It was early 2019 and a different world, crazy to think right? NYC was still NYC as we know it, an open city with one of the best nightlife in the world. Everyone who is anyone decided to come to the city and nothing yelled status more than saying that you live in Manhattan. In my college days, I followed and connected with a variety of people. The who’s who and the cool kids in my college days (mainly top tier sororities) moved to NYC, it was somewhat telling.
Granted, it was more girls in top sororities that moved to NYC while the guys in the higher status fraternities seemed to stay more local. The people who “made it” found a way to live in Manhattan and man did they brag about it on social media every chance they got. For the first couple years out of college, I must admit it made me a bit envious as well. Somehow, through fate and perhaps even destiny, I ended up what at the time was considered the best city in the US to spend your twenties in with the best nightlife in perhaps the world. I cannot believe it, NYC before the pandemic, truly a beauty and a treasure.
On one cold night, a friend and I decided to head out to check out the scene. We both lived in the Lower East Side at the time and I decided to head to his place first for a bit of a pre-game. I stepped outside in the freezing weather, it was snowing and the ground was slippery so I had to watch my step. Thankfully, I made it to his place and we chatted a bit. After having a few drinks, we decided to head to this cocktail bar called Kind Regards.
“Yeah, I hear this place has a ton of hot girls,” he said.
“Dude, it’s Manhattan, they all have a ton of hot girls,” I replied.
“No no, but this place has like a lot of hot girls,” he said.
“So we’re going to a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show?” I asked.
“Okay, fuck you dude, stop being a smartass,” he replied, as we laughed.
Yeah, he was right, I was a smartass. I was a bit too cheeky and had a way with words, it got me into enough trouble with angered drunks. We headed to Kind Regards only for my friend to almost slip twice. I was being a great friend by just laughing out loud but instant karma hit me as I fell on my ass a couple of steps later. Thankfully, I did not land on my balls and my friend laughed even louder. We headed out early enough to get to Kind Regards and beat the cover charge.
We sat down at the bar itself and got a couple of drinks, it seemed somewhat empty. Not long after, people poured in and then we noticed the lines outside getting long. After around thirty or so minutes, I saw two familiar faces come in as I am on my second cocktail. Both were hot blondes but those are dime a dozen in any major city, they were girls who went to the same school as me and were in the top sororities there. Small world after all, a really small world.
Around that time, more women started pouring into the bar and guys were more limited. Make Believe was truly looking like the spot to be and the quality of talent was unreal. Soon, we see four blondes pour in and all of them seemed to be in a party mood, much more lively than the two that I recognized. At this point, talent is pouring in left to right at the bar. Somehow, the theme seemed to be very Greats Gatsby caliber than anything else.
“Dude, we have got to make a fucking move,” I tell my friend.
“Dude, yes!” he replies.
Usually, we’d go up to the girls and approach them but I had a new idea. After all, we had come in earlier than everyone else and saved our chairs. Both of us made sure to go to the restroom before we headed out and limit our drinking for that night. Sometimes in a crowded bar, if you can get in early enough and grab the seats at the bar before it has become packed, that can be a strategic move. Next to us, these two raven-haired girls are ordering drinks. My game is stale and the music is getting loud so I tap this girl next to me as she leans her face closer to mines.
“You look so sober right now, lemme guess, designated driver?” I ask.
“Sorry? What?” she replies in a French accent.
“Parles-tu anglais?” I ask, yeah I copied and pasted that from Google Translate.
“Wi wi,” she replies, laughing as I put my hand on her arm.
“So you seem to be finding this place kind of boring,” I say.
“Oh well, it’s early,” she laughs.
“Yeah, you seem like the kind of woman who can dance well and is just warming up,” I reply.
I don’t know where the conversation went from there but her friend had intervened. Thankfully, I was able to get her Instagram since she was international. My friend in the meantime tried chatting up a redhead that had leaned his way and had just ignored him. We see some guys come in but so many seem to be in a social circle rather than spam approaching. I peek over to find that the two blondes I had my eyes on were just sitting there, not really bothered by anyone.
“Should you go in?” I thought to myself, until something interrupted me. A girl had come up to the bar next to me and turned around as her curly brown hair hit me right in the face. The friend she was looking at pointed at me and laughed as she looked back at me and apologized.
“That hurt more than a left hook, please call a medic, I think I am unconscious right now,” I said.
“Haha, how are you unconscious?” she asked, laughing hard.
It’s been a while, for me to remember any more of the dialogue past that would be a lie. I know that there was a vibe between us going on from the get go, she had a spicy type of a demeanor if that makes sense to you. As soon as she had put her hand on my shoulder and a finger had touched my bare naked neck (getting all erotica on you guys?), I felt blood rush to all parts of my body. I noticed her lick her bottom lip as we stared at each other for a few seconds.
I don’t remember what I said after that, I had put my arm around her and told her that I hope she is as wild and fun as her hair. She had playfully hit me and I had leaned in a good bit to be close to her neck and cheeks, at this point standing up. We leaned in and chatted with each other and I had put my hand on her arm. She was giving me that seductive look and I kept leaning in.
At that point I remember getting my mouth as close to possible to her ear since the music was getting loud and my lips would sometimes touch them, I knew she was feeling it. We get playfully touchy with each other and I blank, should I try to go for a close and take her home or should I try to just get her number and see where we go from there? Maybe I meet up with her for a date?
Then at this point I go in for the kiss as she is close to me and the vibe is getting intimate. Not long after, we are really into it but I am dumbfounded because of how much success I have with this girl who is hot as fuck. Not long after, a friend comes in and it was the same one who was laughing at her hair whipping me. Just that fast, it happened, just that fast….
I look around and my seat had been taken while my wing talked to another girl. Meanwhile, I look over and see that the two blondes I had followed in my college days on social media but never really knew were just sitting there. Both of them seemed to just sit there not approached while the other crowds seemed more lively. I did see one guy approach the bigger group of blondes that had come in after them.
As I tried to salvage the night, I looked around and saw what was happening. Some girls did get approached, including the one I had made out with who had rejected the guy outright. One blonde really got all the eyes in the bar and guys looking at her, she seemed to have Sienna Miller’s face with a volleyball player’s body. Now it became clear that she was the hottest girl in the bar that night.
After midnight, I would stick around for a few. For some reason in that night, something happened to me. The old college me would have pedestalized these women like crazy and I did, they were the hottest girls at the school for the most part (or close to it). As that night happened, I could easily spot at least five girls in the bar hotter than them. Throughout that night, it seemed like it was just those two that stuck together.
Just to see it transpire was odd. When I was in college, they’d walk into the bar and it would be like they were celebs. Now in NYC? It’s like they were a wallflower, a small fish in a big beautiful pond.
