With that Cynthia logged off before he could say anything else.
The next three days waiting for Saturday to arrive seemed to creep slowly for Tony. Different scenarios kept running back and forth through his mind. The first scenario had him meeting her in the dense fog of San Francisco. Her telling him tearfully that she can't continue to be his friend. That the wounds from her last lover are still too strong and she couldn't bear to be hurt again. Then she would turn and quietly disappear into the mist.
Another scenario had it being a beautiful early spring day and she would appear in a light blue spring, low cut, mid-thigh length dress with a smile. She would exude of sexiness and her beauty would take him. They would touch hands, the warmth of her skin cascading through his body. She would smile and look him deep in the eyes and tell him that she "wants him". They would walk hand-in-hand to the nearest hotel room to disappear for the weekend.
But then, the negative scenarios would creep back in and he would imagine her spotting him standing there on a cold, windy and rainy day. She wouldn't get the right vibes. She wouldn't like the way he looked and would steal away before meeting, leaving him standing there; cold, alone, wondering if she would ever show.
Finally, Saturday, March 21, 1998 finally arrived. Tony rose mid-morning and slipped into some tan Dockers. He pulled a newly ironed polo shirt over his head, slipped on his boat shoes (no socks), grabbed a sweater and headed for his Silver Lexus LS400. He pulled out of his house and quickly hit 101 heading north. It was a beautiful day on the peninsula. He was hoping the fog had burned off in the city.
As he rounded Oyster Point, he could see the fog line was still hanging over the city. "Glad I grabbed the sweater", he thought. He glanced at the temperature reading on his dash and noticed the temperature had dropped 5 degrees to a cool 65, from when he started in San Jose. He grew nervous as his poor weather scenarios flooded his head. He new the microclimate of the area well. And even though the outside temperature was dropping rapidly, he could feel a little sweat start to form on the palms of his hands.
He began to realize that even though they chatted frequently via IM, he really knew little about her. He knew she was the second of three siblings, an older sister and younger brother. Her family was from Philadelphia and she was a middle level exec for some company in the city.
But what does she really want out of life? What are her passions? Does she have any strange habits? Will she really show up? The questions kept coming as he exited the freeway and dove up Third Street, turning into Kearny as he passed Market. Then taking a left onto Geary and then driving a few blocks to Union Square. It was somewhat still early in the day and he was glad there wasn't a long line at the underground garage. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard as he pulled into a space. "Right on time", as he noted the clock reading 10:54. A quick ride up the elevator and he walked out facing Macy's.
In San Francisco, it is hard to tell when the early morning fog and overcast will burn off. Sometimes it never does. He felt a chill as he exited the warm air of the underground garage and started to wish he hadn't left his sweater in the car. He looked up and saw a little blue sky that meant the fog shouldn't be around too much longer. The park and monument were behind him. He turned and strained to see if he could recognize Cynthia.
He looked down at his watch. "10:58, still a few minutes early", he thought. He circled the monument, and then found a bench near the memorial. He stared up at the obelisk pointing straight up into the sky. "Well, she wants to meet under a large phallic symbol. Wonder if that means anything?" Tony snickered to himself. Five past eleven and she still had not shown up. He tried to sit but his nervousness made him uneasy and he stood and started to pace. The thought of her not showing up now looming bigger in his mind. Then another five minutes passed and he began to worry even more. "She's definitely not coming," Tony thought in dismay. Then he swept the crowd again with his eyes, looking to see if she was stealing away in the distance.
Unknown to Tony, Cynthia had actually arrived fifteen minutes early. She stood on the third floor of Macy's looking out onto Union Square Park. Cynthia had thought she knew what she wanted. She was going to tell Tony that she just wanted to be friends. She couldn't bear to be hurt again so soon. But when she arrived she began to feel nervous. "What if he gets angry? What if I'm not strong enough to tell him? What if he breaks down?" All these nervous thoughts were running through her head. Not wanting to meet Tony with her anxieties running high she had walked across the street into the large department store to try to calm down.
She paced in front of the new spring dresses on the third floor trying to calm down, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted him in the park. She nervously played with her hair as she watched him pause to look up at the statue. She groaned slightly to herself as she, all of a sudden, noticed the monument was just another huge phallic symbol. "Hope he doesn't get the wrong idea", she thought to herself. She watched him circle the monument and then proceed to a nearby bench to sit. "He looks nice", she thought to herself. "But I would be crazy to dive into another on-line relationship. The last one was a disaster."
Cynthia watched as Tony then stood. She glanced at her watch and noticed it was ten past eleven. "Oh my god! I'm late and he's leaving" Cynthia began to panic. "O.K. just get this over with", she said to herself as she rushed to the escalator hoping he didn't leave.
She hurried down the escalator treating them as fast moving stairs as she took the steps two at a time; twice though she had to stop as she ran into the backs of people taking a more leisurely ride down and blocking her progress. She could only stand nervously, tapping her foot, as the slow moving escalator carried her down.
Finally reaching the street level floor she walked quickly towards the exit. The crowd thickened as she approached the door. Union Square and Macy's in particular is a popular local and tourist destination. Cynthia got behind a crowd of slow moving German visitors. She tried to dodge right and then left as throngs of people were streaming into and out of the store. She couldn't get around. "Hurry!" she wanted to scream. Finally outside the door she made her way around the small gaggle of tourists.
Seeing how the crowds thickened to her right and left, going to the corner light would take some time. Chancing it, she started to dodge out into the street. A taxi honked and she was barely missed and could feel the wind of the car as it zoomed past. Cynthia's heart was pounding from the near miss and panic that she might miss Tony. She saw a small clearing and dashed safely across the street then up to the stone stairs. She walked quickly up the stairs but then slowed to not give the impression of running and looking too anxious. She also wanted to catch her breath and calm down. She reached the top of the stairs and her eyes searched the crowd for him. But he wasn't there. She started to panic. Spinning around she started searching the crowd.
She could feel her stomach drop. "He has left", she thought to herself, "Damn, I missed him." She glanced at her watch and it read 12:15pm . "Why didn't he wait?" she sighed. "What should I do now? Maybe I can catch up with him. Which way did he go?" She glanced around again but there was a sea of people in the park, enjoying the art show set up that day. She resigned herself that she had missed him and turned to walk back towards the garage.
Then from behind her she heard a voice. "Cynthia!" It was a deep smooth voice. She held her breath for a moment, realizing she had never heard his voice before. "Cynthia?" she heard it closer. She turned and as he was approaching about 10 yards away. She saw the familiar figure from the picture he sent. He seemed taller than she imagined, about 5" 11". As he approached, he reached up to remove the same sunglasses he was wearing in his Alaskan picture. His eyes appeared and she was transfixed. She had never seen such deep dark eyes. They were mysterious, sensual and friendly all at the same time. She felt her heart flutter and couldn't discern if it was nerves or from the near miss with the taxi.
He had a quizzical look on his face that almost looked boyish. "Yes, you must be Tony. I recognize you from your picture." Cynthia finally replied. Then a smile flashed across Tony's face as he realized he found the right girl. Cynthia couldn't take her eyes off his face. She was mesmerized by his jet-black hair, deep mysterious eyes, strong cheeks and pearly white teeth that flashed behind his smile. She had never dated anyone of oriental descent and suddenly found herself mesmerized by his beauty.
Then she felt his hand take hers. She had not even realized she unconsciously reached out her own hand as a reaction to his outstretched hand. His touch was warm and he held her hand gently between the both of his.
