Accidental Dating on My First Business Trip: Starbucks Serendipity

As the clock ticked down on my three-week business trip in the US, I arrived back at my hotel on a Friday evening after work, ready to celebrate my last weekend in the US before my return to India. Two beers down and in high spirits, I decided to treat myself to my usual dinner – a Subway sandwich.

“Good evening, Sir!” greeted the receptionist as I passed through the lobby.

She was an African-American girl, towering at about 5’10” with a cornrow style hairdo.

“Hi there! How are you?” I greeted her back.

“I’m fine, Sir! Hanging in there. How was your day?” she asked.

“Oh, it was great! In fact, the whole trip was great… and I’m all set to leave on Sunday night back to India,” I replied, feeling like a seasoned traveler.

“Oh wow! Did you come all the way from India? It must have been a long flight,” she remarked sympathetically.

“Yep, a full nineteen hours of airplane food and questionable in-flight entertainment,” I joked.

And then, silence.

“Well, I was heading out to grab a sandwich for dinner. Would you like to join me?” I blurted out, trying to break the awkwardness.

“Oh, thank you so much, but I already had my dinner,” she declined politely.

“Okay, no worries. How about a coffee then?” I quickly improvised.

She glanced at the clock and then back at me. “Well, my shift ends at 11 pm. How about 11:15 pm? Would that work for you?”

“Sounds perfect. Starbucks behind the hotel?” I suggested, feeling like a smooth operator.

“Sounds good. See you then,” she agreed with a smile.

I gave her a thumbs up and headed out to grab my sandwich, completely oblivious to the fact that I had just asked her out on a date in a classic case of accidental flirtation.

I arrived at Starbucks promptly at 11:15 pm to find her already waiting for me.

“Sorry, am I late?” I asked, feeling a twinge of guilt.

“No, no…the other girl showed up a little early, so I was able to get off work sooner,” she clarified with a smile.

She looked stunning in a black sequin dress, her hair impeccably styled… well, I suppose those cornrows did most of the work, and a hint of mascara accentuated her eyes, while I resembled a tired software engineer who’d just been caught in a coding frenzy.

We grabbed our coffees and found ourselves a spot outside, under the starry night sky. It was like the universe was conspiring to make this awkward encounter even more awkwardly romantic.

“So, what do you do?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“I’m a software engineer. I spend my days coding in C++ and my nights…well, also coding in C++,” I replied, trying to sound impressive.

“Wow, exciting stuff! And how are you finding your time here?” she inquired, probably hoping for a more concise answer.

“Oh, I’m absolutely loving it! I’m here on a three-week business trip, so I’m just on a B1/B2 visa for now. But my plan is to relocate permanently for work. I’ve got a consultancy helping me with the H1B visa application, but I’m still waiting on approval. It’s been about two months, and I’m hoping to hear back soon. The tricky part is, I can’t actually start working until October 1st due to H1B visa regulations. So, I’ll have to wait until then before I can officially resign from my current job in India and…” blah blah blah. I went on and on, delivering a monologue like Kartik Aaryan in the movie Pyaar Ka Punchnama.

I rambled on like a broken record, completely unaware that my endless monologue was slowly putting her into a boredom-induced coma. She was visibly resisting her yawn as best she could, but that did not deter me from spitting out more boring nonsense. It was supposed to be a romantic date, for heaven’s sake.

“…and I hope to move here by the end of this year…but the only problem is—”

“I think it’s pretty late for me. My mom would be worried,” she interrupted, looking at her wristwatch, as it seemed like a distant possibility to her that I would ever stop spilling my garbage.

“…that my consultant wants me to join in January,” I managed to finish my sentence despite her interruption.

“Oh right.” I continued, pretending to look at my watch, which clearly was not there on my wrist since I never wore one.

“Okay. We will complete our conversation some other time,” I agreed, attempting to save face.

By then, it was clear to me that she was not there to hear my nonsense. I was too much of a thickhead to read the signs. Of course, we never connected again. Two days later, I returned to India.