They had met in an online café, a series of 1's and 0's floating along in the sea of binary numbers.
Unbeknownst to them, they were sitting only 30 feet apart when their interaction first began. He was browsing, saw her profile and initiated contact by sending a message greeting her. He went to the same Café almost every day, yet he never noticed the other patrons there.
It took her a week to reply. Although he visited almost daily, she would only go the Café once a week. He was sitting there when he heard the familiar "ping" that indicated he had a new message.
His pulse quickened. He always got so excited to get a new message, yet most of the time it was for naught. This time would be different, he just didn't know it yet.
She was sitting less than 30 feet away when he pinged. He even looked around when he heard it, as if assassins were stalking him. This went unnoticed because most of the patrons were absorbed in their own electronic worlds of chatting and browsing.
He opened the message and his pulse quickened. It was a real reply and she wanted to chat with him. He quickly typed his reply.
She received his reply and smiled to herself. She had not been happy in quite a bit and while there had been others that she had communicated with, this time it felt different.
Although they knew nothing of each other, there was an odd connection within both of them. They chatted for a bit, then it was time to leave. He got up from his seat, headed for the door and as he did, she did the same.
He tossed his trash into the garbage can near the door and left. She followed behind him, just seconds later.
Would he recognize her if he saw her? Would she know it was him? Only time and fate would tell. What if this ended up being like all the others that went nowhere, not even a face to face meeting? He wasn't sure but this felt different, this felt nothing like the rest. Maybe he could finally be happy again. He had no idea but she was wrestling with those same feelings and sentiments.
The next day he was in his usual spot at the Café. Although she usually only came once a week, she decided to come again today because she had enjoyed chatting with him so much. When her message came through and his device went "ping" again, his heart actually skipped a beat.
'She's on again', he thought.
She had told him yesterday that she didn't get on every single day, so he wasn't expecting to hear from her today. Yet as he sat there with his cup of hot tea, she messaged him and made this dreary day brighten considerably.
Did she know what she was doing to him? Was this intentional? Could she be like the rest and simply be playing games with him? He didn't think she was like the rest. He couldn't explain how he knew this, it was just an intense feeling. He thought himself to be a fairly good judge of people so he really didn't think she was playing him.
While she sat just a few feet away with her coffee, she mused. Could he really be as good in person as he seemed to be here in the messages? He seemed almost perfect in her mind, exactly what she had been searching for, yet was he too good to be true? She sat there typing away, getting lost in her own thoughts.
They chatted most of the day and near the end they decided on a meeting. 3 days later they would meet for a lunch date.
She picked the place and time. This made her uncomfortable because she didn't like making such decisions, but he still insisted.
She had a prior engagement and thus would miss the next 2 days of chatting with him. She dreaded the loss of contact with him. He likewise was dreading the next 2 days without hearing from her, his thoughts already running wildly.
'This really was a game to her', he thought.
Was she married with a family? What was so important that she couldn't even take 5 minutes to say hello? His mind told him that she would stand him up in 3 days. He would probably arrive at the appointed place and time and find out she wasn't anywhere to be found.
What would he do? She wouldn't be there to chat with him. He didn't want to chat with anyone else, only her, so why bother? Again, he got up, threw away his trash and left, just as the day before. She left just a few seconds later, just as the last time.
He skipped the Café the next day, but the day after he decided he had to go see if she had messaged him. Their meeting was planned for tomorrow, would she actually show? When he arrived and logged in, he was surprised to find a message from her.
It said that she had been thinking about him a lot and just wanted to say hello. She was very excited about lunch the following day and couldn't wait to meet him. Throughout their conversations there had been a strong sexual tone to it, although sex had not been discussed. And being a former boy scout he adhered to their motto, "Be prepared for anything."
He woke the next morning early. He was excited, today was the day, the day he was supposed to meet this girl that he had been chatting with for over a week now. He began getting ready with a spring in his step.
Meanwhile, she got nervous and decided she wasn't ready to meet him, even though she enjoyed chatting with him immensely. She got dressed anyways. She was going to the Café to at least message him and let him know why she didn't show up.
While he waited at the restaurant for their lunch date, she sat at the Café and messaged him. She hoped to soon get a response from him. He waited for an hour then decided she was a no show and went to the Café to see if he had any messages. He guessed she was like all the rest, but it really didn't feel that way. How could he have misjudged her this badly? Why did she do this to him? Walking away he kicked himself for yet another failure.
She waited for a reply. Why? She had no idea. Surely both of them hadn't chickened out on lunch, surely he was there waiting for her, yet she waited and hoped for a reply.
After an hour when no reply came she decided she would leave. She began to gather her things and headed toward the door. As she got to the door, a guy was approaching from the outside. He held the door for her and greeted her.
"Hello, how are you today?"
She smiled at him and stepped outside, averting her eyes because she was shy. She meekly replied, "Hello. I'm fine, thank you."
She then turned and quickly walked away. As she did, she felt drawn to this man like she knew him from somewhere, yet she had never met him before. She was almost certain of this. But there was a familiarity that she just couldn't place. She felt a stirring deep within her and thought, 'Could this be something?'
As she walked away, he stood there holding the door open. Becoming totally captivated, he watched her walk away. He almost called out and ran to her, but he didn't. Instead he just stood there mesmerized watching her disappear with every step.
After she was gone from his sight, he wondered if she had even been there to begin with or if he had thought up of the whole thing.
He walked inside, got his usual hot cup of tea and sat down, still thinking about the girl he just saw. He was still a bit upset about being stood up, but he couldn't get that girl off of his mind. He decided to check his messages and logged on. He saw he had one from her.
Would he actually open it to see what excuse she offered? Surely that's what this was, the offer of an excuse and maybe even an apology for not showing up today. If only he had checked his messages before he went, maybe it would have saved him the time and embarrassment, but then he wouldn't have seen the girl and she was still running through his mind.