Chapter 1: Rock Bottom

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Were you?"

"Maybe," I shrugged. "I'd thought about it quite a bit. I didn't have a ring yet, but I imagined proposing to her when she finished moving here."

"Damn dude."

"Yeah. I know."

"But you probably dodged a bullet."

"Yeah. Maybe," I replied and took another sip of coffee. "It was comfortable though. She was comfortable. What we had was just nice... I don't know. It just sucks."

"Yeah."

Silence fell between us again, and I just let the ambient noise of the busy coffee shop fill my head with its insistent buzzing... it was a good way to dissociate.

"Look at the bright side. You're single now. In one of the cities with the largest populations of hot single women in the US. It's a good place to fly solo."

Well, if it hadn't been Dillon's uncle telling me that, it was bound to be Dillon.

I snorted, "That's true. I just hate the whole dating thing."

"I don't blame you. It sucks ninety-eight percent of the time, but that two percent of the time?" Dillon gave a chef's kiss.

"You'll have to show me the ropes. It's been a while for me."

"Yeah. We'll have to go out soon. I have an audition tonight, or I'd say let's do it."

"Soon," I said and took another sip of coffee.

"I know a few too. And there's my sister. She likes you, and she's not seeing anyone."

"I dunno," Dillon's sister was 19 and wild - two things I definitely wasn't. "She might be a bit young for me."

Dillon shrugged, "I'd trust you with her... and there's Natalie."

I hesitated mid-sip at the mention of that name. Natalie.

"You're both available now, right?" DIllon continued. He glanced down at his phone. "Break's almost up, my guy. I gotta get back to work. You got this though, dude. Stars are aligning... this is gonna be your time. And if you need to talk, you have my number." He clapped me on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Talk soon."

"Thanks man!" I called out, raising my cup to him in cheers as he retreated from my table. I finished off my coffee as I mulled over what he'd just said. Jessica ending things the way she did hurt, but Dillon had a good point. There were literally thousands of women in New York.

And chief among them was Natalie.