Blind Date

The sun gleamed brightly at high noon, Howard sits alone outside of the cafe leaning back on his chair looking at the sky. His hair is stroked back with light gel, he is wearing a light brown suit with his jacket off, and has a faint scent of a vintage cologne. 

 "What am I doing here," he thought to himself. 

He leans forward in the chair to see a violet rose in his hand and a small yellow paper attached to the side of it. He took the paper and opened it to see what it said:

Things to remember on a blind date:

Be polite and smile

Greet them and introduce yourself

Don’t be nervous to get to know them

Crack a few jokes

Have fun

“Oh crap, I’m on a blind date? ” He gets up and starts stretching his arms and touching his toes, “gotta shake off these nerves," he says, chuckling to himself. “I wonder who I am going to meet,” he thought, continuing his stretch.

“Hi,” he hears behind him. He is in the middle of touching his toes and scrambles to straighten up, almost tripping. He turns around to see a woman in a grey dress with a small handbag in her right hand, her hair is tied in a ponytail with a purple ribbon, and she has a sweet aroma. The sight of her left Howard stunned and thought, “how could a woman be this beautiful?”

“Ohh wow, my… uhh my name is Howard, who might you be,” he asks in a shy manner.

The woman giggles, “My name is Susie, and I am your blind date.”

Howard’s eyes light up, handing her the rose,“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, and you are looking splendid this fine afternoon.”

“Thank you,” she giggles while receiving the rose, “Purple is my favorite color. ”

“Alright, so far so good,” he thought to himself.

“Let’s go inside,” he reaches to hold the door for her.

“Thank you,” she says with a bright smile.

Once Howard walked he was bedazzled with a strong, extraordinary scent of coffee. The cafe has always been a peaceful spot for Howard to drink at before and after work. Susie took a seat at the front counter, so he followed her. The barista comes behind the kitchen and kindly greets the two.

“Hi, it’s to see my regulars again,” says the barista, “what could I get started for you?”

“I’ll take a vanilla latte,” says Susie

“A black for me, no creamer, just give me sugar.”

“Okay, that’ll be out in a moment,” explains the barista as she goes back into the kitchen.

“Would you look at that, you’re a regular too,” Howard says impressively.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, I come here too,” she says quickly. 

“Hm, maybe I caught her off guard. I have to remember that she may be nervous too,” Howard thought to himself. “So, Susie, what do you do?”

“I do many things, you gotta be specific,” she says teasingly.

“Alright, then what do you do for work?”

“I am an art teacher at Harrison elementary school. Well, I used to be the teacher’s assistant until I was promoted to his position after his unexpected leave.”

“Oh wow, what happened to the other art teacher?”

“He got into a really bad car accident that landed him in the hospital, where he still resigns. It was quite terrible,” she says looking down with a faint frown.

“Oh, well I’m quite sorry to hear that. My prayers go out to him and his family, and hopefully he recovers quickly. ”

“I pray the same, but only time will tell whether he gets better or not,” she says in a hopeful tone, then pauses for a bit. 

“This is a nice place. How often do you come here?”

“I used to come here a lot, but now just then and there whenever I have time.”

“I’m sure you got to come here to be a regular,” he says with a quick laugh.

“Haha, yeah you’re right”

“Maybe I have been coming here a bit more than I thought. Sometimes those children can be a wild bunch,” she says with a chuckle.

Toward laughs back,“Yeah I couldn’t imagine handling so many. I’m not even sure if I can handle one.”

“Yeah, but you may never know, I think you would make a great father if you had the chance.”

Howard didn’t expect that response, "Oh, well thank you, and I’m sure you’re really good at handling them too considering you have a full classroom of them.”

“Yeah, but I truly mean it, I—”

“Here’s your coffee and here’s your latte,” interrupts the barista. They both thank her and continue with their conversation.

"What was that," asked Howard.

"I was nothing," Susie says with an embarrassed look.

"You're quite the shy type, aren't you? But that's okay, I'm enjoying your company so far."

Susie looked quite pleased, "Thank you."

The couple talked for a few hours, and Howard began to feel really connected with his date. She has creative hobbies and similar tastes of movies, books, music and even understands old Star Trek references. 

They left the cafe after thanking the barista for her service. “This was fun, thank you for this,” exclaims Howard.

“Yeah of course. My ride should be arriving soon. Would you like me to take you home?"

“Oh, sure.”

In five minutes an old, red Toyota pulls over to pick them up. Howard greets the driver, but the driver says nothing. “Hm, he might not be a big talker,” he thought to himself. “I live at the Olive Apartments at Clover Street,” he stated. The driver remained silent, and even Susie was fairly silent with a low look on her face. “Did I do something wrong? This feels weird,” thought Howard. 

After a quiet ride, Howard lost track of time looking out the window and rested his head there. Soon the car comes to a stop in front of a wide building. “We’re here,” the driver says for the first time. Susie gets out of the car and walks to the front of the building, then Howard follows after her.

“Susie, what’s going on? Why are we here? I am supposed to be back at my apartment,” Howard says frequently, but Susie looks down saying nothing.

A lady in white apparel came up to them, “Ah, thank you for bringing back Mr. Borges in time for his curfew.”

“I… I had a really nice time with you,” lean forwards and kisses Howard with a sad look, “I hope you have a goodnight.”

Howard begins to panic, “What’s going on? I don’t understand what’s going on—”

“Easy Mr. Borges, you will feel better after you receive your medicine,” says the lady in white.

“No! I’m going home. I don’t live here. I live at… at, uhh I…” Howard looks around, “Where am I,” then looks back at the two ladies in front of him, “Oh hello, who might you be?” 

Susie walks around Howard and heads for the car.

“Did I say something wrong,” asked Howard.

“No, she just had a long evening, and so have you. Let’s get you back inside,” the lady in white says leading him in.

“She was quite pretty,” Howard thought to himself as he enters the building

“Alright Matthew, let’s go home,” Susie says with a sign. 

He pulls out of the front entrance of the Memory Care Unit, and drives off. They were silent, until Matthew broke the silence, “How did it go?” 

“I think it went well. He was better this time”

“Hm, it sure did, didn’t it? He actually greeted me this time for once, so that was better, wasn’t it,” Matthew said aggressively. 

Susie remained silent.

"Why do you do this mom? Why after twenty years do you continue to put this through this torment," Matthew said as his frustration grew, "He doesn't even know you or me, and he has been losing more of himself as this goes on. What the hell is this even for?" 

"Stop it," Susie snapped, "That is no way to talk about your father, and you know why I won't, I can't stop doing this for your father. You know, so please..."

Nearly in tears Susie turned to the window. Matthew drove in silence after that. The sun was at its dusk, the street lights turned on. Susie watched the flurry of lights pass by in a looping pattern, unchanging, none different from the others. 

"Same time, next tomorrow," Matthew asked. 

"Yes," Susie said faintly. 

***

The day was more foggy than usual, hiding the sun that would gleam at high noon, Susie got out of the car at the corner of the cafe away from the front, thanking Matthew for the ride. She leans around the corner to see Howard looking upwards, his face is blank, no emotion to it. He used to get up and stretch, but now he’s just slumped there. She turns back, leaning against the wall, then takes a breath and proceeds to continue forward.

“It’s been forty years,” she thought, “and I’ll love him for the next twenty, forty, or hundred even if there’s nothing left.”

When she reached the table, and he saw her he gave the same expression of awe, as if no matter how older she got 

“Ohh wow, are you my blind date,” He excitedly chuckles.

“Yes, I am”

“Aw, that’s good to hear. My name is,” he froze, “uhh… umm sorry I…” He looked around, “Where am I?”

Susie broke down and began to sob. 

"Are you okay, miss?" 

She wipes her tears away and tries to regain her composure. "Yes, I am, thank you for your concern," she smiled forcefully, "My name is Susie. It’s nice to meet you."