it was the fall of 1994.
mary, debbie and i were in a cab going across manhattan from a bar to a club to see a band play, for work.
we had gone out to dinner a little earlier than usual that night because there were so many shows we wanted to get to.
and those two along with jo and denise had been drinking since before we even started dinner.
i always loved going to shows with these women because they had the right attitude.
the perfect combination of joy, experience and cynicism.
plus they all had amazing ears for good and bad music.
and they were never afraid to express their opinion.
loved, loved, loved that about them.
on this night though the whole way across the city these two were arguing.
no idea what about, but i was stuck in the middle of the back seat between them.
and their drunken state lead them to actually getting pissed off at each other.
i decided i didn't want any part of their wrath, so i totally stayed out of it.
we arrived at our destination and they practically fell out of the cab getting louder, leaving me to pay.
i was realizing that i didn't see them mad very often, but when they were mad they were not pleasant to be around.
so i left them right where the cab dropped us off and made my way across the street to a bodega looking for something to drink before i went into the club.
as i went through the cooler i came upon a legendary new york drink that i had never tried.
it was one of those goofy rights-of-passage type drinks to me.
"yoo-hoo".
the glorious chocolate water!
the drink of the ramones!
so that is what i got.
i went back outside and crossed the street back toward the club only to hear mary and debbie still going at it up the block.
as much as i didn't want to be a part of what they were doing, i didn't want to go in the club either.
the fate that awaited me inside was some shitty band that someone at the label had signed and very badly wanted us to come see perform.
why did they want us there?
so that they could justify the signing.
so we could verify this persons great taste.
so that the band wouldn't have to play to no one.
the person's mission was to get me and my cohorts to try and kick start this bands career.
but you know what, bad is bad, and from the few songs i had heard on tape without even seeing them i knew that this band was terrible.
i ended up stopping a little ways down the block leaning against a light pole drinking my yoo-hoo.
there weren't many people on that street or coming or going from the club beyond the doorman outside.
pretty soon though someone came out of the club and stood a little ways away from him.
it was a woman with short dark hair drinking out of a brown paper bag.
probably a beer.
very new york, drinking from the bag like that.
from a distance i thought she looked cute.
at some point i lost track of my friends and forgot about the club and just mentally drifted off into some other place.
it was nice.
a beautiful fall night standing on a random street in nyc.
this was a pretty good life i had.
then my daydream was broken by a voice.
it was a woman's voice saying hello to me.
i turned around and it was the woman who had been standing by the door of the club.
and my eyesight was correct, she was cute.
i guess she got bored of standing there by herself and decided to talk to the only other person around who wasn't working or arguing.
i liked this.
not every day did beautiful women come talk to me.
and she was even more beautiful then i had thought from a distance.
she was really smiley too.
she squinted her eyes almost shut when she smiled.
she introduced herself as susie.
she was from l.a.
she asked if those were my friends arguing up the block.
"Yup."
"They are annoying."
"They sure are."
this was pretty cool.
we started talking about where we were from.
she was excited to learn i lived in minneapolis.
she was a big fan of the bands husker du and soul asylum.
"They are all acquaintances of mine."
"You know those guys?"
"Yeah, its a small town."
i could tell immediately that she had pretty great energy.
we traded music stories.
live shows, fave records, jobs in the industry etc.
she worked for tower records.
we also talked about the thing that most visitors to nyc talk about.
how long we were there, and where we were staying.
she was staying with friends.
i was staying at a small exclusive hotel.
she seemed impressed.
she even knew someone who worked at our label.
she said they were old friends.
this was waaaaaay better than that crap band i was supposed to be seeing that night.
and like i said, things like this just didnt happen to me.
we talked for what seemed like a long time.
then someone came out of the club looking around.
it was actually my boss, jo.
"What are you guys doing out here?"
she was not happy that debbie, mary and i were at the venue but not inside watching this band like we were suppose to be doing.
i told her i would be right in.
then she gave an earful to the other two and they all went back in to the club together.
susie asked me if that person who just talked to me was who she thought it was.
i was surprised that she knew who my boss was.
but she told that me that in l.a. everyone (especially other women) knew the women who had jobs in the biz with actual authority like my boss did.
that was nice to hear.
my boss was amazing.
i told susie that i was going to need to go inside.
she said that she'd go in with me.
the band was even worse then i thought they would be.
a few of the toadies who worked with us were acting like they loved it.
all i wanted to know was how soon before they are done?
besides i had planned to get out of there the minute they were done playing.
there were other bands around town that night that i was dying to see.
i had to get a move on.
and while it had been cool talking to susie, for whatever reason it didn't occur to me to exchange phone numbers or anything with her.
looking back that was more than a bit stupid on my part.
good looking women like that hadn't given me the time of day in years.
and yet despite my low self-confidence something different had happened that night.
she had approached me.
stop the presses.
so a few of us left the club together and susie walked out with us.
i didn't even introduce her to anyone.
we quickly hit the street looking for cabs.
susie and i stopped briefly and told each other it was pleasure meeting one another.
then i just turned around and jumped into a waiting cab with mary, who was still drunk, but no longer angry.
and off we went.
never to see susie again.
mary started excitedly asking me all kinds of questions.
"Who was that?"
"How do you know her?"
"You just met right there on the street?"
"Did you get her number?"
"You didn't?"
"What is your problem?"
"I know you're an idiot but that is ridiculous."
"She's hot!"
"How are you going to track her down?"
"What are you doing in a cab with me going to see another band?"
"You need to find her and take her back to your hotel room right now?"
"Why didn't you at least invite her along?"
i told her i had no answers for any of those questions.
i really hadn't considered any options.
again mary demanded to know how i met her.
i said that with her and debbie going at it i just walked down the block to hang out by myself.
susie walked outside the club and probably would have talked to anyone standing there.
it just happened to be me.
mary reiterated that i was an idiot.
she had seen the way susie was looking at me - all excited and giddy.
idiot was right.
and dense too.
that was me.
then mary proposed a bet.
"$20 says she calls the hotel looking for you."
i took the bet.
there was no way this woman was going to do that.
someone who was in town for a couple days on business wasn't going to track down the phone number to my hotel and call me
she wouldn't even remember the name of the hotel
but i was wrong.
the next evening when i stopped by my hotel before dinner there was a message for me at the front desk.
from susie.
she said she was leaving nyc early the next morning and not going out that night but she left her l.a. phone number and told me to call her.
i did.
and mary got her $20.