He was trying to walk away after their awkward exchange of hey how are yous and one of those hugs where everyone’s arms are in the wrong place and you’re both a little bit too aware of your own and each other’s crotches.
He was trying to walk away after the hug because that is the thing to do, isn’t it? You say hey how are you, you both answer dishonestly, you hug ineptly, and then you walk away.
But she grabbed him by the sleeve and sort of thrust him into a booth and sat down next to him so he couldn’t get out and she said what is going on? You never called me again.
And he said oh, well, I was out of town and then I got back and I figured, you know, you’d call me if you wanted to talk and I mean it wasn’t like I was supposed to call you and I didn’t, it was just like one of those things where one person calls or the other person calls and then…
Shut up, she said. What is going on?
Well, uh, I’m at this bar with my friends, and uh, I ran into you, and you pulled me into this booth, and…I don’t know.
I’m in love with you, she said. What is going on?
You’re, uh, you’re in love with me? We don’t actually…I mean, we’ve only…
I’ll tell you what’s going on, since you don’t seem to know, she said. Look at all these people at this bar. Trying to find each other. Even the ones who think they’ve already found each other…they are just little fireflies whose lights don’t work, flying next to each other in the dark. You and me, we found each other. Our lights were lit up, and we could see each other in the dark, and we pirouetted in the air. You remember. And then you didn’t fucking call me again. Let’s not make it more complicated than it is.
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Chloë Gladstone writes catalogue copy for a living, which is not exactly what she had in mind when she was six and decided to be a writer when she grew up, but still it’s pretty fun.
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