Jessica didn't realize what a scorcher it was before she started the 15 miles drive to work on the 101. Her red Mazda MX-5 Miata was an old friend. The book editor owned the car for over 7 years--bought it for herself as a graduation gift right out of UC Berkeley. Driving with the top down was perfect on a hot day. The temperature in LA on August 8, 2018, was intense--99 degrees.
Wearing a turquoise pants business suit with a purple short-sleeved top looked chic. The colors were a nice contrast to Jessica's strawberry-blonde curly hair. She had a thing--never wear shorts or mini-skirts in a sports car because it might draw unwanted attention from men in trucks passing by.
Suddenly, a work truck pulled in front of Jessica's Miata. Two men who appeared to be in their 30s sat in the back with lawnmowers. One was not wearing a tee shirt and had long shiny brown hair. He looked like he should be on the cover of a romance novel--like one she recently edited for a company division. Jessica tried not to stare at his tan chest and muscled arms. He was handsome. Then--awkward! The guy waved at her. She put her eyes down, thinking, "What a jerk." Thank goodness, traffic started moving: she accelerated to lose the truck. Within two minutes, the broken-down vehicle was out of sight.
It was a relief to get to work! Jessica focused on projects but found it hard to get the man in the truck out of her mind. The next day she took the same route and felt relieved, albeit a bit disappointed: she did not run into the man again. Thursday was busy. She had to attend a press meeting in Wilshire later in the afternoon. The phone rang all day, and Jessica was just about to turn calls over to VM. A call came in, and she picked up the phone and determined it would be the last call of the day.
"Hello," an unfamiliar male voice said. "Who's calling, please?" she replied. "This is Brendan. I saw you on the freeway yesterday and waved. I hope you don't mind me calling."
Her knee-jerk reaction was she did! "How did you get my number?" "I wrote down your plate. My cousin is in a motor vehicle and got your number. Would you have coffee with a guy who just does landscaping?"
At first, Jessica was irritated. But then she thought, 'maybe.' They stayed on the phone for an hour and met Sunday at a coffee shop. Initially, Jessica was worried Brendan was a stalker, but two years later, they married. The moral of the story is don't have preconceived biases. Be cautious but don't discount people just because they don't fit the same mold as you. Don't rule out someone who is different from you. Give them a chance.
Disclaimer-fictionalized version of a friend's similar experience