A rom-commers guide to a Rom-com

Ellie Life was beautiful. Waking up to the birds chirping outside my window while laying in my very soft, very second hand bed sheets and facing the bright New York sun was one of the best ways I loved spending my mornings. is what I would say if it was actually picture perfect like I envisioned it to be. Today's weather was far from what I wanted it to be, it was gloomy and foggy and very much looked like it was going to rain any second from now. And on days like this all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and spend the whole day hibernating and for lack of better wording...rott. To say the least... But no, I had to do the one thing I dread the most these days, go to work. I don't hate my job, but I don't particularly enjoy it either. Today was one of those days where it was bordering on the latter. To make matters worse I was having a very interesting dream with a mysterious stranger I couldn't even remember much because of the blaring sound of my alarm. Damn you adult job. Sighing, I get off begrudgingly from my bed, making my way towards the bathroom for a quick shower. After showering, I head to my closet to pick out an outfit that doesn't scream 'i don't really like my job but the bills need to get paid' I didn't have enough time to individually ponder different clothing options so I go for a white puffed short sleeve top with a rounded collar and a brown pencil skirt and burgundy red flats with tights. Accompanied by a coat and a scarf. Breakfast consisted of toast and eggs and after that it was time to get to work. walking down my street was usually an effort on it's own, it may as well be a race between me and the many unfortunate disasters that could be fall me before I got to the office. I once tried to walk down my street on a relatively good Monday morning, when Miss Parker, our resident dog loving neighbor came out for a walk with her dog, we exchanged pleasantries and nothing less of the "when you are getting married and settling down Ellie dear?" question when her dog clover thought it best to mistake my foot for the grass and very strategically marked it's territory on my shoes. Needless to say I threw those shoes away and never wanted anything to do with them again. It was either unfriendly neighbors dogs, or teenagers mistaking my head for their goal post or the gum on the shoe fiasco and the list went on. And I really didn't need any more incidences added to the list. "Ellie! Ellie my dear!" And there was the lovely miss parker now. I briefly contemplated continuing my sprint down the street and pretend like I didn't hear her but it was too late, she was already flagging me down with her Chihuahua, tucked safely in her arm. She crossed the street from her two story house to my side of the street, her red converse heels making click clacking sounds against the pavement as her bright neon green workout set contrasted to the gloomy weather we were having. I always wondered why she dressed the way that she did, but nowadays I guess they're just calling it freedom of expression. "How're you doing dear?" She asks me, her bright smile painting her face in a pleasant way. She was always in a cherry mood everytime I saw her. Although her smile did nothing to hide the mischief I could see in her eyes. I plaster a calm smile on my face, making sure to keep my annoyance to myself. Miss parker may be who she is but she didn't need my grumpy mood this morning. "I'm doing fine miss parker, and you?" I ask her. "I'm doing splendidly!" She says, trailing off as she adjusts clover in her arms, shifting from foot to foot almost nervously. Oh no... I sigh, already feeling the need to flee from this conversation. "Well I should get going now Miss parker, have a nice day" I don't even make it two steps before she clutches my elbow, stopping my stride. "Well here's the thing Ellie, my son is coming into town this weekend and I wanted you two to meet each other, you know, get along..." She beams wildly at me as if she's just given me the biggest solution to a problem I didn't know I had. That explained the mischievous look in her eyes. I heave a sigh, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "Miss parker..." I start, only to be interrupted. "Oh I know dear, "you don't have time for that" as you've told me several times before", she says with quotation marks. "But my son isn't like all the other boys I've introduced you to" She pleads, clutching my arm in a desperate attempt to get me to agree to another one of her match making conquests. it's going to be another failed match making attempt I'm sure. This is isn't the first time Miss parker has tried to set me up with one of her "friends". One time she introduced me to one of her book club ladies son. It was the first time she played match maker and I agreed because she was so persistent about it. If I had known what a string of disasters her match making skills were going to be I wouldn't have agreed. "I'm really not in the mood for another one of your match making miss parker, I've barely recovered from the last one" I said. And I truly hadn't recovered from it. The last date was with a guy named Ian who thought it would be a fun idea to take a walk around the park. As we walked side by side and I listened to him talk about his socks collection, some teenagers rode their bikes too fast and were heading towards our direction, before I could escape from their path, Ian chose to save himself and push me into the direction of the bikes, while he ran away without sparing a glance in my direction. Thankfully I happened to pick myself up from the ground seconds before the bikes came towards me and trampled the grass that would've been my body. Needless to say I have no interest in going on another date with anyone Miss Parker set me up with. She waves her hand dismissively, rolling her eyes as she says, "You can't stop dating because of one bad experience!" I was surprised at how large my eyes had gotten and how low my jaw dropped due to the pure shock of her words. One bad experience?! I held the bridge of my nose as I released a sigh, trying (and failing) to keep my composure and not scream while I grabbed my hair, simultaneously ruining my perfect hairdo. "One bad experience is a heavy understatement miss parker, I've had multiple bad experiences with the suckers you set me up with" I said, stretching the word multiple. she frowned, "So you're not going to give my son a chance?" "No" "What if I said he was eager to meet you?" she says with a terse smile. I shook my head, "No, I believe you should set your son up with someone more interested and that person isn't me" "But he's very handsome!" She says in a sing song voice as I turn around and out of the conversation. "Not even if he was handsome" I was officially done with going on dates. Thankfully I managed to make it work on time, perks of showing up at the office an hour early before I had to clock in.