The Smoothie that Changed My Life

Yes, you read that right. A smoothie.

But let me start at the beginning...

I recently asked Mishka when it was that he first became interested in me. I was expecting it to be one of the romantic moments that have been forever been burned into my brain: when we watched The Illusionist together in the study lounge, our long walk back to my dorm in the dark, or even our first "date" when he asked me to The Nutcracker "as a friend".

Turns out it was much earlier than all that. And I have only the VAGUEST memories that the interaction even occurred. And yes, you guessed it- it involves a smoothie.

Let me give you a little background. It's my freshman year of college. Mishka is friends with my friends so whenever I hang with them (particularly when we hung out in the study lounge), Mishka was often there with us. Furthermore, I was on a meal plan which provided me with a few hundred "dining points" which could be used at the dormitory "late-nights" which offered chips, fries, burgers, sandwiches and... smoothies. I always had a ton of dining points since I was on a plan which provided fewer meals and I never seemed to be able to use up all my points by the end of the semester. So often, I would treat my friends to some fries, or a smoothie, as a break from all our studying.

So, though most of this is recreated from Mishka's memory, not mine, I will relate to you as best I can, the moment Mishka became interested in me:

It was a late night in the study lounge, and my group of friends was taking a well-deserved break and of course we headed down to late night. On this particular night, we decided smoothies were in order and so my group and I headed down (Mishka included). I guess I had never bought food for Mishka before, so he was a bit confused when I offered to pay for his smoothie. He was taken aback, assumed I meant for him to pay me back later. I said I did not.

Now, on the surface this seems a bit materialistic (as I pointed out to Mishka). 'Hey this girl buys me things... gotta put a lock on that." But the way Mishka described it, he was impressed by my generosity and kindness. He loved how caring and kind I was to be so giving without a second thought or an expectation of the favor being returned. Mishka is a pretty cynical person and can be quite pessimistic so I can actually imagine how striking this random act of kindness must have seemed to him.

So yes... in a way a smoothie changed my life. It started a chain of events which will culminate in the joining of two lives this December 31st. If it wasn't winter I would almost say we should have smoothies available as our "signature cocktails"

P.S. In case any of you are wondering he did pay me back. It was actually an early inside joke in our friendship. He said he would return the favor by getting me a smoothie of my own, and I teased him about it probably more often than I should have as a way of flirting (I'm not a very experienced flirter you see). Anyway, when I finally did get my smoothie, he had made it himself with his roommate's blender. He even made some for all my friends too :). Yeah, I'd say he paid me back! :-D