Two Years After 911

Have we met before? Nathan repeated those words in his head. His therapist said this could be a great way to meet someone. Nathan didn’t think it would work, in fact, he really hoped it wouldn’t work. People weren’t his thing, and really that was the problem. Nathan knew he enjoyed his own company more than anyone else’s, but his therapist said it was unhealthy. Nathan told his therapist it was unhealthy to eat fast food, to drink wine like a fish drinks water, but he knew in his heart what this was really about. It was about losing the five people he cared about most in a plane crash and then isolating himself from all human contact, he had even considered suicide. Nathan had already played the blame game. He blamed himself, God, the terrorists that hijacked the plane, and he was tired of that game, if he was being honest, he longed for something other than this life made of invisible walls that he had surrounded himself with.

Nathan looked straight at his bathroom mirror and said, “Have we met before?”

Okay, maybe his therapist wasn’t wrong. Maybe this was the first step to recovery, maybe if he admitted it, he was tired of being alone.

He shouted, “I’m going for it!”

Nathan crossed the street and headed to Malone’s Night Club, a New York hotspot.

When he got to the front entrance, he reached for the door handle and froze.

Freddie the bouncer was standing there and asked him, “Is everything okay?”

Nathan hesitated, then said, “Have we met before?”

Freddie chuckled and said, “I don’t think so.”

Nathan‘s cheeks turned red, he muddled to himself, “Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Freddie said, “It’s alright by me, we’re open till 2:00 am every night.”