The last time he had walked down this street, she had walked beside him… She had asked him if they were similar… without hesitating he told her they weren’t… It was much later in the day, this time around; and the street seemed less busier. He walked by the coffee shop and it brought back memories of their only conversation there…

The appointment had finished earlier than expected and that meant that he was now a whole thirty minutes ahead of time for the next one. He had two options, either to walk the street right to the end and walk back. an exercise that should put him right on time. Or to walk directly to the restaurant, half way down the street and sit at the table waiting for his guest…

He chose the latter as it provided him better opportunity to read his company. What if she arrived a little ahead of schedule, would that mean she was nervous about being late or maybe she was just like him. What if she walked in a little late, maybe that would be a sign of how things would go from there on… Or the worst case, what if she walked in on time and he was sitting right there…

He somehow felt that he was playing a game of chess that was headed towards stalemate. Any footing what so ever to get a better grip of the situation might seem like an advantage. On the flip side, maybe he was just over thinking all of this…

Then he saw the street corner, the same street corner where they had stood. It was a long time ago but it all seemed like if just happened yesterday. He some how knew that day that he probably would never see her again… This was the second time in his life that he had felt that about her. The only difference being that the first time he knew was absolutely wrong.

He walked into the restaurant and as he entered he scanned the horizon on the off chance that his date was there before him, she wasn’t. He inquired about the reservation and was pointed to a cozy corner. A projector played the music videos of the albums from the past, they did not match the songs flooding the speakers.

As he waited, his thoughts went deeper into the past. He was more comfortable thinking about the past than he had imagined he would be. He still remembered the first time, he remembered how he stood in the street looking at her and she hired a taxi. There was nothing spectacular that had happened, she sat in the taxi and left… He stood right there knowing full well they would meet again. They did… it took them 10 years but they did…

She had this endearing honesty about her. People can fake interest, attitude and maybe even a little bit of mystery but to be endearing to someone thats almost impossible to fake. A little later they were laughing their heart out… They spoke about random things and in their random talk found comfort.

The second time things were different. She stood by and watched him leave. As he drove away, the thought of never seeing her again struck him but he didn’t do anything about it. Maybe they were similar… maybe thats why it couldn’t have worked…

Before long the dinner was over and they stepped out. They walked down the same street but this time things were different. She turned to him and asked “Do you think we are similar?”. He looked at her and said “No”. She smiled and said “Thats good, I wouldn’t even consider marrying someone just like me.”