New Year s Eve

It was many years ago, but I remember it very vividly.
New Year's  Eve. Because of my life circumstances at a time, I thought it would be the dullest celebration ever. I was almost divorced, my kid was at my parents' house many miles away, and I had no one to wish me a Happy New year. Well, not quite that bad. I had friends, and I was 33, still hoping to meet someone good and caring, maybe even loving.  And although I was not to spend New Year Eve alone, as I was heading to my friends' place, there was no real chance of meeting anyone special on that particular evening. I knew that the party would be dull. Masha, her husband, me and my other friend, whose name was also Natasha, and who also happened to be freshly divorced, were not a particularly cheerful company.
When I dressed up and stepped outside, It was crisp and cold, lots of snow with bright moon and stars above, really beautiful.  The night was too pretty to be just an ordinary one. But I knew it was just a wishful thinking on my part.
We gathered around 11, as was Russian tradition- to say goodbye to the old year, and to meet the New one. Masha was not a great cook, but that was not the point. The point was not to be alone on New Year's Eve. So we ate our typical Russian dinner with whatever food rarities each of us managed to get.
Everything was going predictably routine, but as in a fairy tale, at midnight, the story turned magical. There was a knock on the door right after clock stroke 12. Two young men were standing outside. Not really complete strangers, as one of them, was the husband of another colleague of ours, who lived next door. I have to explain that at the time of this story, me and most of my friends lived in a suburb of St. Petersburg and were teaching at a local community college.
But let's go back to the story. The second gentleman was a brother of the first, who came to visit for the holidays. They came to borrow a guitar from Masha. It just happened that their party was dancing and singing just a few floors above ours. The men came in, took a good look at me and my friend, and probably decided that they preferred our company to the one upstairs. They did not leave.
And after that, It was no longer a dull evening for me particularly. It is hard to say what exactly made the evening special.  I do not think it was the love from the first sight, or maybe it was? Fortunately, I would never find out. The spark of interest between me and the " brother" was obvious. It created a magical mood when every word and every touch became full of special meaning. We talked a lot, we danced a bit. The connection was sudden, happy, weightless and it did not feel serious.
So when the party came to an end and we said our goodbyes,  it was with just a tiny touch of sadness and without any promises or expectations.
I never saw him again. One year later I left Russia for good. But that evening stayed with me through many difficult days, which followed- through ugly divorce proceedings, through bad relationships, through early years of emigration. I always thought and still think it was New Year magic, a sign of a hopeful beginning of my new life to be.