OMC - How Bizarre

I dropped out of college and started dating a schizophrenic. I was a dumb kid. So to pass the time, I got a job in Cary at a hotel, a Courtyard Marriott. I worked at the front desk, checking in guests with some kids who became my closest friends. Some came and went overnight; some stayed for years and are still there, 10+ years later. I still dream about that place sometimes.

One of the random people that came in and out of the courtyard was without a doubt the most beautiful woman I had ever met. Her name was Nicole Mugabarabona (I think is how you spelled it). She was from Burundi. She married a tiny Jewish guy from New York who was in Africa with the Peace Corps. He married her and brought her to the glorious Westgrove Towers of the sprawling metropolis of Western Blvd behind the K-mart. She was going to Wake Tech to get a degree in hotel and restaurant management while her husband finished his degree at NCSU.

Nicole was gorgeous. Like, Naomi Campbell, but prettier, if that's possible. She was the first person I’d ever met (until I started dating a Vietnamese guy) that had no body hair except the obvious places. It never occurred to me until I met her that people who lived in hot places didn’t need arm hair. She was the most completely un-shy person I’d ever met. She was hilarious and random and had no idea how amazing she was. I talked to her about all kinds of weird stuff. I was the first person to introduce her to a Thrift Shop. We went to the American Way on Capital Blvd and I swear to God, she filled 4 shopping carts full of jeans and spent $500 on clothes to send to her family and friends back home.

Now that you know a little bit about her, I will explain how this song comes into play. We front-desker’s had a little back office area at the Courtyard and we had a little bedside alarm clock that we would leave on G105 during our shift (3-10pm).

One night, Nicole is back there sitting; eating dinner or something, and this song is on the radio. Suddenly I hear her sigh very loudly and say, “I HATE THIS SONG!” and I walk around the corner and I ask why? She says in her adorable and gorgeous Hutu accent, “What is in the face? They say, ‘Every time I look around, it’s in my face…’ but they never say what is in the face. I hate this song so much.”

Every time I hear this song I think of her and I laugh laugh laugh.