Clockwork

2050

It was five minutes past four o’clock. I could only sigh with his absence. To most people, five minutes was no big deal. To most people, five minutes was the casual “running late” from heavy traffic or a late escape from work. For me, it was more.

I knew Danny better than that. He would be coming from work, but that wouldn’t be the only thing that he did whether he realized he was coming in late or not. Most likely he had stopped at the coffee shop just down from the little diner that I was sitting at to flirt with the blonde that was working the front register every day at four o’clock. I might’ve been the girl that he was currently “seeing”, but keeping his twenty year old self completely loyal was the trick. (“Flirting” wasn’t disloyalty, he had assured me, just inevitable banter.)

Whether I was more annoyed by his constant tardiness or his “inevitable” flirting, I wasn’t sure. He had always had a knack for flashing his caring smirk and making me forget about everything that had happened, but he knew how important this day was to me.

I was working at the local telemarketing company by day and going to college by night. Tonight, of all nights, was my final exams - and, not to mention, my birthday on this December night. Going to school for medicine hadn’t been an easy feat – especially through trying to pay rent and stabilize myself.

Danny had planned this whole dinner at the diner that we had met at. Four o’clock was my only hour’s break from work, and he knew that a dinner with my boyfriend would be a good way to calm my nerves, since I was surely going to be clammy and mind-bogglingly dizzy all day long. He may have planned it, but time was slowly slipping away from my break as I sat at the “table for two” waiting for the boy who couldn’t seem to keep his promises.

~~~

“I’m sorry I’m late, babe!” Danny apologized as he walked in, throwing away the paper coffee cup in the trash on the way to the table. He made the mistake of holding his hand out for a minute too long so that I could see the seven digit number and name scribbled on his hand in the red ink of a Sharpie.

“Sure you are.” I rested my head in my hands, trying to wipe the image of beating her over the head from my mind. I couldn’t help it; for the last four years of my life, Danny had been mine – well, “mine” as long as I could fight other girls for him. He had quite the “fan-girl” effect wherever he went. Most girls looked at me down their noses as they noticed his fingers entangled in mine. “Didn’t exactly stop you from stopping for coffee did it?”

“You saw that?” He smirked, motioning to the trash can. “Sorry, I guess I couldn’t help myself…”

“Right. ‘Can’t help myself.’ Who am I kidding? You never can…” I muttered and I knew he heard me from the look of conflict on his face.

“I’m sorry, baby! But hey, this time is about you! Can we not dwell on all of my mistakes?”

“You’re right,” I shrugged, “this was supposed to be my time half an hour ago. You always seem to find ways out of ‘my time’ for flirting with other girls and who the hell knows what else.”

“I –“

“No! I’m sick and tired of being the girl who’s always waiting on you while you run around with other girls.” I said; I wasn’t sure if it was my nerves getting the best of me or just my anger boiling a few degrees too high. “I’m done.”

I pushed myself away from the table and stomped towards the door.

Yeah, our time together was over…