You wouldn't believe my day if I told you. It was fantastic. Thankyou, America. Viva la independance.
Ah, fuckit. I'll tell you anyway.
So here's me, in Florence. I'm tired - hungry, y'know. For shade. To get out of the heat. So I go into a church - small affair, very catholic, gruesome art. So I walk in, and start reading (David Copperfield, incidently). Some American Youth Orchestra is playing and they're not bad, but that's not what catches my eye. The second chair cellist was actually - without the sublime exadgeration of the smitten - the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.
So I wait after the concert, but she's always with people. There's just no good time. And pretty soon I have to go. Flight connections and so forth. So I leave. I tried to describe the effect she had on me like being a splinter in your head, but a good one. I got laughed at, obviously. So I came up with the analogy that it's like being woken up from a deep, comfy sleep by your favourite song. You want to be angry, but you can't cause you're too busy smiling.
Fast forward two weeks. I'm babysitting my littlest cousin, a karate-kid. We're watching Power Rangers and she asks me to find out one of the actors for her. I log onto everybody's favourite movie database, and, lo and behold, in the list of actors that came up when I entered the ranger's surname is previously mentioned cello girl. So with some judicious googling I find out her email address. I'm feeling a little weird at this point, but hey, it had to be done.
So two weeks go by and no reply. I download the American Online messenger thing and add her - she's on instantly. Uh oh.
She didn't get my email. She won't believe I'm who I say I am and she won't accept it in a word document. Eventually, to salvage a dying situation - that's really not going how I planned - I said, very quickly, "I saw you play in Florence. I went in to read my book and accidently stayed because of you. I tried to talk to you but I had to go. I found you because of my cousin's obsession with power ranger's and google."
So there was a pause, you know. I was thinking it may have been a "I'm ringing InterPol," pause. But no. After a pregnant few minutes, the message came.
You're amazing. I left a box with a note in it at the church asking who you are because I regretted not talking to you. I didn't think you'd find it, but you found me anyway. You're amazing.
So it appears I've become John Cusack in some form of bizarre romantic comedy. Viva la America.
Update: Turns out she's got all the personality of a wet shoe. Plus, whilst she's American, she's convinced she's better than the whole country. So whilst the girl might be a raving knob, it's still a cool story, right?