The rain hit the pavement and the windows on the tall apartment building. Fae stood in her silky, charcoal robe on the 5th floor of her studio apartment with a light, pink mug steaming with jasmine tea. She stared out of the drizzly windows to see a blurry mix of yellow, pink, and orange city lights calling her. New York City roared with life despite the soggy weather.
Fae had not left her apartment for days since she got dumped by her long-distance boyfriend, Craig, whom she had dated since college. She needed to escape her isolation, obsessive eating, romantic indie movie watching, and sobbing. But the rain seemed to serve as an excuse not to leave, that is until her best friend, Elle, practically knocked down her door with pounding knocks and striking kicks in her christian louboutin stilettos.
“Time to get out of this suffocating box!” Elle exclaimed
“What for?” Fae replied. “It’s terrible outside anyways.”
“Well if you do not leave, you will just get plain old fat from eating all that junk food, and I doubt you want that to happen.”
After some fuss, Fae decided it might actually be smart to escape the apartment with Elle. Not out of fear of getting fat, but she realized going out might put the smile on her face she so desperately needed. She also would get to breath some warm and steamy, pavement enriched air.
Elle said, “Fae we should go to the new club Sapphire on the upper east side!”
“I don’t think so, I am not ready for that. What about just getting chinese food?”
“No we are going to Sapphire. Now go put on some nice, clean clothes.”
Fae shrugged over to her closet. She pulled out a purple, velvet skater dress and looked it up and down, then tossed it on her bed. She then grabbed her favorite suede skirt only to throw it into her chair. She did not feel like dressing up. All she wanted to do was snuggle up next to her teddy bear and let her emotional pain sink away through her dreams and eating pink cotton candy.
“Come on, Fae, hurry up. Do you need me to choose your outfit?”
“I am almost ready, I just uhh, I, uh, I need to put on my converse.”
“What?”
Fae stood firmly in front of Elle in ordinary gray sweatpants and a loose fitting white t-shirt. Her hair looked frazzled and her skin looked freckled,natural, and a little puffy. She put no energy into her looks and would not leave the house unless she stayed as is.
Elle said, “Really Fae, really, don’t you want to have any fun? Also we are still going to the club no matter what you look like.”
“Fine.” Fae replied sweetly. This is because she had a plan. What club would let a “hoboish” ill-dressed woman into their elegant and s--- set up? She would just be denied entrance and then she could go with Elle for the bowl of chow mein noodles her taste buds craved. After Fae grabbed her phone she and Elle called a taxi, and they headed to Sapphire.
The taxi driver arrived and Elle jumped out of the car. Her heels clinked on the ground and she held her shiny handbag over her head to protect her hair from the wet drops. Fae stepped out of the yellow cab and shuffled across the street to Sapphire. The popular club’s line wrapped around the street but there were awnings that protected the partiers from the rain. Everyone wore either a bodycon dress, red lipstick, or had pin straight hair.
Fae did not blend into the crowd.
Maybe this is why she caught Alex’s attention. She seemed different, natural, real, and somewhat humorous. Alex noticed her when he stepped out of the club to get a breath of the rainy raw air. She looked beautiful with thick, dark eyebrows and pale and plump, freckled skin. He could not wait untill she would be in the club and he would have the opportunity to talk and dance with her. It was unusual for him to encounter a woman he found intriguing. Women always swooned over Alex because of his dark hair, mysterious eyes, and dazzling smile, but he was picky when it actually came to liking and going out with women. He wanted someone that was unlike anyone else in this enormous world. Someone that would fit him like a puzzle piece. But he had never found this woman before.
. . .
“Elle, can we just go? This line is absolutely ridiculous.”
“I bet it will move by fast. Can you just trust me on that? And we have come all this way so there is no point in leaving.”
Elle was right and soon enough they stood in front of the bouncer. 
“ID please.” he said to Elle.
Followed by a “You can go in.”
Elle waited for Fae, but the security guard guided Fae over to the opposite direction of the entrance and explained she could not enter. Fae looked indifferent she knew that this would probably happen, actually she planned on it happening so she did not care. She urged Elle to go inside. Fae lied when she said that she would figure out a way into the club. Fae was perfectly content staying outside and just watching water mysteriously drop from the dark sky.
Alex had been waiting a while for the intriguing woman he saw outside to enter the club. A blonde headstrong woman started to flirt with him, but Alex got bored and politely excused himself to find the woman who had grabbed his attention. He looked around the club a couple times. Then he walked outside into the misty atmosphere. There she stood leaned against the side of the club's building just staring into the air and counting raindrops. Alex went up to the bouncer and asked if he knew anything about the woman and why she was not in the club. The security guard explained that he did not let her in because her attire and looks were not up to Sapphire’s standards. Alex looked shocked and disappointed. To him she appeared lovely, and seemed better than any woman in the club.  Alex decided to bribe the guard with over 300 dollars to allow the sweatpants wearing woman inside. The bouncer discreetly took the bribe and told Alex that she she could come in. At that moment Elle walked out of the club and asked Fae,
“Are you coming in?”
“I don’t think I am allowed.”
Then the bouncer interrupted and pointed to Alex while he said, “This man pleaded on your behalf so go on in before I regret my decision.”
Fae looked angry. She gave Alex a small playing shove as she walked by him and asked frustratingly,
“Why did you do that? Now my friend Elle is making me go inside”
“See you inside” he responded.
The first thing Fae did inside the club was order shots. She felt extremely out of place and needed to take the edge off. The alcohol got her talking to Elle about Craig. That is until Fae noticed a mass of women surrounding the enchanting man who wrecked her evening, or so she thought. And the interesting thing is the Alex was not focused on any of the flirtatious woman, but stared at Fae. Fae walked over to the man. She glanced at him through peep holes between heads of tall, skinny gorgeous woman.
Fae turned away. Alex followed her. He did not look back at the mob of women.
Fae walked outside and sat down against the cement club wall. Then Alex came up to her and asked if he could sit down too. Alex and Fae both felt an automatic attraction for one another. The air that surrounded them filled with runaway nerves. They sat in quiet wondering what to say and who would be the first to talk.
Alex said, “ Are you from New York City? You don’t seem like the New York City type.”
“Why don’t you think I am from here?”
“Well, you watch rain drops for one, and you are also not afraid to wear sweats to a high end club.”
“ --chuckle-- You pay quite a bit of attention, don’t you? I moved here only last year. I am actually from a remote town in Vermont.”
“ Yeah I guess I do. But wow I don’t know how you did it, I could never live in a small town. Also, I am sorry I did not ask this sooner, but what is your name? My name is Alex.”
“Nice to finally meet you Alex. My name is Fae.”
“So why exactly are you here wearing sweat pants?”
“That is a rather complicated story. It has to do with my friend Elle and my ex-boyfriend Craig.”
“Do you want to be here?”
“I did not want to be. I was sort of forced into coming here.”
“Would you like to talk about it over chinese food, I know a delicious and calm restaurant just down the street.”
“No surprisingly I am not in the mood.”
“Then what would you like to do?”
Fae smiled and said “Dance with you.”