# Two Strangers Met on a New York Dance Floor 24 Years Ago. Here's What Happened Next

> Douglas and Brien crossed paths by chance in a New York nightclub, and their love has now lasted 25 years. Here is the touching story of this couple.

- URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/dva-neznakomtsa-vstretylys-na-tantspole-v-niuyorke-24-hoda-nazad-vot-chto-proyzoshlo-dalshe/
- Language: en
- Published: 2025-09-29
- Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Theaters, Hotels, USA, Food & Drinks

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Douglas MacTaggart first spotted Brien Convery across a crowded room.

It was Friday, April 10, 1998, and MacTaggart, a Canadian who was then 32 and living in San Francisco, had come to New York for a long weekend.

MacTaggart and his friend Nadine had spent the whole day exploring the city, capping off the evening with a nightcap at Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle hotel before heading to bed.

A few hours later, MacTaggart was woken up by Nadine's snoring. He glanced at the clock. The night was still young. He was in a city famous for never sleeping, so why stay in bed?

He got dressed, leaving his friend fast asleep, and headed out into a still buzzing Manhattan. On the street he hailed a cab to Splash, a gay bar on West 17th Street in Chelsea.

MacTaggart wasn't looking to meet anyone, but he was in the mood to soak up the atmosphere. Splash, which has since closed, was a big two-story venue with several bars and dance floors.

MacTaggart ordered a drink at one of the bars and settled in to enjoy the music.

That was when he noticed a man in a white T-shirt and camouflage pants standing with friends on the dance floor.

The white of the man's T-shirt caught the club's ultraviolet light, making him stand out from the crowd.

"He stood out on the dance floor," MacTaggart says today. "I thought, 'Oh, he's pretty cute.'"

The DJ spun another couple of tracks. When MacTaggart looked up again, the man in the white shirt was alone.

"I walked over and asked if I could buy him a drink," MacTaggart says. "And that's how we met."

## "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Brien Convery lived in New York, but he was hardly ever there. His job as a consultant kept him in Savannah, Georgia, from Monday to Friday.

Every year of his life up until he turned 31, he had spent the Easter weekend with his family in the Hudson River Valley. But that year, worn out from his weekly business trips, he called his mother and begged off. He wanted to spend the long weekend catching up with friends and enjoying the city he usually got no more than 48 hours in.

Like MacTaggart, Convery says he wasn't looking for a relationship, his work travel made it nearly impossible.

But Convery remembers seeing MacTaggart for the first time, and what he felt when MacTaggart crossed the bar toward him.

There was an "instant interest," Convery says.

The two men spent the rest of the night together, dancing, drinking and talking.

"We were there almost until last call, they didn't have to kick us out, we somehow knew it was time to go," MacTaggart says. "His friends left. And then I asked him, 'Do you want to go for a cab ride?'"

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MacTaggart loved Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's." During the cab ride, he told Convery the story behind Capote's supposed inspiration for his famous novella, a tale of two men who crossed paths during World War II, one of them on leave from the Navy. When the bars in town closed and there was nowhere left to go, they walked to Tiffany & Co. to gaze through the windows at dawn.

"It somehow fit the moment," MacTaggart says. He directed their cab driver to Fifth Avenue.

Before long, MacTaggart and Convery found themselves standing in front of the famous store, living out their own "Breakfast at Tiffany's" moment.

"It was an experience in itself," Convery says. "And from that moment on, everything was a special experience for the whole weekend."

## A Whirlwind Weekend

After the stop on Fifth Avenue, Convery and MacTaggart headed to Convery's place in Chelsea.

They said goodbye at dawn and made plans to meet later that morning at the Galaxy Diner, a now closed retro café with a space theme.

Back at his hotel, MacTaggart told Nadine what had happened while she slept. She laughed and agreed to join them for breakfast.

Meanwhile, Convery called his friend Jesus and invited him along. Convery and Jesus came up with an "exit" plan, just in case.

"This guy seems nice, fun and interesting," Convery recalls. "But if for some reason we don't hit it off over breakfast, I'll say, 'don't forget we have plans at Jim's in Brooklyn,' as a way to get out of the situation."

A couple of hours later, Convery, MacTaggart, Nadine and Jesus were sitting in a blue booth, drinking Diet Coke and eating turkey burgers.

Jim from Brooklyn never came up.

"I felt a great deal of trust in Brien right away, from the very start," MacTaggart says. "And I think his friends reinforced that, I could see how he interacted with them. And it just felt easy and free."

After brunch, the group wandered around Manhattan together. They went up the Empire State Building, visited Rockefeller Center and enjoyed strolling and talking.

"I actually knew a lot about New York that Brien wasn't familiar with," recalls MacTaggart, who loves museums and film locations. He remembers entertaining Convery with stories about New York's famous buildings.

"Brien, on the other hand, complemented it perfectly, because he knew all the places you could go dancing, some interesting spots for dinner," MacTaggart adds.

As the afternoon went on, the group found themselves walking through Greenwich Village.

MacTaggart and Convery noticed a street vendor selling silver rings. After looking over the wares, they decided to buy matching rings.

"It was spontaneous. But it was a kind of memento of the moment and the weekend, and it was a memento of friendship," MacTaggart says. "And as the relationship developed, the meaning we gave to the rings grew too."

On Sunday morning, MacTaggart had booked an Easter brunch at the grand Four Seasons New York hotel. He invited Convery to join.

"When he showed up for brunch, he was in a suit and looked very, very nervous," MacTaggart recalls.

The suit, MacTaggart adds, was "a complete change from the nightclub outfit from the night before."

The brunch felt more formal than any of their earlier outings, white linen tablecloths, chic surroundings. But MacTaggart, Convery and Nadine had a wonderful time, eating eggs and sipping champagne.

"I think it was still pretty easygoing, in a way, because we were both in that headspace where we weren't looking for a relationship, just kind of hanging out, going with the flow, with that outlook of, like, fun and carefree," Convery says. "But I think there was clearly a connection."

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MacTaggart and Nadine had tickets to a matinee of "Titanic," a Broadway show about the infamous ocean liner, later that day. MacTaggart asked Convery if he'd like to join them.

Afterward, the group had beers on the Chelsea Piers, looking out over the water. While Nadine and Convery chatted, MacTaggart excused himself and went over to the bar to use a pay phone. He called his airline and asked to move his flight a day later, to Tuesday morning.

On Monday morning, Nadine flew home. MacTaggart, Convery and Jesus rented rollerblades and skated from Chelsea to Battery Park. Convery and Jesus had a blast; MacTaggart, less so.

"I was pretty balanced and, let's say, a decent rollerblader," Convery says. "Doug, not so much."

MacTaggart and Convery spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun in the park, laughing at MacTaggart's rollerblading attempts.

The next morning, MacTaggart was flying back to San Francisco, and Convery was returning to work in Savannah. They rode to JFK airport together.

"We held hands in the back seat of the cab," MacTaggart says.

Their goodbye at the airport was "solemn," Convery says.

"I don't remember exactly what was said. But I just remember feeling, 'I'm saying goodbye. But I want to see him again,'" MacTaggart says.

And as soon as he got back to Georgia, Convery called MacTaggart.

He was going to Philadelphia the following weekend, he explained, would MacTaggart like to join him?

"I booked a flight immediately," MacTaggart says.

## Reunion at the Airport

When MacTaggart's flight landed in Philadelphia the following weekend, he waited to be the last person off the plane.

"Because of homophobia," he explains. "I didn't necessarily want to hug him and kiss him on the cheek in a group of people."

But Convery, waiting alone at the gate, worried that MacTaggart hadn't gotten on the flight at all, neither of them had a cell phone, so they couldn't get in touch. Convery just had to wait and hope.

Finally, MacTaggart came through the gate, and they embraced. When they got into Convery's car, parked in the terminal lot, Convery turned on his cassette player.

Convery had cued up the song that had been playing at Splash the night they met: a dance remix of the "Grease" hit "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

"As soon as I got in the car, I recognized it right away," MacTaggart says. "And it became our song."

Over the next few weekends, MacTaggart and Convery took turns visiting each other. They never had a conversation confirming they were in a long-distance relationship, they say the certainty they felt didn't need to be spoken aloud.

"I never once considered dating anyone else while I was seeing Brien. And neither did he," MacTaggart says.

A few months later, Convery suggested that he could move to San Francisco. His job was such that he could be based anywhere.

MacTaggart paused, wasn't it too soon?

"When is the right time to give someone a key to your place, let alone let them move in?" he recalls thinking.

But he came to the conclusion that "there's no right time, whatever feels right is right."

"It just felt right," Convery agrees.

"And it still does, we're in our 25th year," MacTaggart says.

## "A Julia Roberts Moment"

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MacTaggart and Convery moved to MacTaggart's native Canada in the early 2000s. They got married in Toronto on New Year's Eve 2004, shortly after same-sex marriage was legalized in Ontario.

Both men wore black tuxedos and gold ties. There was just one hitch, on the morning of the wedding, Convery discovered that his tuxedo still had the security tag attached. He rushed into town to try to fix it, but the store had closed early for the New Year's holiday. Luckily, a costume shop across the street was still open.

"I walked in and said, 'I need someone's help. I'm getting married in literally two hours,'" Convery recalls.

"Everyone in the shop pitched in. Everyone rushed to find a key to unlock the tag on the back of my suit, which I hadn't bought there, and finally someone found one in a box. They were able to get it off."

As Convery ran out of the shop, the people working there shouted their congratulations after him.

"I said it was my Julia Roberts moment, because it was so much like a movie where it might happen to her," Convery says, laughing.

For their wedding bands, Convery and MacTaggart used the silver rings they had bought that first weekend in New York.

"We'd been wearing them ever since, so it made perfect sense to use them as our wedding bands all those years later," MacTaggart says.

## A Life Well Lived

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Convery and MacTaggart sometimes take trips back to New York and San Francisco to retrace their old steps.

On one such return trip, they took photos outside the apartment where Convery had lived when they first met.

They find it fascinating, they say, to think about that time in their lives and the coincidences that led to their meeting.

"There are so many little things that nudged us toward each other," MacTaggart says, joking that Nadine's snoring was a "turning point."

They celebrate their anniversary on April 10, but they always reflect on the start of their relationship when Easter comes around.

"For us, I think it's special because it's spring, new beginnings," Convery says.

Still, Convery and MacTaggart also say they try not to dwell on the past or worry about the future. Instead, they focus on making the most of the present.

"We savor every day. Sometimes you take joy in the little things. Sometimes you take joy in the big things, but happiness is with us," MacTaggart says.

"In our relationship there's respect, understanding, curiosity," Convery says. "He's very perceptive and sensitive, and he also challenges me in ways that have helped me become a better person."

For MacTaggart, the goal is to live a life together that means "when life comes to an end, there's no doubt it was the best possible life for both of us."

"I think at this stage of life I have a good understanding of what love is," he says. "I think I've always loved Brien and I always, always will love Brien. And I think part of love is understanding how precious life is, and really how I can help Brien live the best and most beautiful life."