Keep Going About Your Day

You let the inkling slide, not wanting to interrupt the nice time you’re having. You have time to test out your app later — of that, you’re sure. And plus, you’d rather not take up more of Anastasia’s time than she’s dedicated to you. Finishing the last few drops of coffee, you continue your conversation with her for a while, adventuring through a deep discussion on modern music theory, then societal norms and equal rights advocacy before she gets up.

“I’m really glad we got to spend some time together,” she smiles down upon you, like the sun blesses the leaves on a tree, “I’m free after my rehearsal tonight. If you’ve got anything going on that you want me in, let me know and… well I’ll be there.” You nod, and get up with her to head towards the door.

Outside, a sharp gust cuts at your cheeks as you say your final goodbyes to Anastasia, watching her fade off into the sea of people, shivering in the sunlit autumn midday. Just as she disappears from your sight, your connecting bus shrieks as the brakes grind it to a halt, directing you to enter on your mutual journey downtown. The doors hiss shut as you stare out the windows, still searching for her, but to no avail as the swarms of pedestrians hides any chance of identifying your friend.

You whip out your wrist, the messaging system pinging with a few notifications — your freelance coding chat, where Kiara and Melonie are texting away, putting forth questions on their lines of code and sharing stackexchange links. In the midst of all this, you see the message:

“The place today is still that temp-share hotel downtown, right? The really fancy one by Grand Open Market?” - Mel

“Yeah. I think we’re getting it a bit early. But of course feel free to take your time in showing up.” - Ki

“Nah I’m making full use of that space. Headed over there now.” - Mel

You crack a smile. Those two, always pushing the other to outperform their own expectations, to be better versions of themselves. It’s like an adaptive AI that simultaneously analyzes its shortcomings and then turns to make a better, updated version. The bus creaks to a halt as it opens to its next major stop — Grand Open Market — prompting you to jump out. The bazaar of stalls selling food and ingredients bustles with throngs of tourists and locals alike, seeking to find the next tasty morsel they can put in their mouth — but you’re not here for that. Not yet, anyways. As you make your way to the reservation spot, you flip through your messages. Some flow in from the freelance chat with updates on their ETA. Others are from Anastasia and Gabby, letting you know of their plans, or lack thereof for tonight. Lastly, you have a few messages you haven’t touched in a while — one from a woman you met online — Tessa she calls herself, although you’ve never actually met in person. You’ve asked a couple times, but she’s always been busy. Now that you’ve flipped the tables, she’s told you that her schedule just freed up. Now she wants to meet you. But just as you start to riffle though her message thread, the elevator announces its impending arrival. Do you push off the freelance meeting to meet up with Tessa, or do you forge on ahead to stick to you original plans?