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"I got you that one in high school for your birthday if that's what you're talking about."
My brain was trying to work, scanning my memories.
"Who got me that gray shirt?" I asked, looking as confused as I felt. "Either way, I had this gray shirt with horses on the front and Isaac, way over in Seattle, had dreamed about those same horses the night before, so when I went into the restaurant, he was just staring and staring at the front of my shirt."
"Yeah, so much that when I ran into her the following day at her friend's graduation, I had to apologize to her for my behavior the day before."
"What were you doing at her friend's graduation?" Jesse asked.
"It was also his brother's graduation," I said. "It was a coincidence that we ran into each other, and he came up to me to apologize about the day before and tell me about that dream he had that made him stare in the first place. And… I don't know. In that time while we were talking… I… I liked him." I looked at Isaac. I had never told him this part from my perspective. "I liked him, and I knew he was staring at my shirt and it had nothing to do with being weird. We had a short conversation at the graduation, but it stuck with me. He stuck with me. Our encounter was brief, but I thought about him after that. I made a point of going back to the restaurant before I flew back to Georgia. I was secretly hoping I would run into him, but he wasn't there, and I didn't really have a plan B, so I left a note with one of the guys at the restaurant." I glanced at Isaac again. "It was really not intentional that I didn't leave a way for you to get in touch with me." I looked out at everyone else. "But I left the t-shirt at the restaurant with a note that only included my first name, so Isaac had no way to reach me."
"Yes, and I was bummed about it and having a conversation about it one day when this lady was sitting at my bar. Her name is Jill Phillips, and she's the lady who wrote this book." Isaac had a book in his hand and he flashed it at everyone. "The whole book is loosely based on our restaurant."
"So, the café in that book isyour restaurant?" Nick asked.
"Pretty much," Isaac explained. "This lady, Jill, was inspired by a story she heard about our restaurant, and she decided to set one of her books there. It's got three or four different storylines. But they're all love stories, and some parts are true. If you like romance, you can read it. But anyway, Jill, the writer, was pretty much done with the book, and then she heard me talking about that t-shirt incident with Ari. And she wrote it. She told the whole story about how Ari and I met with the t-shirt. She used real names and everything. And then she made up a bunch of facts about Ari and she made up an ending for us that has nothing to do with our real ending."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," my mom said, cutting in.
"You're telling me that youractual storyabout your My Little Pony t-shirt got written in a book?"
"Yes, but it wasn't my… it was a different shirt, but yes. Jill wrote the first part of our exact story in this book and then she made up her own ending."
"She was hoping Ari would contact me. That was the main reason she wanted to write it and add it. And she presented it as a book within a book. It was something that was fun for her."
"It was out for a few months before I read it," I said.
"Yeah, I just assumed she wasn't going to call."
"I had a friend of a friend who vaguely knew the story and read it, and weeks passed by the time someone took her seriously and word got to me about it."
"She was dating somebody else," Isaac said.
"I'm sorry," I said, directly to Isaac, only caring about his comfort. He grinned at me, and I held onto his hand. "So, my friend called and told me about the book when she finally read it, and I went and read it."
"And that's that book right there?" my dad asked.
"Yes. In this book, there's a story about Ari and Isaac, and when I read it, I knew I had to call him. I felt happy, and I wanted to contact him just like the girl in the book. I contacted the restaurant a few weeks ago, and we've been talking since."
"What's this supposed to be, some kind ofmeant to bestory or something?" Nick asked, teasing us in a jaded tone.
"Yes, Nick, it is," I said. "And it's a pretty amazing one."
"So, let me get this straight," Mom said, closing her eyes and shaking her head a little. "Your exact story is written in that book, and you read it and realized they were talking about you, so you called this guy up in real life?"
"And now you two are engaged or something?" Jesse asked.
"We're not engaged, but he's not some guy I just met, either. We really like each other."
"This is unbelievable," Mom said, still stunned. "I can't believe it. Is that book available to anyone?"
"Yes," I said. "It's on the shelf. She's a famous writer."
Mom shook her head, staring at us. "My mind is blown right now. This whole thing could be some kind of movie."
"Which is exactly why I am just now telling you. I've had a few weeks to let it process."
"My family all knew about it because Jill was in the restaurant the whole time she was writing it."
