L.A. Affairs: During my year of yes, could I find love at LACMA's jazz night?

We were invited to Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s jazz nighttime by our communal friends, Rich and Nicole. I, the self-appointed queen of snacks, brought a plethora of goodies and drinks from my Sherman Oaks apartment. This was 1 of my precise archetypal forays backmost into the satellite post-COVID-19 vaccine, and I was mostly acceptable to premix and mingle again with the masses.

Nicole waved maine implicit to the chairs up front, coveted seats that Alex had saved by getting determination an hr aboriginal connected the bus. I said “Hi” and extended my apologies for being late.

“Tho thsorry,” I sighed with a flimsy lisp from my caller Invisaligns. (I would aboriginal larn Alex thought my orthodontia-induced code impediment was beauteous cute.) “I parked truthful acold distant I mightiness arsenic good beryllium successful the Valley.”

Alex chuckled.

I would soon larn that this die-hard Westsider had not owned a car since his 2001 Cadillac DeVille’s transmission blew up connected the 5 Freeway 4 years ago. I passed retired thimbles of involvement I brought to stock and noticed a pistillate sitting adjacent to Alex. She was smiling astatine the group. I asked her if she’d similar immoderate too.

I thought Alex was beauteous cute successful his airy maroon overgarment — the benignant that’s cleanable for those May grey evenings — and 1 that highlighted his wispy blond hair. But I figured the smiling involvement woman and helium were together.

The adjacent 2 hours were filled with chitchat successful betwixt sets: Nicole’s end-of-school-year frenzy, Rich’s instrumentalist thoughts astir those saccharine drum riffs and wherever we should each spell to drawback a wound after. The Grove oregon Canter’s? Alex and I were seated astatine other ends successful our row. I passed down snacks and astatine immoderate constituent noticed the pistillate who was sitting adjacent to him was nary longer there.

Maybe, that wasn’t his girlfriend. Could it beryllium that helium was unattached?

After the concert, we strolled connected Fairfax Avenue. I learned that Alex was primitively from Long Island, N.Y., and asked him to interruption retired an accent similar “The Sopranos.” He gave maine a dutiful “fuhgeddaboudit.” As a Midwestern transplant, I recovered this hilarious. We stopped for crystal pick astatine Wanderlust.

Conversation was easy. After all, we had each known Rich and Nicole for years. Somehow, though, Alex and I had ne'er met astatine the Friendsgivings oregon day get-togethers. We would aboriginal recount the almosts and the maybes successful our astir 20 years successful Los Angeles. At 1 point, helium was staying astatine a motel conscionable a five-minute locomotion from my archetypal flat adjacent Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue.

Could we person tally into each different astatine the adjacent Ralphs? Maybe it was conscionable not the close clip — till now.

The adjacent month, the 4 of america met up for different jazz nine and wandered again to Wanderlust. A fewer weeks later, I got a substance from Alex asking if we should support jazz nine going portion Rich and Nicole were connected their honeymoon.

This was my self-proclaimed, post-isolation twelvemonth of yes, and I made a committedness to myself to beryllium much unfastened by saying much yeses to things. I texted him back: Yes!

I was unsure if this was a date, but I packed my summertime picnic container afloat of yummy snacks and erstwhile again headed implicit the elevation to Mid-Wilshire. When I got there, Alex had saved 2 seats, and I realized it would conscionable beryllium the 2 of america for 2 hours of jazz. I offered him a Trader Joe’s portion and reminded myself that I was successful my 40s present and that it was OK to conscionable beryllium myself. With the inheritance of those saccharine drum riffs and a small liquid courage, Alex and I shared however we some ended up successful L.A. Turns retired we were some successful hunt of a caller beingness way — 1 that wasn’t already figured retired for america backmost home.

After the concert, we headed toward our regular haunt but past opted to marque a caller representation astatine the Original Farmers Market, wherever we ordered a mates of coffees and doughnuts earlier Bob’s Coffee & Doughnuts closed.

As I swiveled connected my diner stool, the butterflies started to grow.

We strolled backmost to my car, and I offered him a ride. He declined, but I couldn’t rather fathom however helium was going to get location truthful precocious astatine night. (Two years later, I would opt successful to Alex’s car-free manner too.)

In my teacher-voice, I insisted.

He hopped successful the car and extended the seat, his 6-foot-2 framework expanded similar an accordion. I unabashedly asked him to manus maine my night-driving glasses. He calmly said, “I don’t cognize wherever those are.”

I was truthful comfy with him already that I forgot we didn’t truly cognize each different yet. As I opened the mitt compartment, our hands somewhat brushed each other’s, and determination was a infinitesimal of excitement. Per his request, I dropped him adjacent La Cienega and Santa Monica boulevards. He would drawback the No. 4 autobus home, which runs each nighttime connected Santa Monica Boulevard, and I would instrumentality the Canyon implicit the elevation backmost to my place.

We said our goodbyes arsenic we watched a sedan marque a near and get stuck successful the mediate of the median. Never a dull infinitesimal retired west.

Our 2nd day astatine the Getty summertime performance yielded a 3rd day astatine SoFi Stadium, wherever the Red Hot Chili Peppers sang our song: “Sometimes I consciousness similar I don’t person a spouse / sometimes I consciousness similar my lone person is the metropolis I unrecorded in, the City of Angels / Lonely arsenic a I am, unneurotic we cry.”

As we kissed, I knew that this would beryllium thing special, a acquisition that lone L.A. could offer.

The writer lives with her boyfriend, Alex, connected the Westside. They are car-free and inactive instrumentality the No. 4 autobus to jazz nine astatine the LACMA each summer.

L.A. Affairs chronicles the hunt for romanticist emotion successful each its glorious expressions successful the L.A. area, and we privation to perceive your existent story. We wage $400 for a published essay. Email [email protected]. You tin find submission guidelines here. You tin find past columns here.