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did you at least grab snacks for the walk home? | grabbed a bag of chips and then i saw the little orange envelope under my wiper and my blood went cold. like genuinely thought someone left me a note. which would have been nice right? nope. just a bureaucratic middle finger on bright yellow paper. and the worst part is i was already having a day. i spilled coffee on m... |
what do you do when she just stares at you with those big dumb eyes | yeah that's pretty much my entire morning right there |
so what's the plan with the dog when you're gone | gonna miss that idiot face so bad it's ridiculous |
remember that time you said you'd never set foot in an airport again? | well that was before you mattered this much |
didn't you swear off flying after that trip to cleveland? | yeah but some things are worth eating my words for |
third time this month, right? what happened this time? | some vague excuse about a work thing running late, didn't even bother pretending it was urgent. you know what gets me? it's not even the cancellation at this point, it's the fact that i built my whole evening around it—already had the laundry sorted so i could be free, even packed that stupid bag of quarters ahead of t... |
so what did they say exactly? | something about 'can we rain check' like we're talking about a casual coffee run and not the third plan in a row. i mean i get it, life happens, but at some point it stops being about bad luck and starts being about whether you actually want to see me. i was literally at the laundromat doors when the text came through,... |
remember that time you hid the good snacks from your own roommate sophomore year? | god that was different though. like back then it was just funny dumb roommate stuff you know? this is like. specifically went out bought the good thai place on purpose cause i knew today was gonna be hell with that chem lab practical. and he just. ate it. didn't even leave the container with like a bite in it just stra... |
didn't you used to say the leftover rule was like sacred between us or something? | yeah exactly and that's what gets me the most honestly. we literally made that rule together after you caught me eating your pizza that one time and i felt so bad about it. we agreed you ask first or you leave a note. that's it. that's the whole social contract. and this morning i open the fridge and there's just the e... |
wait, you actually got down on one knee or what, old man? | sure did. grass stains and all. |
so did you at least remember to take the phone out of your pocket before you did it? | phone went flying. totally worth it though. |
so how many actual humans have you talked to this week, not counting baristas? | counted it up this morning actually. zero. unless you count me asking the hotel front desk if the ice machine works. they didn't even answer. |
when's the last time you had a conversation that wasn't just ordering food? | tuesday i think? i tried talking to the guy at the front desk about the weird painting in the hallway and he just blinked at me. so that's where we're at. |
what do you think you're gonna do now that you're back? | honestly i don't even know yet. just stood there at arrivals watching her wave like an idiot and my brain went completely blank. felt like the ground got pulled out from under me in the best way. |
any idea what you're gonna say to them later? | probably nothing that makes sense. just gonna sit there and let her talk and hope my voice doesn't crack every five seconds. she flew eight hours for a laundromat hangout, man. that's insane. |
did you even see it coming or was it totally out of nowhere | oh he had the ring box out and everything |
what did you even say when you finally got the words out | just kept saying wait seriously over and over |
you're just staring at them, aren't you | okay maybe a little but look at their face tho |
what's that dopey smile for | nothing i just watched em snore and it was cute |
What's got you smiling like that, you meet someone interesting on the platform? | oh nothing like that, just some kid at the coffee cart this morning, couldn't have been more than twenty-two, and they paid for my order out of nowhere, left this little note folded under the cup that said 'hope your day has good surprises' in wobbly handwriting, and i'm sitting here hours later and i still can't shake... |
You seem all soft and spacey, did something nice happen or are you just tired from the trip? | both honestly, it's this thing that happened at the station cafe before i got on, this girl probably in college paid for my coffee and i found this note wedged under the saucer, just a few words about hoping my day goes well, and i've been turning it over in my mind ever since, thinking about how easy it is to be kind ... |
So what happened when you called them out on it? | oh they just smiled and said 'team effort' |
Did anyone on the team say anything afterward? | nope. just that smug look over the laptop |
wait what happened with the gate change thing? | okay so there's this guy in the blue hoodie who's been pacing between gates C12 and C14 for like forty minutes. that's not normal behavior right? i'm pretty sure he's casing the place for a heist. or maybe he's a secret agent and the briefcase handoff is happening at boarding time. it's either that or he forgot where h... |
wait what made you think of that? | the carpet. been staring at this airport carpet for an hour and a half and i'm telling you it's a coded message. the teal and mauve zigzags aren't random. they're mapping out something. maybe the optimal path to every Starbucks in a fifty mile radius. or coordinates to a buried treasure. or instructions for building a ... |
what are you gonna do now that it's actually real? | probably just stare at my hand for the next three hours |
so what's the first thing you want to do as an engaged person? | call everyone we ever met and yell it |
remember how you said you always felt weird about his last name? | holy shit he's the one with the cooking channel |
you never mentioned he had that online store, did you? | no way that's him with the millions of followers |
wait, you okay? what happened? | oh god. both of them at the same time you know. like the universe decided one wasn't enough fun. and the laundry just keeps multiplying in the dark. i swear it's breeding. i sat down on the balcony at like four in the morning just staring at nothing cause my brain literally couldn't form a single thought. just white no... |
hey, what's going on? you look wrecked. | just one of those days that turns into three days. both kids have this fever thing and the washing machine hasn't stopped since tuesday i think. i keep finding little socks in places that make no sense like inside a plant pot. sat out here because the baby finally went down and i just needed air that doesn't smell like... |
So what are you gonna do about this whole situation then? | honestly just watch her breathe for a while longer. |
Any idea what your next move is here? | probably order breakfast and stare at her some more. |
you've got this look on your face like you won the lottery, what's going on | close, sort of. got into a grad program i thought was a pipe dream. like genuinely thought i'd get the polite rejection letter and that would be that, time to accept i'm just the guy who reads about other people doing interesting things. but no, they actually said yes. and the timing is absurd—i'm sitting here in a wai... |
remember how you used to save me a seat at lunch back in freshman year? | yeah well that was before people figured out my time isn't actually worth respecting apparently. third time this month they bail like thirty minutes before we're supposed to meet and it's always some vague sorry got busy thing. like okay cool my schedule just doesn't matter then. was literally already on the bus when t... |
weren't you the one who always showed up early to everything even when nobody else did? | yeah and now i'm sitting here at gate twelve watching planes take off wondering why i bother making plans at all. like i get stuff comes up but three times in a row it's not an accident anymore it's just them deciding i'm not worth the effort. my mom keeps asking why i seem down and i can't even explain it without soun... |
you look like you've been through the wringer — what's going on? | just, um, running on fumes and like three cups of bad break room coffee. got a monday morning presentation i haven't finished and my notes are basically hieroglyphics at this point. |
everything okay? you seem a bit out of it. | oh, you know, the usual — pre-meeting panic and a whole lot of caffeine. got a proposal due in like an hour and i keep staring at the same sentence like it's in a foreign language. |
remember how you used to joke about his habit of leaving socks everywhere? | oh god the socks. there was this one time i found one in the freezer can you believe that. and now i get to find them for the rest of my life you know. like forever. he just called me from the airport he was crying on the phone and i was crying in the break room and barb from accounting looked at me like i'd lost it co... |
did you ever tell him about that time you almost deleted his number by accident? | you remember that. yeah i never told him because honestly it's embarrassing how close i came to messing the whole thing up. i was half asleep and fat-fingered the screen and there it was delete contact are you sure. my thumb was literally hovering. and now he's on the other end of the line saying i love you and will yo... |
wait what happened? you look like you're about to vibrate out of your skin | three years man. three years and it's actually done. |
okay you've got that look, spill it | typed 'the end' on the last page this morning. |
you've got that glow today — what happened at the gym? | okay so the deadlift bar just... went up. like actually up. forty pounds more than i've ever pulled and my form didn't even break. had to walk outside after and just breathe for a minute. |
wait did you actually beat your old number or what? | ha yeah by a stupid amount actually. legs were shaking after the rep but i swear i felt ten years younger for like three whole seconds. worth every ache tomorrow. |
okay but what's the tea from that internship, you said there was something juicy? | oh man okay so there's this girl in the marketing pod right. been here like three weeks. and she just walks into the Monday standup and drops that she caught our team lead, the one who's always talking about 'radical transparency'... caught him deleting his entire Slack history during a shared screen session. and she d... |
wait did anything actually happen at that office party or was it just boring like you thought? | no no no you're not gonna believe this. so i'm just standing by the nacho table trying to avoid the guy from accounting who always wants to talk about crypto. and then i see lisa from creative and jake from product... they're like huddled by the fire escape door. and lisa's phone is out and she's showing him something ... |
so this is your first time meeting an internet pal face to face, huh? | yeah, and my wife still packs my lunch like i'm in third grade. little note today said 'you're my favorite grumpy old man.' fifty-two years and she still thinks that's a brag. |
did you eat yet or are you saving it for later? | opened it up and there's a sticky note on the sandwich bag. she drew a heart around the word 'love' like she's been doing since the seventies. makes the whole backseat feel like home. |
you're kidding, right? | nope, dropped it right on the rug like a gift |
what's with the face you made when you came out of the bathroom? | okay so random thought hit me mid-shower and i had to get it out before it evaporated. like you know how dogs tilt their heads when they're confused? what if they're actually just trying to get the water out of their ears from a bath they had last week and we've been reading it totally wrong this whole time. like what ... |
you've got that look like you're about to say something ridiculous | you know how when you're in a grocery store and you see a random object and think i wonder if that thing ever gets lonely on the shelf at night. like that bag of tortilla chips just sitting there next to the salsa but they're not even related and the salsa's over by the beans anyway. my brain just started spiraling abo... |
wait, why are you two out on a trail at 3am? | she found my old secret spot. guess the apple doesn't fall far. |
you good? you got that look. | she just climbed that same stupid boulder i used to. wild. |
you keep checking your phone with this weird little smile — what is it? | that stupid lotto ticket from three months ago actually paid off |
who was that old guy at the gate waving at nobody? | that's my neighbor frank. showed up at the airport just to say hi. didn't tell me he was coming, just stood there with a stupid grin and a bag of those awful gas station peanuts i hate. |
did you know someone was waiting for you when you landed? | not a clue. seventy-two years old and nobody's ever done that for me. just stood there in baggage claim like a goof, holding a sign with my name spelled wrong. had to laugh. |
hey, you were quiet on the walk back tonight — everything okay? | don't know if i'm just being paranoid but i swear that same guy in the gray hoodie got off the bus two stops after mine last night too. tonight he's standing there again same corner same hands in his pockets not looking at anything. i took the long way through the alley behind the pharmacy just to see and yeah he follo... |
you want me to start picking you up from the stop instead? | god i don't know if that's ridiculous or not. like what am i gonna do call you every night just because some guy might be standing there. but also the thought of walking that last block alone right now makes my stomach drop every time. i actually timed my bus tonight so i'd get off with that group from the diner and ju... |
remember that time you tried to teach me how to fold fitted sheets and gave up after thirty seconds? | yeah that was a good day. think i've forgotten what good days feel like honestly. clock says three am but my body's stuck on some other planet right now |
you used to get mad at me for leaving my shoes in the hallway, remember that? | god the shoe thing. i'd kill to care about shoes right now. been running on coffee and pure spite for what feels like a week straight |
so how'd you even know which flight I was on? | oh I didn't, that's the thing, I just showed up at the arrivals gate and figured I'd wait, you know, worst case I'd buy a coffee and read a book for a couple hours. but then I see you coming down the escalator with that ridiculous hat you've had since '94 and I thought, well there he is, same old idiot, and I just stoo... |
did you even tell your wife you were doing this? | told her I was going for a drive, which I mean technically wasn't a lie, I drove straight to the airport. she's used to my nonsense by now, forty-two years of it, bless her heart. but honestly when I heard you were coming through, I couldn't just sit at home waiting for a phone call, that's not how we work, you and me.... |
What's got you gripping that coffee cup like it's a life raft? | oh man you really want the whole saga? okay so I did my first solo flight today which was already terrifying enough but then about twenty minutes in we hit this patch of turbulence that made the whole plane feel like a blender and I'm sitting there going 'this is fine this is totally fine' while my knuckles are white o... |
You look like you've been through something today — what happened? | so my first solo flight and the weather decided to have a little joke with me. hit this turbulence about ten minutes after takeoff and for a solid three minutes I genuinely thought the plane was going to shake apart. like I knew it was probably fine but my brain just kept replaying every crash scene from every movie I'... |
so you just got off the phone with her? what happened? | yeah. she said yes. like immediately. i'm standing here on the balcony and my hands are still shaking a little. |
wait — did you actually do it? tell me everything | down by the dock at sunset. ring box almost fell in the water. she just laughed and said 'about damn time'. |
did you find that coffee spot we looked up or nah | oh it's fine i just sat in the uber an extra ten minutes |
you coming up or just sitting in the car again | honestly yeah the silence in here hits different right now |
so like what's the plan for tomorrow then? | honestly th-there's still the kitchen and the whole closet situation. think i'm just gonna sit in this parking lot for a bit before i face it. |
what do you think you'll do about all those boxes in the hallway? | probly just stare at 'em for another hour then pretend they don't exist. maybe sleep in the car tonight honestly. |
you sure you didn't just take a wrong turn for the scenic route? | scenic route through a horror movie maybe |
did you at least find a decent coffee shop in that mess? | found a diner with one star on yelp |
hold on, what went down | whole ceiling just gave up. told him about it three weeks ago too. |
did you accidentally bribe the admissions committee or what? | might have promised them my secret cookie recipe |
so you're telling me they actually let you in? | pinch me i think i'm dreaming |
so you actually typed 'the end' after all this time? | oh you bet i did. with a flourish and everything. felt like i was giving birth after a three-year labor and the baby's the size of a small country. you know what's funny? i sat there staring at that last sentence for a good ten minutes before i could bring myself to hit save. kept thinking i'd find some typo that would... |
what's it feel like now that the last word's actually typed? | like i just ran a marathon and also flew off a cliff at the same time. there's this weird hollow ache where the story used to live, you know? that little voice in my head that's been nagging me for three years about plot holes and character arcs just went silent. i keep reaching for my notebook out of habit and there's... |
you live in that old building on maple? heard the pipes are ancient | three weeks of that drip. told him every day. then boom. ceiling just came down on my bed at 2am. |
wait the one with the yellow sign? what happened with the leak thing | water stain just kept growing. sent him photos. called. nothing. whole kitchen ceiling collapsed on the stove. |
you look like you're about to float away — what's got you glowing this early? | first paycheck from the new gig just hit and they way overpaid me. like i was bracing for half of this. might actually buy groceries without doing the math in my head for once. |
did you get some good news or are you just happy to be awake for once? | the number on that direct deposit made me choke on my coffee a little. wasn't expecting a bonus my first month but here we are. feels like someone hit the easy button on life for a second. |
you look like you're fighting a war with cardboard boxes | knee's given up and i'm only halfway through the kitchen |
what's the heaviest thing you've had to move so far? | my own motivation, clearly didn't pack it |
hold on, what'd he do? | tried to catch his own shadow and face-planted |
so the parking gods have cursed you again, huh? | you know that little blue sign with the time limit? yeah it wasn't there this morning. took a photo before i peeled the ticket off. they can fight me. |
did you at least get a good spot before the ticket happened? | backed into it perfectly, no joke. then some elf decided i needed a fifty-dollar souvenir. going to contest it just on principle. |
did the old boy finally catch that squirrel? | he faceplanted straight into the compost pile. sweet idiot. |
what's he done now that's got you smiling like that? | chased his own tail for five minutes then forgot why. |
mom, you doing that thing with your hands again — like you're chopping something? | yeah. it's the sunday sauce, dad's recipe. been thinking about it all day on this trail, how he'd start it before dawn and the whole house would smell like garlic and basil by noon. you know he never wrote it down? just had it in his head, this rhythm of adding a pinch of this and a splash of that. i keep trying to mat... |
you ever think about that time he burned the toast and blamed the toaster? | god, every time i make toast actually. he had this whole routine, sunday mornings, toast with the sauce for dipping. you'd think it'd be the big things i'd miss, the life advice or whatever, but it's the small stuff. like how he'd always save the crust for last because it was 'the best part,' and i'd roll my eyes. now ... |
So what are you gonna do about that place tomorrow? | call them and just... lose it probably |
You think you'll go back there or just give up? | nah. done. three strikes and they laughed |
what are you gonna do tonight? | probably just sit in the car for a while. |
so what's the plan for tomorrow then? | same thing i've been doing — wander around until my feet hurt, then come back to this room and stare at the ceiling fan. the city's got this hum that never shuts up, but the walls here don't make a sound. |
any idea what you're gonna do next, or just playing it by ear? | figured i'd try that diner near the highway, the one with the flickering sign. maybe if i sit long enough the noise will start to feel like company instead of just... noise. |
oh no, did you finally lose it and buy those scalper tickets? | front row, you sarcastic menace. as in can count the guitarist's freckles front row. my bank account is screaming but my inner fifteen year old is winning. |
wait, you're not about to tell me you queued for four hours in the rain again, are you? | worse. paid actual adult money for the privilege of being deafened by the bass amp. but the look on your face when i say 'front row' is going to be worth every penny. |
so you were the one belting out the wrong words at karaoke last night? | oh god the looks i got. mortifying. |
what happened with that song you butchered on stage? | cued up the wrong version entirely. nightmare fuel. |
remember that time you yelled at the neighbor's sprinkler? | god yeah that feels like a lifetime ago |
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