Beautiful Stranger

actually walked away, because a man whosays clichéd shit like that doesn’t deserve to call any woman.
    I made excuses the rest of the morning, telling myself that she was probably busy. Hell, I didn’t even know if Sara had friends other than Chloe and Bennett. I couldn’t exactly ask her that, could I? Fuck, no. She’d put her shoe in my eye socket. But what exactly did she do when she wasn’t at work? I played rugby, drank beer, ran, went to art showings. Everything I knew about her was related either to how she fucked, or to the life she’d left behind. I knew so little about the life she’d started to build here. Maybe she’d love to do something with me after the shitty day she’d had yesterday.
    Time to man up, Stella.
    Finally, I shoved my spine in my back and let the phone ring.
    “Hello?” she answered, sounding confused. Of course she’s confused, you ass. You’ve never actually called her.
    I took a deep breath and let out the most ungodly ramble of my entire life: “Okay, look, before you say anything, I know we aren’t doing the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, and after Congressman Morton’s wandering penis I totally get your aversion to relationships, but last night you came over and were a bit out of sorts, and if you wanted something to do today—not that you need something to do (and even if you did, not to imply that you don’t have other options), but if you’d like you could come to my rugby match.” I paused, listening for any sign of life on the other end of the phone.“Nothing clears the head better than watching a pile of muddy, sweaty Brits trying to break each other’s femurs.”
    She laughed. “What?”
    “Rugby. Come watch my match today. Or, if you prefer, meet us all for drinks at Maddie’s in Harlem afterward.”
    For what felt like a week, she remained silent.
    “Sara?”
    “I’m thinking.”
    I walked across the room and fidgeted with the blinds at my window overlooking the park. “Think louder.”
    “I’m seeing a movie with a girlfriend this afternoon,” she began, and I felt a small tension unknot in my gut when she mentioned a friend. “But I guess I could be up for drinks later. What time do you think you’ll be done?”
    Like even worse of a git than before, I made a little fist pump of victory and immediately wanted to smack myself. “Match will probably go until three. You could meet us at Maddie’s around four.”
    “I will,” she said. “But Max?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Do you think your team will win? I don’t want to be drinking with a bunch of depressed, muddy Brits.”
    Laughing, I assured her we were going to crush them.

    We kicked their asses. I rarely ever felt bad for the other team—most teams we played were American and, althoughit wasn’t their fault they didn’t have rugby in their blood, it usually felt great to tromp them. But this may have been an exception. We stopped trying to score about halfway through. I had to attribute my generosity in part to knowing that Sara would meet us after. But only in part. By the end of the match it felt like we were beating up ten-year-olds in the mud, and I felt a twinge of guilt.
    We roared into the bar, carrying Robbie on our shoulders and yelling the words to a rather filthy version of “Alouette.” The bartender and owner, Madeline, waved when she saw us, lined up twelve pint glasses, and began filling them.
    “Oi!” Robbie shouted to his wife. “Whiskey, lass!”
    Maddie gave him the V-sign but grabbed a handful of shot glasses anyway, mumbling something about Robbie’s drunk, muddy ass sleeping alone.
    I scanned the room for Sara and came up empty. Swallowing my disappointment, I turned to the bar and took a deep drink of my beer. Our game had started late; it was already close to five and she wasn’t here. Was I really surprised? And then a horrible thought occurred to me: had she been here, waited, and left?
    “Fuck,” I muttered.
    Maddie slid a shot of whiskey to me and I downed it with a wince, cursing again.
    “What’s wrong?” a familiar husky voice asked from behind me. “Looks to me like you dirty bastards won.”
    I spun around on my bar stool and broke out into a grin atthe sight of her. She looked like a cake topper, in a pale yellow dress and a tiny green pin in her hair. “You look beautiful.” Her eyes closed for a beat, and I murmured, “Sorry we’re late.”
    She weaved a little where she stood, saying, “Gave me time to have a few drinks.”
    I