I know some of you know this story already from reading Honey’s blog. But I just wanted to write my side of the story because I thought it would be fun for people to know how I felt at the time.

It was the middle of March in 2008, and I was about to reach the two month mark of being unemployed. I had impulsively quit a great paying job as a public auditor at the end of January, and was having difficulties finding a new job with equal pay. My parents were nagging me everyday, because they didn’t support my decision to quit. So each day that passed, they got more and more nervous, and put more and more pressure on me.

On top of that, I had an girlfriend at the time, that I felt was never going to be my future. So on one weekday morning, when I was walking outside to buy a magazine, once again, something told me to hop on a bus to take me to the Staten Island ferry to break up with her. Because I was not planning to go to the city, I was definitely not dressed for it. Because New York is such a fashion oriented place, I usually would wear something proper. But that day, I just had on a wool hoody, a houndstooth sportcoat over that, some jeans, and black Converses. In my mind, I knew what I was doing was wild, and the time was right. I didn’t want to go home and prepare, I just wanted to do it now! I was on a mission!

As I waited amongst in the crowd of people at the ferry station, I looked back for a second and immediately focused on an asian girl standing a couple feet back from me. She didn’t notice me looking, or she might have turned away. Nothing was overly special about her except that she had long jet black hair. She wasn’t tall, super thin, but she did have strong features that I found attractive. She slightly glanced at me, and I shyly turned back around.

Our story could've ended here, but it didn't!

I was not in the habit of talking to random girls on the street. I’m a shy person believe it or not, and the last thing I wanted was to be made a fool in public. So as the the gates opened and everybody uniformly marched onto the ferry, I followed as well. I always sit in the same area of the ferry. In the middle, near the bathrooms, on the left side. It was a habit I picked up from years of commuting to the city for high school.

As I sat down, I noticed that the asian girl from before sat on the opposite side of me, but a few seats down to my left. This is the middle of the day, and the ferry is not as crowded as it is during rush hour. So I was thinking, this girl could have sat anywhere, why pick a seat close to me? I became nervous, so the natural thing for me to do was to start reading that magazine. I glanced at each page and pretended to read. I would even laugh a bit under my breath to further the act. I was hoping that she saw this, and would think that I had a personality for some reason. I was nervous, remember?

I frequently glanced from the side of my left eye at her. I hoped she was looking at me, or “checking me out” as we Americans say. But she was not, or I never caught her doing so. And as the boat was reaching New York City, I knew my time with this girl was about to end. I kept telling myself: MICHAEL! Get up! Talk to her! Spark a conversation! You won’t see this girl again!

But I couldn’t. I just stared into my magazine and waited for the boat to dock. She stood up first and lined up with the other people waiting to rush off the boat. A few seconds later, when I looked up and realized the girl was gone, I quickly walked to where she was. I stood in front of her, hoping that she would notice me again.

Our story could've ended here, but it didn't!

And as the boat slowed down to dock at port, I begged and begged that something would happen. And then it did!

I felt a slight tap on my shoulder and I turned back. It was the asian girl! She apologized for being so forward, but she had to know where I got my houndstooth blazer. I could tell she was not American due to her heavy accent. She said she wanted to get one for her younger brother. I told her I got it at Uniqlo, which was pretty new to New Yorkers at the time. She said that she really liked it, and that I dressed differently than the other guys in New York.

I thanked her, gave a nervous smile, and stared straight forward again. Our story could've ended here, but it didn't!

There was a long pause, which could have been only a few seconds. I sucked in my fear and asked her name and what she was doing here in America. She told me her name was Kate and that she was studying at FIT, which led me to believe she was younger than me. I foolishly told her that I would be able to take her around the city if she was ever free. I said I was an excellent tour guide, hoping that she would take my offer, and this would not be the last time I saw her. We exchanged numbers at that point and went our separate ways.

Our story could've ended here, but it didn't!

I texted her the following day. But I didn’t hear anything back. Only two days later, I randomly receive a reply text from her. I was overjoyed! I didn’t know think she would still have remembered that random guy on the ferry. She was an attractive girl, and probably met tons of guys on a daily basis. I asked if she had AIM (thats what we used at the time) so we could chat online. She said she used MSN which I didn't have.

So we talked via email for awhile.  I would write one email and she would quickly reply a few minutes or seconds later. And then one day I asked her what she was doing that Sunday. She said she was free and could meet me for lunch.

And you know what? We ended up taking the ferry together countless times after that. But this time, it was side by side.

( That's what the inside of the ferry use to look like. Scary right?)

And that’s how the story began.

I always wondered:

What if I wasn’t jobless on that day?

What if we never saw each other among all the people at the station?

What if I didn’t wear that jacket?

What if she didn’t have the courage to come talk to me?

What if I didn’t have courage to continue the conversation and ask her name?

What if I didn’t move on impulse and went on that bus?

What if I was on a different ferry?

Would I have never met Kate?

Would you guys even know of me today? Would you guys even be reading this?

Our story could've ended here....

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