The Message

She was waiting already 5 minutes for him. Holding her phone firmly in her hand, she wondered what was happening. He was so desperate to see her again, texting her for ages and now she’s waiting here alone! Suddenly, the phone vibrated:

“My shoelaces broke into pieces. Be right there.”

She frowned at the message. That’s such a strange reason to keep a girl waiting… Still, she continued to stand there, waiting.

Buses around her dropped off and drove away with passengers. In a crowd of people making their way into the subway, she was lonely. She glanced up at the big clock: 10 minutes late. She watched people climb up the mount of stairs and disappear, then reappear at the metro platform. The ground trembled from the dynamics of the trains and passengers again appeared and disappeared. Soon again she was joined y a swarm of people heading for the buses. He still didn’t arrive, but a new text did.

“Just remembered it’s my grandma’s birthday. Hang on, just gotta call her.”

She remembered how he didn’t keep her waiting that long on their last date. This was to be their second. It’s already quite bad and it had barely started! She then recalled the words of her best friend Charlene, who told her a few days back, almost threateningly:

“Don’t see him again.”

“Why?”

“A guy who asks for your number in the subway is not one to date.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why?’ He could be asking so many girls out on dates if he has the courage to ask you so confidently! He’s just fronting.’”

“But he gave me a flower.” Charlene lifted her eyebrow and slowly asked:

“What flower?”

“Uh, a white lily I think it was.” The friend gasped in horror.

“A white lily?! Girl, get away from him. Erase his number. Delete him from your mind. Bury him.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you know? Lilies are for funerals! No, that’s a bad guy. I’m letting a white lily date you.”

“But he’s cute.”

“Even if he’s cute! You’re my super-cute friend and this guy is a pose, a douche. Let him go, you deserve better.”

Her reverie was disrupted by the sudden vibration of the phone again. Opening the digital envelope, the message said:

“I have flowers for you. On my way, can’t wait”

Indeed, only roughly 20 minutes after the time of the arranged date, the boy appeared between the bus stops. He was holding a sunflower – but the girl he was supposed to meet was no longer there.