John runs into someone he knows.

"Absolutely! Feel free to use my phone here!" the nurse exclaimed, happily providing me his work phone.

I was wracking my brains for the phone number of my cousin, Tiffany (I rarely needed to remember it seeing as how cell phones have contact lists), when a familiar face came around the corner. I should have pretended like I didn’t see the blonde bombshell, but I was too surprised.

“Oh, hey!” Lucy said. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Oh, me neither. I mean, I know you do clinicals here and all, but I wasn’t thinking of you at all. I mean, that sounded mean--” I flailed helplessly.

I had initially been acquainted with Lucy when we went to the same high school in another town, but we hadn’t hooked up until we both found out via Facebook that the other had moved to the same city. Me for university, she for nursing school.

Unfortunately, though I had thought the first couple dates had gone pretty well, she ghosted me thereafter. By this point I had mostly forgotten about her.

“It’s okay!” she said, stoppering the flood of words with a raised palm. “I know what you mean. What’s the problem? You’re not here getting tested for STD’s, are you?”

“Such a joker,” I laughed while thinking painfully of the doctor that I had lost my virginity to recently. A doctor would have been careful enough not to contract anything, right? “I had a fall and passed out, but it looks like there’s no lasting injury.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Glad you’re okay. Is there anything I can do?”

Christ, why was she so nice? Now I remember why I wanted to keep dating her.

“Actually, there is something. Somehow I find myself without my phone, and, well, I could really use a ride home.”

“Say no more. Your heroine, Lucy, is here. But I can’t go anywhere for at least another half-hour, so would you mind waiting for me in the cafeteria?”

“Oh, sure, Luc.”

Just as I started off in the direction of the cafeteria, she called me back.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked, holding out a ten.

“Oh, Lucy, I can’t accept that.”

“I might be a while. Wouldn’t want to leave you with nothing to do but sit on your hands.”

“Okay, but I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s just ten dollars, but if you’re set on paying me back, how about you let me take you out to coffee?”

Whoa, was she suggesting what I thought she was suggesting?

I gratefully accepted both the ten dollars and the (potential) date, and then continued on to the cafeteria.

The place was full, so I set my tray next to an old man who was the only person at his table. He leaned on a cane and had a grumpy face, so I was surprised he wanted to make conversation. Eventually it came up that I was single.

“Nice-looking fella like you has got to have a girlfriend, right?” he asked.

“’Fraid not.”

“What! That’s an outrage. What’s wrong, haven’t girls courted you?”

I laughed at his intentional usage of outdated terms. “Nope, sorry, man.”

“Wow, kids these days. That’s what it must be. Nobody’s woman enough to stand up and ask a man to dance with her anymore, isn’t that right?”

“Must be. Although, there was a girl, who I think may have just asked me out in the hall.”

“Really? Has she got a good job?”

“Heh. Well, she’s training to be a nurse.”

“Good, good. She good-looking?”

“Oh, she’s absolutely gorgeous. I just hope she’s as interested as she seemed.”

“She blonde?”

“Yeah. How did you?”

I turned around to find that Lucy was right behind me. If the smirk on her face was any indication, then she had probably overheard what I said.

“Hi, Lucy. Ready to go?”

On our way to my apartment, to which she generously agreed to drive me, we played catch up.

“So, this coffee,” I said as we neared the end of the drive, “is it suffixed by the word ‘date’?”

She smiled. “I was rather hoping it would be.”

“Why now? I thought you weren’t interested before.”

Shit. Why did I just ask that?

“Not interested?” she frowned. “You didn’t text me back.”

“I didn’t text you back?” I asked incredulously. “You’re the one who ghosted me!”

“Wow. Looks like we’re both victims of a seriously bad connection.”

“I’ll say. You’d better give me your number so we can make up for it. When’s this coffee date gonna be?”