Something magical. I’m now a believer in the saying that it happens when you least expect it. One of my favorite quotes is, “Life is like a butterfly. You can chase it or let it come to you.”

It was early May and I was about to go to Chicago on my first Manager’s Retreat. I had just gotten promoted at work and was so excited. My energy was on the highest levels and I felt on top of the world. I had deleted my dating apps a few weeks prior and didn’t even miss them. I decided it was time to focus on my job. I didn’t need or want a man anymore. I went to this retreat with the mindset that I would meet and hang out with managers I wouldn’t normally get the chance to talk to. There were about 120 people and it was a very enriching week. I met managers from Tokyo, Dublin, Toronto; different departments, all over. I was in bed each night at 10:00 a.m. and so refreshed for our events each day when you could see the glaze of hangover on some other’s faces who had went out the night before. I didn’t build any best friend bonds during this trip. No one was inviting me to have wine in their hotel room and when I went to hotel bar to scope it out and chat with more people I even had a table say were in a deep conversation — insinuating for me to not sit with them. I felt lonely on this trip. Some managers were brand new like me but already had good friends. Others had been managers for years and already had strong bonds. I pretty much was a loner for once in my life and you know what? It was bittersweet.

The final night of the retreat came and we had Oz the Mentalist as our performer. Some new faces to me went up as he pre-recorded their favorite numbers, what they were wearing and decisions they would make. It was an entertaining evening for sure. The next day we all boarded our flights at O’Hare at different times. As far as I was concerned I was the only one on my flight and shared a cab with some teammates from my department to get there early. Thank God I did as the TSA line ended up being 90 minutes long. Not only was it long but when I got my ID checked they wouldn’t take it because it was cracked. They also didn’t care for my passport because it wasn’t signed. I was lucky I got on this plane. I just wanted to go home. In the midst of the TSA line I saw a familiar face though. It was one of the guys that went up with the Mentalist. He was the one that guessed what the Mentalist bought his sister and then the Mentalist had pre-recorded her choice as well as what he was wearing: a blue/orange striped shirt, jeans and white Adidas. He recognized me (or just my Indeed suitcase) as well and we immediately talked about the Mentalist and realized we were on the same flight. We were both happy we got to the airport early since the TSA line was atrocious.

After I finally got through TSA I noticed there was an earlier flight. I rushed to that gate to try and grab it but there were 50 people on standby so that wasn’t working in my favor. I moseyed over to the gate of my booked flight and hoped to see Mentalist Man at the gate and hoped that he would be up for a drink because it had been A DAY. Not more than five seconds later he walked up. I definitely found him attractive in the TSA line but now that we were out of that nonsense I could see that wow, this guy really is attractive. He was totally up for a drink and was going to ask me the same. We went to Bubbles and talked about the retreat while we waited for our flight. I enjoyed some Prosecco and he enjoyed some Sam Adams. Conversation was flowing and bubbly. I purposely planted my name so he would know it (and he was later glad I did) and he did the same. Although, he had to repeat his last name a few times for me I finally got it.

We didn’t want the conversation to end so we made a plan of attack to sit together on the plane. I was 13A and he was 29A. Essentially, we just had to find 29B. Who doesn’t want to move up to a window seat at the front of the plane?? We walked up to the gate and I excitedly said in a normal voice “now to find 29B!” And, there she was. Within five feet of us. We were both shocked but happy. She was with a friend and after bartering with some wine, we split up the friends, gave her the window seat and I ended up in the back of the plane in 29B and him 29C. The flight continued with nonstop talk and more wine and beer. Conversation became more personal and we ventured out from talk about the retreat and got to know each other. It was wild how everything was working out.

We ended up sharing a cab into the city. He lived in CT and couldn’t get an Uber so I suggested Ubering to the city with me and then taking MetroNorth. When we got to my place, the new bar below me, Ethyl’s had just opened. We had to go. Or, I forced us to go. So, we dropped off our luggage in my lobby and off to free drinks and burlesque dancers we went. We had a really good time. He opened up to me and I learned a lot about him. Him and I were both dream chasers with him moving to the states and me moving to NYC. We didn’t have the same personality types from our retreat tests but they were definitely complimentary. I was an extrovert to his introvert. We had our first kiss on my rooftop and he innocently stayed over and left early the next morning. Work was a little tough for both of us but it was at least a Friday. At Ethyl’s we made plans to see each other on Sunday. Everything he said was so perfect, our time was magical and I felt like I was in a dream.

We received these cards at retreat for us to write a promise to ourselves. The card read “____ because I said I would.” In addition to this day full of unexpected surprises, he pulled his out at the end of the night and wrote on it and gave it to me: “I’m going to make the most out of this because I said I would.”