Miami international airport grew more and more tiring. I don't know why I keep flying through here and worse yet, I don't know why I keep flying American Airlines. Once again they fucked up.
I sat at the gate, mindlessly playing on my phone as I watch the delay times for my flight get later and later. I was supposed to only have a 45mins layover yet 4 hours later and I'm still here.
Finally at 7:25pm they made an announcement. Nope, wasn't going to be another delay, this time it was cancelled. Something was said about a maintenance issue and they weren't going to be able to get a few of us on another flight that night.
We were asked to come talk to an agent and arrangements were going to be made. They weren't going to be able to get me on another flight til 3pm the next day! I was furious.
Around 8:30 I finally got to the hotel they were putting me up in for the night. I called my best friend back home who was supposed to be picking me up at the airport and told her what was going on.
I started venting a bit to her when she said, "You have one night in Miami, what the fuck are you pouting about?? Get showered, get dressed and go have a blast."
I laughed, brushing her off at first but realizing she did have a point. After some thought, I said to myself You know what? I'm not gonna go wild but I might go out and have some drinks at least. I got more and more into the thought as we talked about it.
By the time I actually got showered and dressed, the only thing I had the motivation to do was have a drink at the hotel bar. I grabbed a seat at the bar, shortly after a couple sat next to me. The girl, Nia, started talking to me. She was around my age, the guy was her boyfriend of 3 years, they were visiting from the west coast.
I tried to just chill by myself, give them some space to do their own thing but they kept talking to me and I didn't mind the company. We eneded up sharing a couple laughs, took a shot or two together and had some great conversation.
I hadnt been there very long before the last call. I looked at the clock on the wall, "What the fuck, it's not even midnight, what time does this bar close??" Nia laughed at me.
"Nick and I are going to another bar, you should come with us! We're having too much fun!" She said.
"No no, I don't want to impose." I insisted.
She grabbed my hand, "Nope, not imposing at all, we insist!"
After a bit of a walk, what seemed like 20mins, we ended up at a bar, passing many other on the way. It was dimly lit with flashing lights, the music was competing with the voices of the crowded space. We made our way through the crowd of bodies to the bar and ordered drinks.
At this point we already had a couple drinks and a shot or two. We spent the next hour dancing, joking around, having a good time. I couldnt help notice that Nick got more and more handsy with Nia as the night went on so it made perfect sense when they both disappeared "to use the bathroom" around 1am and had been gone for more that 15 mins.
I decided to just hang out at the bar while they were gone. I grabbed a seat next to a guy who was there alone. He seemed properly drunk at this point. As I sat down, he looked over at me and flashed a smile, made a mumbled comment and went back to his drink.
I ordered another drink and started sipping on it. I looked over as a guy slipped in the seat next to me, I smiled and he smiled back, "Here alone?" was all he said. Damn, this dude is bold, I said to myself before responding to him, "No, I'm here with two others."
"Oh ok, so you having fun tonight?" He shouted over the music, leaning in a bit. I could smell his cologne and was immediately drawn in.
I smiled, "I am. How about you?"
"Yea, I'm having fun... Can I ask you a question though?" He said and I was starting to get a little annoyed since I wasn't looking for anything, just wanted to enjoy my drink.
"Sure." I responded sharply.
"Can I buy--" I cut him off.
"Buy me a drink? No thanks, I can buy my own drinks." I said trying not to give off too much attitude.
"No no, that's not my style, I was gonna ask if I can buy you some mozzarella sticks but sounds like you've got it."
I was taken back, frankly, quite impressed. I couldn't help but laugh, my attitude towards him changed, my body language now more relaxed, "I think I can get my own mozzarella sticks but.." I paused, "You can get me some potstickers." I shrugged, "Only if we share it though. I'd feel bad if you just bought me potstickers."
He didn't hesitate, he ordered them and another drink for me which I insisted he didn't do but he wasn't having it.
"So where's your friends? Why are you drinking up here alone?" He asked.
"Honestly, I think they're in the bathroom fucking. I actually just met them tonight, I don't even remember their name." Something clicked when I said the word 'name' "Oh shit, how rude of me, you bought me a drink and potstickers and I haven't even introduced myself, I'm Gabriela." I smiled.
"Andrew." The gentleman responded with a pause before saying, "Well hopefully you don't forgot my name." He smirked before saying, "You know, you don't just share potstickers with someone and don't remember their name." He shrugged.
I think at this point he had me laughing, he was very smooth, very charming. He looked about my age, cute smile, well kept, well groomed beard which I was definitely into. One thing was for sure though, this didn't seem like his first time trying to pick up a stranger at a bar. He seemed a little, what I would describe as fuckboy.
He dressed sharply, even better than I could manage to dress myself. His hair and beard was properly groomed. He seemed like he definitely took pride in his appearance yet here I was in a half assedly put together outfit because I couldn't be bothered.
I decided to let my hair down. I tilted my head to the side slightly, towards him and pulled my hair scrunchie out, gave my hair a gentle toss. I immediately smelled my conditioner in the air as I tossed my hair.
Without missing a beat in the conversation, I said, "Well we'll just have to see how memorable you are then." I teased as I grabbed my drink, raising my glass, "To being memorable?" I said suggestively.
"So are you here alone?" I asked.