Writing: Moment in Time - Second Chances Only Come After First

All he did was turn from his barstool and fate took over. Guinness rained on them, a glass shattered, and hurried apologies streamed from them as they stood staring at each other. It was almost like a made-for-TV movie, he thought. He offered to buy her a drink and snatched some napkins from the counter to help her dry off, but when he turned back, she was gone. He looked through the crowded bar, searching the endless sea of people before him, but she was gone. Sitting back down, he wasn't quite sure if he really saw her or she was a figment of a beer fogged imagination. He shakes his head and turns back to the bar, beckoning the bartender for another drink.

He was back at the same pub the next week, meeting a group from work for a few rounds. Laughing and joking around for hours, he felt the tension from the week slowly drain out of him, until he saw her by the bar. Absently excusing himself with comments unrelated to anything he was thinking about, he started to make his way to the bar. His eyes only strayed for a moment, as he was shoved to the side while cutting through the dance floor. Looking away momentarily, his eyes raised and he lost her again. Pushing and shoving his way to the bar, he asks the bartender who she was, but the bartender had no idea who he was talking about, he had been swamped all night.

He hadn't been back to that pub in a few months, convinced that fate was just toying with him. Giving him a glimpse of what he wanted, then snatching it away with callous disregard. Damn fate, he thought, as he turned his back on that place back then. He went to other establishments around town, but he couldn't stop himself from scanning the masses for that glowing blonde hair that his mystery woman possessed. Last call brought an end to the night and he began gathering up his belongings and waiving for the tab. A hand rests on his and the smell of expensive perfume sends his mind spinning. He looks into her eyes again, the months erased nothing of what he felt in that brief moment they were together. They talked for a few hours that night and a couple more the next day; then the next, and almost every day after that.

Today, they can trace all the trials and tribulations they have been through just as easily as they can trace all the wonderful moments they have had together. They would never have had any of it if they didn't have that chance meeting, chance second meeting, and then taken the chance on each other. When asked how they met, they smile and look at each other, just like that fateful night, and say, "In the rain."