Tales of The Encounters with Strangers

The Handsome Women

    My freshman year my cousin took me to a concert for an artist we both enjoyed. The music was amazing, and we danced the night away. A drunk lady next to us spilled het beer down the my cousins back, and I was thrown a rose by the arist herself.
    After the concert we decided we wanted to meet her, so we waited outside the venue. There were a ton of people, but I wanted to meet her so badly. My cousin didn't even want to wait with me because is was mid-January, and below freezing. It took quite the amount of convincing, but I got her to stay. I needed to meet this artist. Her music found me in a time I need something to ground me to real life. I only wanted to thank her for what she did.
     As we were waiting a women with a cigarette stood next to me. She was very handsome, short, and had a red flanal on. I could only see the side of her face, but it was very strong,and the scent of her cigarette sent me into a dizzying daydream about what her life was like. I imagined a studio apartment for her, her long term girlfriend, and her adorable pitbull named Rosko. I wanted to believe that she had an amazing life even though I didn't even know her.
     I was snapped from my daze when I heard this women say "Hello". She was facing me, she had crows feet around her eyes, a wide smile, and a longer face. Her eyebrow had a piercing in it, she had snake bits in her lip, and cuts all up her forearms. When I saw them, I wanted to cry, because my thigh had a scar just like those. I was smart, I'd cut in the exact same spot, so as to avoid suspicion. If anyone ever did question it, I'd just say I cut myself on a corner. One ever knew about my cutting. I think I was too afraid to admit it to someone because I couldn't admit to myself that I had a problem.
     I said "Hello", and proceeded to spill my secrets to this complete stranger that had to have been at least 20 years older than me. I told her about my cutting, my disorder, my anxiety, my love of music, my sexual assualt story. I bared my naked soul to her. She in turn, did the exact same.
    I don't remember her name, but that night she didn't just have a conversation with me, she left a signature in the pages of my life, an uneraseable mark on the walls of my existence. Her heart and struggles allowed me to be completely vulnerable, not to her, but to myself. And for that I will be eternally grateful. That night I wasn't there to meet a singer. Destiny had her own plans, she willed for the both of us to meet, and I would like to think, changed both our lives for the better. I will never forget the Handsome Women