Dating Cindy Crawford

November 6, 2015 - New York City, New York, USA

"I told you Friday night traffic was going to be a disaster," Gabe Bussio said to his wife, Natalie. "It's not my idea of how to celebrate a birthday."

"You gotta trust me. It'll be worth it," replied Natalie.

"And you made me put on a suit. You know I hate wearing this suit," said Gabe, taking his eyes off the road to look down at his gray, freshly dry-cleaned suit pants.

Natalie had been to the salon and was wearing her hair up. She had on a burgundy-colored dress she had previously only shown off at weddings. "It pays to dress up sometimes," she told her husband. "You'll see. Your mind is about to be blown."

Natalie had been promising a life changing experience ever since she insisted that Gabe come home from work early on his birthday. He had wracked his brain trying to figure out what she was planning and why they had to drive into the city. Some kind of Broadway play? She knew he did not appreciate that stuff. Did she get front row tickets to some kind of sporting event? If that was it, why did he have to wear a suit?
"Just tell me what we're doing," begged Gabe.

"Not a chance. I wanna see the surprise on your face. And I know how much you hate finding a parking space, so these directions are taking you right into a pre-paid garage." Natalie held up her phone, which had been dictating turn-by-turn instructions.

Gabe moved with the traffic into a section of Manhattan occupied by high-rise hotels. He was surprised when the voice on Natalie's phone ordered him to turn into the underground garage for one of the nicer buildings.

"This can't be right," Gabe said. "You put in the wrong address."

"No, this is it," said Natalie, happy to see the confused look on Gabe's face.

"What's going on? Are we staying here? We didn't bring any bags."

"Don't worry about it. We're not staying here, at least not overnight. Look, there's our parking spot. By the elevator."

Gabe got out of the car and looked for clues to explain what might be happening. Natalie led him to the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the floor labeled "Ballroom."

"Is this some kind of dance?" Gabe asked nervously. "If it's a dance, I'll get right back in the car."

"No, it's not a dance," Natalie laughingly assured him.

When the elevator doors opened, they walked into an elaborately decorated hallway with crystal chandeliers on the ceiling and walls painted a shade of gold. Oversized artificial flowers stuck out of vases meant to look antique and expensive.

Natalie walked from the hallway into a reception area for a large meeting room. Gabe caught his first clue as to what was ahead of him when he glimpsed a printed sign resting on an easel. The sign welcomed guests to a dinner for Love Our Children USA. Natalie pulled two formal looking tickets from her purse and showed them to a tuxedo-wearing attendant.

"Thank you," said the attendant. "You'll be at table twelve, on the right side of the room. Your names are on the place cards. Feel free to mingle and enjoy the drinks and hor d'oeuvres."

The inside of the meeting room was filled with circular tables covered in white linen and set for dinner. Groups of dinner guests, wearing suits and gowns, were gathered into clumps while chatting and holding long drink glasses.