My friend KL answered. "Its a surprise."
Oooh... I thought. A surprise. I love surprises. Even though, we live in Durham and one can only be "surprised" by one of four places, I still liked the sound of it. We get to Brightleaf and park the car. Anxious, I ask again, "So, Where are we going?"
KL says, "Pops! Have you ever been there?"
"Yes, on Monday... for my birthday dinner."
Like I said. One of four places. So we picked a new location. Piedmont. I'd never eaten there, but I heard it was nice. LH pulled out her iphone and got directions. "We can walk this," she says.
And so we walked... and walked... and walked... Still no Piedmont. Three girls walking around Durham at 9pm armed only with cell phones, credit cards and cameras, probably not the best situation to be in... So we decided to go back to the car and drive to the restaurant.
On the walk back to the car we played the game, "Who do you see in your cabin in a horror film?" We picked people from school. And no, this isn't a 'who do you want to see dead' game... even though inevitably by nature of the theme all but one or two will have to die. This is more picking people from your life, people you go to school with, work with, etc who fit the stereotypes one would see in a horror movie. We played this game all the way to the car and until we got to the restaurant. After we were seated, we finalized our list of the ten lucky individuals chosen to be brutally murdered out in the woods. For good measure, I included myself... And we laughed over our list until the waiter brought the wine list.
We decided on the Luberri Rioja Crianza, Biga, a nice Tempranillo. After ordering, I looked around the restaurant at the other patrons. One in particular caught my eye. I was overcome with a sense of familiarity. No. Couldn't be."KL, I would swear that man sitting over there is Colin Firth."
"No. What would he be doing in Durham?"
LH leans in from across the table. "I can't hear. What are you whispering about."
"She thinks that Colin Firth is sitting over there."
LH's eyes widen. "Are you serious? Oh my God I love him."
"I swear its him!" I said.
LH's back was to him, KL was angled in a way where his back was to her, and all I had was a side profile and a hunch.
KL whipped out her blackberry and LH her iphone. Turns out Colin Firth and Orlando Bloom were current filming their upcoming film "Main Street" in Durham.
I was 99% positive it was him, we just needed to be sure. He got up from the table and left the restaurant. The plan was that when he came back, we three would turn and look at him to confirm. When he re-entered, we turned and looked at him, then back at eachother.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its Colin Firth!!!" I screamed in my head.
LH says in an excited whisper, "It's Mr. Darcy! And he's drinking our wine!"
We all start frantically texting friends and family.
LH received a response text from her friend, then she looks at us and says, "D wants to know if she can bring her Pride and Prejudiced mug with his picture on it, for him to sign."
I look at her. "Umm... no. Absolutely not."
What?!
Anyways, we spend the rest of the meal trying to figure out our plan of attack. We knew we shouldn't interrupt his meal, but we did want to talk to him, so that left us with one other option. Wait. So that's what we did. We waited. We had almost everything we could have ordered from the menu. And finally, after two and a half hours, just when we'd run out of things to order, they finally got up. His wife and their friends headed for the door and he went in the opposite direction towards the bathroom.
Could this set up be any more perfect?! After two minutes of, You do it. No you do it. What would I say? I don't know! You do it. No you do it. But its your birthday... Stalemate.
Fine! I'll do it, I said.
As he walked out of the bathroom, I jumped up from my seat. I don't recall exactly what I said, because its all kind of a blur at this point, but I do know that I didn't sound like someone who'd just celebrated her 29th birthday.
"Colin, umm, I'm a big fan... Love your work... Really love your work... I'm just such a big fan... Like a really big fan. I might as well have added, Can you sign my Teen Beat please?! Wait till the girls at school hear about this!"
If LH hadn't stepped in to salvage the conversation, I don't know what I would have done. "So, what brings you to Durham?" She asks casually, as if she didn't finish reading the imdb synopsis on her iphone.
He chatted with us for about 5 mins. Us being LH as all I was good for was a blank stare and awkward smile. Then at the end of our convo, I stepped back inside of myself and mustered up the courage to ask him for a picture. KL did the honors.
"Smile," she held up the camera.
Okay that one was blurry.
One more time.
"Smile..."
How was that?
Umm... Perfect.
Thanks so much Colin. Enjoy the rest of your time in Durham!
And just like that, Mr. Darcy was out of our lives.
I looked at the picture. "What the-?!" I gave KL a look.
"I was NOT going to ask for another picture."
She was right. Not that I needed a picture to remember that night.
"Where are we going?
Its a surprise..."
And what a surprise it turned out to be. I remember nothing I ingested that night, and still it was the best 2 and a half hour meal of my life. Well worth the additional calories. Colin Firth was the nicest man ever. He's definitely still got a fan in me. I've seen almost everything he's ever been in and I have every intention of seeing his upcoming film, Main Street:
From the once thriving tobacco warehouses, to the current run-down and closed shops of Five Points, a diverse group of residents and their respective life changes when outsider Gus Leroy (Colin Firth) brings something new and potentially dangerous into their quiet town.
Filmed in our very own Durham, North Caroilna. I've spent my whole life in Los Angeles, frequenting the bars and restaurants that glaze the insides of People and US weekly, and I see Colin Firth in a small restaurant in Downtown Durham. If that ain't fate, I don't know what is. Best birthday ever! :)
1 comment:
"Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!"
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