“Look at those two.”
“Who?”
“The couple on the bench. Young love.”
“I don’t know about young.”
“Maybe not ‘young love’ but new love anyway.”
“How can you tell?”
“Just look at them. They clearly like each other, but they don’t know what to say. They’re awkward.”
“It’s doomed.”
“Don’t be so negative.”
“Maybe, but unless they get some chemistry going there is no second date.”
“Well, I hope there is.”
“Stop staring. Let’s go home.”
Meanwhile, on the park bench:
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s my fault.”
“No.”
“Yes, it is. This was my stupid idea.”
“Dinner was nice.”
“We had food to distract us.”
“The park is nice.”
“And awkward.”
“Yeah. A bit. I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I did this. I ruined what could have been a perfectly nice night. I just thought that after five years it would be nice, or at least possible, to spend an entire evening together talking about something other than our kids!”
“It was a good idea. We just suck at it.”
“We really do. I give up. End of failed experiment.”
“You want to go home?”
“No. We told the sitter ten. We have time.”
“Then?”
“Go ahead. Talk about them.”
“Okay. Sure. There was this thing today. So cute. Hold on. I have a picture on my phone.”
She pulls out her phone. He looks at her. She navigates to the picture and shows it to him. He looks at the picture and laughs. He puts his hand on her hand. She looks at him. He looks at her. They are smiling. They kiss.
It was a good date night.
This piece of flash fiction is part of Fiction Friday. Read other posts from the series here.
Get notified of my new posts by email. Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
You can also find Kim Z. Dale on Twitter and Google+ and like Listing Beyond Forty on Facebook.
Kim Z. Dale 