Cute men below!

I had one of those fuckfuckfuck moments last night.

I left work by 6:30 in order to enjoy the long, sunny evening (we just turned our clocks ahead this weekend). I did a little shopping on Rue Montorgrueil, enjoying the sights and vibe, and then started climbing those stairs to my apartment. I put my key in the door, turned and pulled. Nothing happened. I jiggled the key, pulled harder, and still nothing. Etc, etc, etc. I kept doing this, more and more frantically until I realized it wasn’t the key or my technique, but the door was busted and I wasn’t getting in. Fuckfuckfuck!

Naturally, I didn’t have the number of my landlord (trust me, I do now) and it’s not the kind of building where you can knock on doors, trying to track someone down. So I decided to wait out front, hoping for Alexandre to roll up on his bicycle.

As I sat chomping the baguette I had just bought, without the cheese I got to go with it (yes, I bought cheese and bread for dinner), I noticed there was a little office right next door, with people still working. Perfect. I could ask to use a computer and then access my work email, which had Alexandre’s phone number.

Okay, so that’s all the long way of saying, I was flustered and anxious, and only more so when I entered this cool little office where five cute hipster dudes were hanging out and working. I tried bumbling my way through the French explanation of what I needed and finally one of the guys told me in English to go ahead and use his computer. As I sat there, trying to retrieve this phone number, slowly pecking at the French keyboard, they all sat around talking.

Perfect opportunity to meet some guys, right? To make some friends? They run a little event planning company, right next door to my apartment. Perfect opportunity to score some party invites, right? I wish. They were so cute, but so damn aloof. Some random American girl just barges in their office, and it didn’t phase them one bit. They weren’t curious or concerned. And my French is such crap and my mind was racing, I wasn’t equipped to seize the opportunity.

Later, after Alexandre came and got me into my apartment (hopefully the locksmith came today to fix the door), AJ and I decided that the seeds have been sewn and seize the opportunity, I shall. We decided I should play the eager, smiley American—maybe a big American cross between Julia Child and Jessica Simpson—and bake those boys some chocolate chip cookies!