Before really having to sift through my hurt feelings from the whole Hot Mess–well–mess, I am now in LA on business. My boss brought the Hawaii office here  so we could scope out the area. So far, I have mixed feelings about LA.

The traffic here sucks and I hate to say it, but there are a lot of douchebags here. There are so many chisel-faced spray tanned girls and guys that I feel like I’m in some embarrassing VH1 reality TV show.

On the first night, we went out to this bar in west Hollywood, my co-workers and I squished together in a booth near the front window. The waitress was this cute  chick with a killer afro, pierced and curvy, who liked winking at us whenever she answered a question about the menu. The vibe was mellow and trendy, without being pretentious, and “Closer” by Kings of Leon filled the bar with unspoken desire.

At a long table diagonal from us, I noticed a cute asian girl in the space between my two co-workers. She had shoulder length dark brown hair that she would tuck behind her ear every once in a while during conversation. While stirring my mojito (I was hell bent on getting an LA mojito, don’t ask me why), I looked up to see her smiling at me.  When I smiled back, she kind of looked away and then continued her conversation with someone at her table who I could not see.

She was pretty, in a girl next door kind of way, and looking at her made me feel less angry about the Hot Mess.

My pants vibrated and it startled me. “Crap–I gotta take this phone call,” I told my co-worker. “I’ll be right back.”  It was my landlord making arrangements for replacing my broken washer/dryer.  While repeating the washer space measurements to him, the cute girl and her friends exited the bar. They were saying their goodbyes, hugging each other, and then two by two they hailed cabs for themselves and disappeared down the street.

I smiled politely at her and stepped back so she could get by.  She mouthed the words thank you to me  as she squeezed through the crowd of people waiting for cabs in front of me.  I finished my conversation with my landlord and slipped my cell phone back in my jeans pocket.

“Are you waiting for a cab too?” the cute girl asked me. “I don’t want to cut in front of you.”

I guess not all LA socialites are assholes. “No, no, just came outside to take a phone call. Go right ahead.” I shivered, zippering up my jacket so it probably looked like I had no neck. “Aren’t you cold? I’m freezing out here.”

“Nah, I’m used to it,” she explained while buttoning up her coat. “Are you from here?”

“From Hawaii,” I answered. “Just here for work. Any recommendations on things to do while I’m here?”

“Yeah, lemme think,” she said, biting her lip.

“Ah–this might seem kind of weird,” I stuttered. “Maybe you want to grab a drink while I’m in town? I mean, obviously not now because you’re already waiting for a cab, but you know, maybe sometime later? I realize that sounded really nerdy and I apologize.”

“You’re cute. Do you have a card or something? ”

I handed it to her, slightly embarrassed that the corner was slightly bent. “Sorry, it’s been sitting in my wallet forever. My phone number is on the back, though. I’m K—, by the way.”

“I’m Autumn,” she said, taking my card and examining it closely. “Is this Helvitica font?”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s Arial,” I answered.”I changed the letter spacing and everything, though. So it doesn’t really look like Arial.”

“Your cab, ma’am,” the usher said, tapping Autumn on the shoulder.

“I don’t like normally like Arial font, but I like the spacing you’ve chosen. I’m a graphic design major, sorry, totally nerding out on this stuff. Sorry to cut this short. But I’ll call you–how long are you in town for?”

“Till Saturday,” I explained.  “I’ll have a bit of free time on Friday night, if you’re free.”

“Perfect,” she smiled again, waving my card at me. “I’ll give you a call then.”

“Yes, please do. I want you to explain to me your hatred for Arial font,” I laughed.

She laughed, letting the cold air escape her mouth and then quickly disappear. “Have a good night,” she said, before slipping into the taxi and closing the door behind her.

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9 Comments » Posted: December 7th 2009
Filed under: The Good
Tagged In: autumn, cute girl with a hatred for arial font, LA adventures, los angeles, quarter-life crisis in california, the village idiot bar