“Okay, I’m kind of freaking out, but I don’t know why,” Hannah said to the tablet that was resting on the table in front of her. Staring back from the other side of the screen was Rebecca, and she was still in her pajamas and looking as if she had barely been awake longer than ten minutes.

“Go on…” Rebecca said as she stifled a yawn.

“I think I have a date,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “But like not a real date, like a kind of weird, oh I just bumped into my hot new neighbor and he needs advice on where to go around the neighborhood kind of date.”

“Wait, what?” Rebecca scrunched up her face and looked completely confused.

Hannah sat down at her breakfast counter and sighed.

“Basically, last night when I got home from work, there was this cute guy in the lobby and we ended up having a weird, highly charged and somewhat aggressive encounter,” she began.

Rebecca suddenly looked much more interested and she sat forward with wider eyes and grinned.

“Aggressive?” she asked with amusement.

“Well, not so much aggressive, just, I don’t know… irritated, a little bit harsh… kind of like we were annoying each other.”

“Okay…” Rebecca laughed and rolled her eyes. “So pretty much how you are with all guys then?”

“No,” Hannah glared. “This time, it was different. I just don’t know how to explain it.”

“You mean he gave it as good as you did?” she smirked.

“Maybe,” Hannah pondered. “I mean, he certainly seems different than anyone I’ve been out with lately. He has more charisma and balls, that’s for sure.”

Rebecca snorted with laughter.

“You know what I mean,” Hannah giggled.

“So, what’s the issue?” Rebecca took a sip from a mug before she placed it down in front of her, so close to her own tablet that it took up half the screen on Hannah’s.

“Well, first of all, last night, I made a complete fool out of myself in front of him. I practically fell into the lobby of our building and I had been completely drenched by the rain. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, then I ran into him again today and it was kind of embarrassing,” she began with trepidation. She was wary of going into the full story with Rebecca because she knew it would start off a big chain of questions she wasn’t sure she was prepared to answer.

“How so?” Rebecca asked as she cocked her head to the side.

Hannah took a deep breath and braced herself. There was no other way around it, she was going to come clean about going to the clinic and about starting the process.

“Basically,” she said. “And I don’t want a huge discussion on this because I know we have talked around it for a while… But I went to the clinic this morning to see about finding a sperm donor and getting pregnant.”

Rebecca’s eyes pinged open even wider and her mouth opened into a wide grin.

“You finally took the plunge!” Rebecca beamed. “I’m so glad!” She clapped her hands together and squealed a little with excitement.

Hannah smiled and relaxed, at least she wasn’t going to give her a serious interrogation.

“Yeah,” Hannah nodded. “I did. I finally worked up the courage to just go and do it. I want a baby, Bec, and I’m not getting any younger. It just feels like the right time, you know?”

“Yes!” Rebecca smiled. “I do know, and I know you’ve wanted it for years, so I’m glad you’ve finally decided to go for it.”

Hearing the words come out of her friend’s mouth only reinforced what Hannah already knew, she was definitely doing the right thing.

“So, there I was at the clinic, and…” she shrugged her shoulders and looked into the distance in disbelief.

“Oh god, he wasn’t the doctor, was he?” Rebecca said as she covered her eyes.

“No,” Hannah snorted. “Worse. He was just in there for some reason, it looked like he was having a meeting.”

“Oh God,” Rebecca cringed. “And did he see you?”

“Oh yes, he saw me,” Hannah laughed. “He made a point of coming over to me and making me squirm.”

Rebecca started to laugh, and she slapped her hand on the table in front of her.

“I love this story already, please do go on…”

“So, yeah, there I am in the waiting room, filling out the paperwork, and I’m aware of this group of men milling around and having some kind of meeting. I didn’t realize but when the rest had left, I looked up and there he was just standing there looking at me with this big grin on his face. It was mortifying.”

Rebecca threw her head back and laughed.

“And what did he say?” she asked with delight.

“He made some joke about how he couldn’t believe he had seen me again so soon and in there of all places.”

“And what the hell was he doing there?” Rebecca’s forehead was creased into a frown, but she was still laughing.

“Well, exactly! I don’t know!” Hannah laughed too. “I mean, I made some joke about him working there and then about him maybe making a donation… which was gross because he was like, oh yeah, if you’re lucky, and then the doctor called me to go into the room and I had to leave.”

Rebecca was laughing so hard Hannah couldn’t help but laugh with her.

“And then he still asked you out? This is too good!” Rebecca howled. “I can’t believe all this has happened since I saw you last. I mean, it was only twenty-four hours ago, and then you were certain you were never going on a date again!”

“Well, this is what I mean, it isn’t like a real date… when I got back home after the clinic, he was in the lobby by the mailboxes and I honestly just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I was so mortified… but then he was nice to me and kept talking, and he said he didn’t know anywhere in the neighborhood because he’d just moved here, and all his friends live in other parts of town, so could I help him out with some recommendations.”

“Well, that’s fair enough,” Rebecca shrugged. “What’s the problem with that?”

“There isn’t a problem,” Hannah continued. “I just can’t believe it either… I mean, all of this is just so random… and yet, I don’t know…”

Rebecca eyeballed her suspiciously and then she moved closer to the camera.

“You like him,” she stated smugly. “I can tell.”

Hannah opened her mouth slightly in shock but then she closed it again and shrugged.

“Maybe I do,” she said with a small amount of confusion. “I mean, I don’t know him yet, but there is something. There was definitely a spark, but who knows. There’s friction too, maybe it’s just that. We’re rubbing each other the wrong way so we are bound to cause a few sparks here and there.”

“I love this story,” Rebecca was grinning again. “He’s caught your eye and he’s asked you out, it’s perfect!”

“Well, it’s a drink, it’s not really a date.”

“It’s a date,” Rebecca said sternly. “Just accept it and go with the flow.”

Hannah rolled her eyes and pouted.

“But now I’m kind of nervous… and I’m dreading the inevitable questions about why I was in the clinic.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious why you were there,” Rebecca laughed. “I think the bigger question is, why was he?”

Hannah stroked her chin and looked toward the ceiling.

“You have a good point,” she agreed. “What if he is some kind of serial sperm donor and has thousands of kids running around the city and doesn’t even know?”

Rebecca burst into laughter.

“But you said he was having some kind of meeting with a load of men?”

“He was, but none of it really makes sense, I just don’t know…” she trailed off and shrugged again.

Hannah’s mind was in such a twirl she didn’t know what to think or how to react. He obviously wouldn’t be in there randomly, so there had to be a reason somewhere.

“Well, you’ll find out when you go for this drink,” Rebecca said as she reached for her coffee. “When are you meeting with him?”

Hannah paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

“Well, this is the thing… He said tonight.”

“Tonight!?” Rebecca almost bounced out of her chair. “He’s eager then!”

“It would seem it…” Hannah said. “Maybe he just really needs to know where the best coffee spot it. Who knows…”

“You better go get ready,” Rebecca grinned. “I want full details, and don’t be too hard on this one… he sounds fun!”

“I promise to keep myself in check,” Hannah laughed. “But you know what I’m like if someone acts the fool… I have a low tolerance for idiots.”

Rebecca came closer to the camera so that Hannah could only see her eyes.

“And I’m telling you now, friend to friend, be sweet and happy and charming… but most of all, just give it a chance. If nothing else, he could end up being a good friend, and if he’s in the same building, you never know when you might need some help around there. He may be good at DIY.”

Hannah nodded.

“These are all valid points, Rebecca, thank you,” she said teasingly.

“Okay, well, I’ve got to go,” Rebecca smiled as her full face came back into view. “I want you to tell me exactly what happens. Update me with messages, in fact, live tweet it… I need a blow by blow account.”

“Shut up,” Hannah rolled her eyes before she blew Rebecca a kiss and reached for the disconnect button. “Speak to you later.”

“Ciao, Bella!” Rebecca waved as the screen went dark and the call ended.

Hannah leaned back on the stool and sighed. She raised her arms up and crossed them at the wrists behind her head. This weekend had turned into something crazy really fast. And Rebecca was right, now she was going to have to get ready and enjoy the feeling that came with prepping for a date and going out with someone for the first time. Whether it ended up being a true date or not.

She jumped down from the breakfast bar and wandered across to the windows and looked out over the city. She wondered if he had the same view as her, and if so, if he was looking at the same things she was at that exact same time.

“So deep,” she whispered to herself with a smirk.

She backed away from the window and reached for the remote. She turned on the television to one of the music stations and wandered around the apartment, tidying as she went, and singing along. It was only 3PM, so she had plenty of time to kill before she had to be down in the lobby to meet him.

She bounced around and sang her heart out and realized just how happy she felt.

Things really could change in a heartbeat, and now it made her even more determined to embrace every opportunity life was going to present to her.