Finding Unexpected Love - Chapter 1

Meaghan Barnes had just turned 29 and she was mostly happy with the direction her life had taken. Career-wise she was doing great; she had graduated from Colombia University with a Master’s degree in architecture five years earlier and she had been hired by Weston & Co. Property Development in Washington DC almost immediately after she’d finished her education. She had worked hard and delivered great results on the projects she’d been involved in so far. Her boss was happy and Meaghan was fairly confident that she’d be promoted within the next year, hopefully before Christmas. She knew she just needed to stay focused and keep delivering great results.  

Meaghan’s best friend from high school, Kelly McIntyre, had studied history at Georgetown and despite graduating with honors she’d opted to get a teaching license and was currently working as a history teacher at a DC high school. Her main goal in life was to find a man, settle down and start a family of her own.  When Meaghan had moved to DC the two of them had rekindled their friendship and they were close friends. The only thing that caused occasional conflicts between the two of them was that Kelly kept pushing Meaghan to find a man and settle down too.  She had tried to set Meaghan up with several men, a few of the set ups had led to shorter relationships, but none of them had lasted for more than a few dates. 


Friday afternoon Meaghan was about to wrap up a few things before she left the office. She was taking what she felt was a well-deserved weekend off. After working six and seven day weeks for a couple of months; to keep up with her heavy workload, she looked forward to the down time. Now two of the three projects she’d been involved in were finished and her inbox was cleared for the first time in ages. Her iPhone started to warble in her pocket and she sent a silent prayer that the call wasn’t about to ruin her plans for the weekend; veg’ing on the couch in sweats while watching chick flicks, as she reached for the phone. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Kelly’s name on the screen.

“Hi Kel,” she greeted her friend. “How are you?”

“Hey. All’s good here, how are you? Do you have any plans tonight?”

“I’m good. My only plans this weekend involve my collection of chick flicks and my couch. This is the first weekend I’ve got off in ages. Why? Please don’t say you’ve got another blind date set up for me.”

“You have been crazy busy lately, so it’s about time you socialize a bit. I can hardly remember what you look like.”

“Har, very funny.”

“Seriously though; I’m glad you’re free ‘cause I’ve signed us both up for a speed dating session tonight. It’s supposed to be a premium one; all participants are required to be college educated.”

“Kelly, seriously? Speed dating? You know how I feel about that.”

“It’s going to be fun, and it’s only a 90 minute session. Nine men, nine women and we get 10 minutes with each guy. If it’s a complete disaster we leave as soon as it’s finished.”

Meaghan didn’t answer immediately; she just sighed heavily.

“Come on Megs, please? I already paid the fee for both of us and it’s non-refundable.”

“Promise me we’ll leave as soon as it’s over if it’s a disaster?”

“Promise! Does that mean you’ll come?”

“I’ll come. I guess Saturday and Sunday still leaves me with plenty of time for veg’ing on my couch.”

“That’s the spirit! It starts at 7:30, I’ll pick you up at 7, okay?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ve just got a few things to wrap up before I head out.”

“Great! See you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.” 
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It had been a long shift and Bryan Norfleet’s arms ached as he wheeled down the corridor toward the locker room. He was more than ready for the three-day weekend ahead of him. Bryan loved working as a doctor and after the accident that had left him a T-12 complete paraplegic three and a half years earlier he’d worried that he wouldn’t be able to continue his career. Fortunately the management at Georgetown University Hospital had been very understanding and assured him that whenever he was ready he could come back. About eight months after he’d fallen of a ladder while helping his brother paint his house he’d returned to his job in the emergency room at GUH, but after a few moths he had realized that he couldn’t keep up with the pace and do his job the way he wanted to in a wheelchair. After serious deliberation and several meetings with his counselor from med school and his boss he’d decided to move to oncology and he had been an oncology fellow for the past seven months.  So far he hadn’t regretted his decision.

Bryan had a well-established end-of-shift routine; first he wheeled into the restroom and removed the condom catheter and leg bag he wore at work. He had a bladder routine that worked well, but the unpredictable nature of his job meant it was sometimes a challenge to catheterize himself regularly and he didn’t want to risk an accident in front of a patient. He also wore the condom catheter at night, with a bed bag, to prevent nighttime accidents. When that was done Bryan moved on to changing out of the scrubs he was wearing and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt; changing pants took him longer than he liked, but there were some parts of being paraplegic there was no way around. When he was done changing he grabbed his bag from his locker and attached to the back of his wheelchair. After he’d made sure his wallet, keys and cell phone were in the pouch under the seat of his chair he wheeled out or the locker room and headed toward the bank of elevators. About fifteen minutes later he was wheeling toward his 2011 Audi A6 sedan in the staff-parking garage. When he reached the car he transferred to the drivers seat with practiced ease; then he lifted his legs into the car and finished up by placing his wheelchair, part-by-part, in the front passenger seat. 

Just as he entered his apartment in Georgetown his cellphone started ringing and he dug it out; it was his brother and best friend, Josh.  Josh was just a year older than Bryan and they’d been close since childhood; they’d shared many interests and had several friends in common.  Josh had been there for Bryan every step of the way while he was in the hospital and rehab after his accident and they were close; Josh was the only person Bryan trusted enough to confess his biggest fears and insecurities to. 
“Hey bro, what’s up?” Bryan greeted his brother.

“You and I are going out tonight! I’ll pick you up at 7, so be ready.”

“Sorry Josh, I just finished a 14 hour shift and I’m beat. My back is killing me. I have a date with my couch tonight.” Long days usually meant back pain in the area of his injury

“Oh, come on old man! It’s only 3 in the afternoon. Take some painkillers and take an afternoon nap. I’m sure you’ll feel better pretty fast.”

“What’s up since you want me to come so badly?”

“I signed us up for a speed dating session tonight. It’s supposed to be only for college-educated people. We’re not getting younger.”

“Speed dating?  You could’ve invited me to have my teeth pulled without anesthesia and I wouldn’t be less excited.”

“It’ll be fun. It only a 90-minute session, nine men, nine women, we get to spend 10 minutes with each woman there. The women rotate, so you don’t have to worry about getting around.”

“Why are you so eager about this? It’s not something you’d normally be so into.”

There was a sigh on the end of the line. “My co-worker’s wife is the hostess; apparently she’s had a hard time finding enough men to fill the session and he asked me for a favor. Please come? I’ll buy you dinner and I’ll be the designated driver for the evening if you feel the need for alcohol to get through the night.”

“Okay, but you owe me big time. I’ll drive myself though, in case you meet the lady of your dreams and want to have a drink or something after. Getting an accessible cab can be a nightmare. Text me the address to the bar and I’ll met you there at 7:15.”

They said goodbye and Bryan wheeled straight to his bathroom where he located a bottle of painkillers in the medicine cabinet. After he’d downed a couple of capsules he wheeled back into the bedroom where he transferred to the bed and pulled off his jeans, then he lifted his legs onto the bed and adjusted them. Since it was only a quick afternoon nap he didn’t bother to put on the AFO’s he normally wore in bed to keep his feet in dorsiflexion and prevent the pressure sores he was prone to get on his heels. Those and the condom catheter with the bed bag were the two main reasons he hadn’t taken a relationship far enough to reach the bedroom for the past three and a half years. He doubted he’d be able to find a woman that wouldn’t be freaked out about those aspects of his disability; he figured asking someone to accept his wheelchair was enough. 
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At 8:50 PM Meaghan was ready to get the hell out of the bar. She seriously doubted that some of they guys there filled the college-education requirement and she wondered why men that weren’t even capable of carrying a 10 minute conversation had signed up for a speed dating session. She made her way over to her final ‘date’ and she couldn’t help admiring the occupant appreciatively. He looked like he was her age, maybe a few years older, his dark brown hair was tousled and curled along the collar of his paid shirt. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows and revealed strong forearms and his shoulders were broad. Unfortunately he seemed to be very focused on his iPhone and Meaghan barely managed to stop a heavy sigh from escaping her lips as she slid into the seat across from him. The sound of the chair scraping the floor as she pulled it out caught his attention and he immediately put down the phone. He smiled and extended his right hand across the table.

“Sorry about that, I’m Bryan Norfleet.”

“Nice to meet you Bryan. Meaghan Barnes”

“Nice to meet you too Meaghan. So, have you done this before?”

“What?”

“Speed dating.”

“No, it’s my first time. My best friend signed me up without my knowledge.”

“Really? My brother signed me up without my knowledge and practically forced me to come.”

“Do you think you’ll do it again?”

“I doubt it. This is really not my thing and I think I’ve endured enough awkward conversations to last me for a year or three.”

“Me too. I haven’t been able to pull of a 10-minute conversation with any of the guys I’ve met so far. Apart from the one guy that gave me a lecture about his pet snakes. Definitely not eager to meet them in person.”

“Well, I don’t have pet snakes, or any other pets for that matter. Just wanted to get that out there.”

“Good to know,” Meaghan said with a smile.

“Listen, I know this isn’t exactly ‘by-the-book’, but would you like to have a drink with me when we’re done here,” Bryan checked the time. “I think they’re about to wrap things up.”

“I’d like that,” Meaghan said. Before she could say anything else the bell rang again and the hostess thanked them all for their participation. “I’ll just go find Kelly and tell her I’m not riding home with her, I’ll be right back.” 

A few minutes later Meaghan had told Kelly she’d be having a drink with Bryan and she’d just catch a cab home later. After a hugging her friend quickly she went to find Bryan again. It didn’t take her long to spot him and her jaw dropped. He was in a wheelchair; not the big bulky kind she’d seen in hospitals, but a compact chair with a sleek black frame, no armrests and a low backrest that came up to the small of his back. His sneaker-clad feet were resting on a single footplate and she noticed he had a bag of some sort hanging from the back of the chair. She noticed that his legs appeared thinner than normal under his dark jeans. He was talking to a man that bore a strong resemblance to him; Meaghan assumed it was the brother that had dragged him there. After a few moments the man left and Bryan looked around the bar. When his eyes met her he wheeled over to her.

“I probably should have mentioned this,” he said, gesturing to his wheelchair. He appeared to be insecure and self-conscious. “It’s just that the wheelchair often makes people awkward and scares them away before they even get to know me.”

It took Meaghan a few seconds to pull herself together; then she realized she liked Bryan and she shouldn’t hold his disability against him. “Well, I want to get to know you, so how about getting those drinks?” 

The tenseness seemed to drain from him, but before he could speak Meaghan’s stomach growled. “Hungry?” he asked with a teasing twinkle in his eyes.

“Um…yeah. I haven’t eaten since lunch,” she admitted.


“What about grabbing something to eat then? I wouldn’t mind something to eat either.”


“That would be great. How do you feel about Chinese? Mr. Yiu’s around the corner serves some of the best Chinese food in town.”


“Sounds good to me. Shall we? I’d hate for you to starve to death before we get to know each other.”


To be continued.....