She had to admit that their first date was unusual.
They had met in the supermarket. He had helped her pick up cereal packets that had tumbled down from a shelf. They had chatted a bit about the pros and cons of having to shop and before she knew it, they were in a nearby café drinking coffee. It was there that they arranged their first date. She had a spare ticket to the concert owing to her workmate getting sick at the last minute with some stomach bug that had her confined to bed. He was keen to accept the offer and the evening had gone really well. He lived some distance from town and had arrived by bus. They met at the bus stop and managed to enter the venue early.
She had finished cooking and was fussing over the final touches to her makeup, and thinking about the evening they had enjoyed together. The entertainment was good, with the group giving a great performance with the usual backdrop of psychedelic, digital effects. Afterwards, waiting for his bus, they had arranged the evening that was now upon her. She was nervous and constantly telling herself to get a grip. They had seemed to hit it off so naturally, she felt that this may well be the start of something significant in her life.
As she had a car and he didn’t, they had agreed with the idea that when his bus pulled in, he would give her a buzz; probably around seven. She said she was happy, at that point, to drive across town and pick him up. She looked at her phone. He was running later than planned, but he’d said the buses could be unreliable.
An hour later, still no call and, her heart began to sink. Two hours later, she had cleared things away, tidied up and gone to bed.
Her mobile, pugged in and charging across the room, remained silent…