Ronnie Bowen

The Blind Date Mixup Rush hour presses in like a tidal wave. I sprint through the maze of the busy city streets, already late for a meeting I fear I’ll miss. The subway hissed and I dashed into the swarm, weaving between strangers, dodging a stroller and the street artist, trying to make my train. Then I catch sight of you. Your eyes meet mine and light up with a warm, reckless brightness. A wave of kindness cracks your lips into a smile, and you push through the crowd towards me, breath heaving, urgency in every step. “I’m so sorry that I am late for our date,” You say, eyes searching mine. I stop abruptly as the world keeps moving. blinking, lost in the confusion of it all. You spoke again, softer this time, as if the city itself were listening and leaning in to hear. “You’re my blind date, aren’t you? The one I was to meet at eight.” Your hear tangled with a tremor of anticipation, and in that moment the noise dimmed to a hust around us. I could tell from the way your fingers trembled at the hem of your jacket that you believed in something, perhaps in possibility that the world hadn’t cast you aside yet, even if it hadn’t shown up on time either. The truth, sharp and undeniable, pressed at the back of my tongue, I couldn’t tell you the truth without breaking us both in the process. I smile and lean in closer. “You’re not late, you are just on time.” You laughed, a sound like a bell that had learned to ring despite the weather. We walked together, you leading with a confidence that suggested you had rehearsed this dance in a thousand different streets, a thousand different possible futures. I followed, letting the act become the anchor that kept us from drifting apart in the chaos. Ronnie Bowen, 30, Graphic Designer.