Chapter 1- Origins of two objects
Fate. That's one of the many mysteries of the universe. Are we on some kind of destiny to meet certain people throughout our lives, or is it just a series of coincidences? I've been a firm believer in that stuff. Fate, destiny, karma, you get it. I don't believe in coincidences most of the time, and throughout the course of my life, I met people who just reinforced my belief in it even further.
Being a bartender in New York, it's my job to work with drunk people and listen to their problems, but in all my life, never have I seen someone as obliterated drunk as one Ted Mosby on a late night in the November of 2005, and the events of the years that followed after that night.
My name is Oliver Blake. I'm that kind of bartender that you'd see in some bars in New York. Really friendly guy, always with something to say, and happy to listen to people and their problems, even if he has no idea what the hell they're saying. Yeah, that's me.
So what's to tell of a 23-year-old bartender in New York? Quite a bit, actually. I come from the town of Port Angeles in Washington state. I grew up loving adventures and stories indoors and out. I was very chatty when I was a kid, discovering that I was also just a good a listener as a speaker. I discovered my passion for bartending in these last 2 years, getting a degree in Econ at Columbia in New York in the process. Learning to be a bartender became one of my favorite things to do. I had one dream: to start and own my own bar. But going to New York to start a business, as I soon discovered, is easy as chewing rocks. Not long after that I met Ted Mosby.
It was a Friday morning in the middle of November. I lived in an apartment on the upper west side, in the same building as my best friends, Cindy and Juno. We had known each other for a few years. Cindy I met in school. In my Econ class a few years back, we had the Stock Trading project, investing fake money in the market. Cindy beat me by 3 bucks. In a way, after that, we became closer. That is, after the dispute I had with her after losing so close. Some time after that, when I was on a bartender shift near campus, I met Juno. After hitting it off I discovered that she was in my Econ class. My life was pretty good for a 23 year old college graduate living on a bartender's salary. So that one day in November, I decided to have some fun that day.
I threw on my hoodie, and started making plans. I decided a day of walking and hanging around would do me some good. New York is a big city to get lost in, and you don't even have to care about it, with so much to do.
I walked out of my apartment, and turned to lock up when I dropped my key. I leaned down to see a familiar person bump heads with me.
"Ow! Hey Cindy." I said
"Hey there, Ollie." She said. She handed me my key as we stood up.
"Ok, do we have the list?" Said the other girl over at the door. That was Juno. I knew both of them as roommates, but they were really different from each other.
"Yeah, Juno, we got the list." Said Cindy, groaning. She produced a slip of paper from her jacket to show to her.
"List? What list?" I asked.
"Juno insisted we have this crazy Hawaiian luau night. Inviting a few friends over and have a party in our apartment. You're welcome to join us if you got time tonight. You got time tonight, right?"
"Oh, yeah. No problem, Cindy. Got the night off."
"Aw, crap!" Said Juno, patting her jacket over.
"What is it this time, J?"
"My lucky pick's missing." I know the story of that guitar pick. She plays an insane bass solo at one show with it and she's suddenly unable to let it out of her sights.
"Hey, don't worry, Juno. I'll look out for it. In the meantime, since I got the day off, I can help you with the list if you want."
"Oh, thank god! I was hoping for that. We need these for the punch." Said Cindy.
She wrote something on the list, ripped it in half and handed it to me. I saw a few random items on it.
"Sugar? You're putting sugar in the store bought juice that already is, like 90 percent sugar? J, one of these days, I'm gonna understand you."
Clearly Juno wasn't listening to me, crawling on the floor looking for her pick. I then saw it on the ground right beside Cindy's foot.
"Yeah. That day isn't coming anytime soon, Ollie." Said Cindy
I then leaned down and picked it up.
"*tweet* hey, Juno." I whistled. "I found your pick." She ran up to me with that big smile that's barely vacant of her face.
"Where is it?" She asked, sweetly.
"Right here." I did the old "behind your ear," trick. She rolled her eyes, smirking.
"Oh, haha." She said. She started down the hallway with me and Cindy right behind.
"You're doing it." She said to me under her breath.
"Doing what?" I respond.
"Falling for her. It happens every time."
"I'm an exception, Cindy. You guys are my closest friends and I refuse to jeopardize that to get laid."
"Uh, huh. All guys are the same, Ollie. 'Kay? Remember that."
"Right. Because I think the same way as those fat-cat corporate assholes that are draining our economy. You must know about that. After all, you're getting a Phd in it."
Cindy didn't like it when I was acted like a wise ass, so she simply kept her mouth shut in frustration until we got to the elevator. I looked down at the list as Juno hit the button to call the elevator up to us.
"Ok, that's a lot of booze." I said, looking at the list. "Are you sure we're having a luau, or are we just going nuts with the drinking tonight?"
"I don't see why we can't get down tonight, Ollie. Let loose!" Said Juno, raising her hands. "Also, bring something sweet to add to the punch. Maybe some fruit?"
"Yeah. And maybe I'll develop a case of diabetes while I'm at it." I thought to myself.
We soon were down in the lobby, and we stepped out onto the street. It was a light drizzle, so I pulled my hood up. Juno, on the other hand, wasn't too happy.
"Damn it! I keep forgetting to put 'umbrella' on the 'things to buy' list" she said "I don't like the rain. They always say it's a bad omen."
"Juno, you're being ridiculous...again." Said Cindy. "Nothing will happen. Now let's go get our supplies. See you later, Ollie."
"Bye." I looked down at the list. Sugar, rum and a couple other things, plus Cindy wrote down she wanted me to contribute to the "Punch" side by buying a 12 pack of cans.
"Ok. Let's get started." I said to myself, walking off.
After about 4 hours of walking around New York for the different ingredients, I finally ended up at a market in the village, a shopping bag over my shoulder, with most of the supplies weighing me down. Then I remembered Juno suggested grabbing a fruit to add to the punch. I looked around to then see a man yelling out to passers at his cart.
"Fresh fruits! Fresh fruits! We freshly picked fruit from all over! Ma'am, you try these apples, and you will not regret it!"
I walked up. "Hi. I'm looking for something for a party tonight. You have any suggestions?" I asked.
"I know what you need." He said, pointing to me. "Goes great grilled on a barbecue. We recently had a big shipment of these fresh pineapples from Hawaii. Do take one!" He clearly wanted to be rid of one, so I accepted.
"Sure. Why not? You seem like the expert."
This looked like it would be one hell of a party.
I paid for the pineapple, and added that to the stuff I bought. I ran through the list one more time.
"Punch, sugar, rum, a pineapple...there's something missing." I said to myself.
I walked around for a while. I added 7-Up to the supplies, after seeing that on the list, but still felt I needed something else. I then realized what it was: I should do something nice for Juno. She said she needed an umbrella, so that's what I'd get for her. I stopped by a rain gear store on 72nd and stepped in.
"I got a great water repellant jacket with your name on it at 39.99." Said the clerk.
"Sorry. Don't need one. What I could use is an umbrella."
"Great. Take your pick." He said. He pointed me over to a rack of umbrellas. I saw ones of many different colors. Striped ones, solid ones, even one that was clear. I then saw one that stood out. I picked it off the rack: A bright, canary yellow umbrella. Nothing fancy on it or anything, but it seemed to be one that really stood out, kinda like Juno.
"This one." I said.
