The rest of my night was spent dancing with John, George, and some random guys. The entire time I willed myself to not look for Paul. I knew that somehow, he and I would work out, but I couldn�t just jump into something with someone who already had a girlfriend. It was Paul�s decision, and he had to make it for himself. I could tell that he liked me almost as much as I liked him.
It seemed weird to be talking about a relationship with someone I had just met. Well, if you excused the whole �Come back to me� thing. I had this inexplicable attraction to Paul that I knew I would never completely understand. I mean, yes, I had traveled to the past to meet him, but it was more than that. To sound completely clich�d and cheesy, I felt like he was my destiny.
When I was near him, everything felt right and good, but when I was away from him, it felt like something was missing. It couldn�t be love, because you don�t fall in love with someone the day you meet them. Yeah, it did seem like a contradiction, I believed in destiny but not love at first sight. To me love was a learned thing, you had to know the persons good and bad traits before you could truly love them. I did believe in lust at first sight, which was definitely part of what I was feeling for Paul.
That night was really hard for me, I had to stay away from the one person I was drawn to completely. Paul even came up to me a couple times, but I always found excuses to walk away from him.
It was getting harder and harder to stay away from Paul, so I decided to leave. Cyn wanted to have John take me home, but I knew Paul would have to come too so I declined. Cyn reluctantly called a cab for me, and before I left, I gave her my room number and told her to call me.
The cab ride back to the hotel was a lonely one. I had had such high hopes for that night. I thought I would meet Paul, and everything would be perfect. I did not regret my actions, but it was depressing.
I had expected a fairytale, but instead I got reality. What was I talking about? Wasn�t there a bit of fairytale in my story? I had traveled back in time to meet this guy, and everything should have gone smoothly. However, I don�t think I would have been happy if everything had gone perfectly, perfection made me a little uneasy.
As I reached my hotel room, I began to realize that I had to stop worrying. If Paul really was my destiny, then this problem would work itself out. All I had to do was wait for Paul to make the right decision.
After my realization I was able to go to sleep rather quickly, considering my state of mind.
I awoke to the sound of the phone ringing. I fumbled around for the receiver, and finally picked it up after three rings.
�Hello�
�There is a Cynthia Powell on the line for you� said the person who I assumed to be the hotel operator.
�Yes, put her through please� I replied. There was a click and I said �Hello, Cyn?�
�Anne! How are you doing?� She said cheerfully.
�Fine. How are you?�
�Great. I was just calling to see if you wanted to go shopping with me? I know you mentioned yesterday that you didn�t have many clothes. I thought I could show you some of the good shops� Cyn replied hurriedly.
�That would be great,� I said smiling at her eagerness.
�I�ll come by in about an hour. Is that okay?� She asked.
�Yes that will be fine, Cyn. See you then�
�Good. Cheers, Anne.�
�Bye Cyn.�
I was glad that Cyn asked me to go shopping. It accomplished two things, one I needed more clothes and two I needed someone to talk to. Not having Sandy to talk to had been really hard, it had only been three days, but I missed her. Cyn could never replace Sandy, but she could become a good friend.
I went to get cleaned up, taking a bath and washing my hair. I got dressed in the only clean clothes I had, the yellow dress I bought the day before. I put on some makeup and attempted to dry my hair again by opening the window and letting the breeze dry it. The winter was coming up; there was no way I could continue to dry my hair that way. I had find out if people had hairdryers at this time.
My hair was about three-fourths dry, when Cyn knocked on my door. I ran to answer it.
�Hi Cyn, come in for a second� I said as I grabbed my purse and shoved my money and lipstick into it.
Cyn was looking around my room �Someone must not like you. This room is absolutely awful!� She exclaimed.
�I know, the guy up front is a real jerk. But I can deal with it, besides it�s only temporary. I�m going to look for a place to live soon�
Cyn got really excited, her whole face lighting up and waving her hands in a frantic manner. �Wait, it�s perfect�
�What?�
�I know of place you can live. There�s a flat you can rent, and it�s in the boarding house I live in. It�s right next door to my flat.� She was so excited I knew I had to take the flat. �It�ll be perfect!� she repeated.
She looked like was going to go all spastic, so I clamped my hands on her shoulders. �It sounds great Cyn. Why don�t we go there now and see the flat?� I could see she was about to burst out again, so I shook my head and said, �Wow! Calm down Cyn, it will be great and all that, but it seems like you have overdosed on the tea�
She reddened. �I�m sorry, you�re right. I think I drank about two pots of tea this morning.� She said laughing at herself. �But, I really like you and it will be fantastic if you can live near me.�
�Well what are we waiting for? The faster I can get out of this hotel the better� I said, grabbing her hand and leading her out the door.
We hopped a bus, and were soon on the way to Cyn�s residence. We talked of various things while we were traveling, but nothing important it was just idle chatter.
Unfortunately, her landlord was not there and would not be back for an hour. Cyn decided to show me her flat, since they were evidently similar.
�Why do you call it a flat? Is it because it�s only one story?� I asked, curious.
�I�ve never really thought about it, but I guess that�s the reason. What do you call it in America if you don�t say flat?� she asked, just as curious as me.
�An apartment. Don�t ask me why, I have no idea� I replied, laughing because flat made more sense than apartment.
As we were walking down her hall, Cyn stopped at a door and knocked on it.
�Is this your room?� I asked her confused as to why she was knocking on her own door.
�No, it�s my friend Dot�s� she replied, and my mouth dropped open.
�Umm. Paul�s Dot?� I asked worriedly.
�Yeah, why? Don�t you want to meet her?� She asked.
I was thinking of a good answer to that when the door opened. A petite girl with blond pixie cut hair, opened the door. She was in tears.
�Dot! What�s happened?� Cyn asked concerned.
�Paul�s broken up with me� she sniffled out.
