I lied. Interesting things happen to me quite regularly. Not only when I’m with Bennett. (You first met him in Adventures Happen.)

Like the other night, when Cassie, Alex and I were kidnapped.

We three rose when the lights went up for intermission. With not an empty seat in the theater, the hallway leading to the lobby was packed. We bobbed along at the edge of the crowd, avoiding trampling over the elderly and being barreled over by the young.

I was closest to the wall, so it was my eye that was caught by the gesturing man. He stood in the dimmer light of a side hallway I’d never noticed before. His presence was imposing with his beautifully tailored suit, polished shoes, powerful build and bald head. He talked into his headset and gestured to me.

I looked around to see if he was getting someone else’s attention, then pointed to myself and mouthed, “Me?”

He nodded “yes”, pointed to Cassie and Alex to include them in his gesture, stepped out of the shadow, took my arm and led me back into the narrow, dark hallway from which he had come.

I turned to see if Cassie and Alex were following. They were.

The din of the crowd faded as we turned a corner. The commanding stranger punched a button to call the elevator. It arrived. He gestured for us to get in, which we did. He followed us in and the door closed the four of us into this small space that was moving upward.

All of this took only seconds, with not a word spoken by any of us. The movement of the elevator made me aware of what I’d done; assisted in luring my friends into an enclosed space with a big, burly stranger. What was this about? What did he have in store for us?

He smiled, oh so charmingly and reassuringly and said, “Ladies, I have our private reception room all stocked for cocktails and snacks for our major donors. Volunteers are ready to serve. But, none of the donors came to this preview performance. Since I hate to have volunteers with nothing to do, you’re invited to be substitutes.”

Who would say no to this? No waiting in line for either the ladies’ room or the wine, plenty or comfortable chairs for lounging, nummy snacks waiting for us to sample. Plus, we got to take the wine back to our seats to sip during the second act.

Three weeks later I was hanging out with my friend Simon in his favorite hangout, The Eagle, when two of his friends walked in the door and straight to our stools at the bar.

I don’t know why I got cropped out of this photo. Friend Simon is in it.

Simon was chatting away, asking one of them about how things were going at the theater.  I perked up at the mention of a theater, tried picturing the bald guy in tee shirt and jeans wearing a beautifully tailored suit instead.  After he told me where he worked, I said,

“You’re the guy who kidnapped me!  Well, me and two of my friends.  Why did you pick us?”

He responded that we were well dressed, looked like we were having fun together and looked easy going.  Reinforcement that it pays to fuss about your clothes, hang out with people you enjoy and take it easy.