busy week as several storms had rolled through causing power outages. He'd already been to the gym this morning and was on his second cup of coffee when he noticed he had a voicemail. He listened to Dee's message and murmured, "Holy shit, she responded!" He'd been thinking about their encounter for more than two months and finally decided he'd place an ad in Seven Days, the hippie, weekly newspaper that ran those kinds of things. He hadn't really expected a response. He didn't want to get stuck in an endless voicemail loop so he called her number.

When she answered he asked if it was Deidre and she replied that it was. "My name is Brett, I wear a red North Face jacket when I'm shopping at City Market and yes, I think I am looking for you."

"My friends call me Dee."

"Hi Dee, what happens to you at 12:45, do you turn into a pumpkin?"

"Actually it's the coach that turns back into a pumpkin, not the girl. But my story is that I have to go to work."

"Work on a Saturday? That's too bad."

"I own a boutique on Church Street. I work at least a little bit almost every day. What do you do?"

He told her about his job and said he was not unfamiliar with weekend work. "So you remember our encounter at the Market?"

"I do. It was quite a while ago."

"I know. I couldn't stop thinking about it but I didn't have any idea how to find you. I looked for you every time I went shopping. So I placed that ad and I'm amazed that we're speaking."

"I have to ask, are you single?"

"Yeah, divorced eight years, no kids. You?"

"Never married and a couple of years out from my last relationship."

He got a little flirty, "Hard to believe someone as beautiful as you is single."

"It is, isn't it? Not for lack of my friends trying to fix me up. Do you play softball?"

"Softball? No. My job's too unpredictable to commit to something like that. Why?"

"My last blind date was a softball player, it didn't go well." She laughed as she said this. "Where do you live?"

"I have a condo in the North End. You?"

"I have a condo on the waterfront."

"Nice, so you must be able to walk to your shop. What time are you done tonight?"

"We close at nine but I have a very competent manager and can leave whenever I want."

"Would you like to go out for that glass of wine tonight? Maybe around 8 or 8:30? Or even 9:00 if that would be better for you."

"I think 8:30 will work. Where do you want to meet?"

He named a bar that she knew was quiet, intimate, and not far from the boutique. They ended the call and she headed to work.

Brett hadn't gotten the name of her shop but he decided he would go to every store on Church Street until he found hers to they could walk to the bar together. He was excited to be meeting her, hopefully the expectations he had built up since February wouldn't be dashed. He knew she'd be dressed well since she was coming straight from work so he put on good khakis and a collared shirt. He arrived downtown around eight and went in five stores before he came to hers. He saw her through the window helping a customer. He waited for the customer to leave before he entered. She recognized him immediately and smiled, "I thought we were meeting at the bar."

"I didn't want you to have to walk alone. I'll look around until you're ready."

"Give me about five minutes." She conferred briefly with her manager and then told him they could leave. As they walked she said, "You do realize I walk home alone every night."

"Yeah I figured that but I wanted to see your shop and I thought it would be nice to walk together. How long have you been open? You've received awards haven't you?"

"It's eight years old, I opened it when I was 30 after working for a couple of other places. The first year we were voted best new store on Church Street and the past two years we've gotten the best in the city award."

"Very impressive. I've always wanted to date an older woman, I'm 35, but very mature." He smiled at her.

She laughed, "You've got it all over my last date, the softball player."

When the waiter came to their table Brett asked if she was okay with Merlot.

"Of course, it's what brought us together." The waiter brought a bottle and filled both their glasses. She raised hers and said, "To City Market."

He touched his glass to hers adding, "And 'I Spy'."