There had been candlelight. A fine white cloth, gleaming silverware, plates laden with rich, fancy foods. The man in the suit across from her, angular face tilted, bearing a jack-o-lantern smile. He had made her laugh.
But she had had work to do, that morning, and so she had arrived late to their lunch date, still in work clothes, hand stained with ink. He waited patiently, eyes dark and thoughtful, had led her to their table. They had chatted, and she smiled, and he smiled back. He let out a loud laugh and did not care when the other diners laid down their cutlery to stare. His laugh was velvet, a fog bank - roiling and rich. Hers was the tinkle of shattering glass.
But their food was late as well, and she had gulped it down, fearing a late return to the office, while he nibbled and gazed away. They had chatted about business, and idle things, quick and friendly banter. Friendly. She had thought they were friends.
And then their check was late, and he had offered to pay. She had thanked him, smiling quickly.
And then he had offered to pay for everything, from now on, and from his pocket he had drawn a box. A ring. A ruby ring.
Her heart had plunged out of her body, into the abyss, as she had whispered to him, mortified, told him the truth. That they could never marry because he was her friend, nothing more. That she was already in love with someone else and it was not him, was not even his gender. That he had assumed too much. That he had waited too late to ask her. Until he was already plunging in love. He had assumed her love, until it was too late.
The pain, the betrayal, the fury. The plate of spaghetti, splattering across the floor. That furious face, blazing and raging like a jack-o-lantern turned dark, sadistic. How she had hurried away, hearing those shouts in her ears, furious and fast, until she was out the door and into the pulsing, clamoring street.
Now, her eyes burned with unshed tears. Fury, rage, and grief clawed within her, threatening to break free, to erupt in a violent explosion of human longing, human love. Human heartbreak.
She had rushed into love too early, in the past. She was still alive. But this time.. her heart churned, lungs whispering feebly for air that seemed just out of their reach.
This time, everything was too late.