** Disclaimer: This is all original work. Please do not steal. This was based off of a prompt in Ryan Kinder’s “1,000 Awesome Writing Prompts.” **
Prompt #606. You are a woman who has just been stood up on a potential date. It turns out to be the best night ever, though.
Voices passed as I walked along the crowded sidewalks downtown holding my cell up to my ear. “I don’t know why you convinced me to do this anyway, Chad. He probably won’t show…like the last three men I met on Match.”
“Cassie, Cassie, Cassie- he’ll show!” the voice on the other end of the line exclaimed. “Just meet him outside the coffee shop like you said you would and text me when he shows so I can tell you I was right!”
I sighed heavily into the phone as I approached the coffee shop. “Fine, Chad. I’m here five minutes early and there’s no sign of him yet so I’ll text you when you’re right. See ya!” I clicked the red icon and placed the phone into my clutch as I took a seat on one of the vintage-looking black metal chairs.
My eyes wandered through the passing crowd in search of a tall, olive-skinned Italian male, but the majority of the crowd looked to be either natives or American tourists. I picked at my nails nervously as my gaze turned to the glistening sidewalks in the streetlight. He’ll be here, I thought to myself. I finally felt as though I was connecting with someone for the first time on Match, but as I looked at my watch and realized five minutes had already passed, those thoughts disappeared. I’m probably being stood up…again, I thought as I placed my head upon the table.
I was beginning to believe I dressed up for a concert for absolutely no reason. My head popped up and my eyes grew big as I realized I didn’t even have the tickets for the concert because my “date” had ordered them for us. Fuck, I said as I grabbed my clutch and light jacket from the back of the chair. Maybe there’s still a way into the venue, I thought to myself hopefully.
Church bells rang in the distance as the clock struck 6 and I pushed through the crowds whispering “Excuse me,” and “Pardon Me,” to strangers who were all going toward the same place. This is my favorite band- there’s no way I’m missing it! I thought as I grew closer to the venue.
I was coming up on the last block until the parking lot of the venue when I heard street merchants yelling “GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.” I ran toward the voice and saw an older gentleman wearing a black flat cap with an unlit fat cigar in between his lips. “Tickets, ma’am?” His voice was horse and grizzly and his breath smelled of stale cigarettes.
“One, please! What’s your price?” So close.
“Three-hundred dollars,” he said as he held out his hand for the money.
My eyes grew wide and I shook my head. “Never mind, I’ll try the box office. Thanks though!” I rushed past him as he yelled “Suit yourself!” and I pushed myself through the crowd to get to the box office where, magically, there was no line.
I approached the window as the woman on the other side was reaching up to pull down the bars. “Ma’am, wait! Ma’am, please, I just need one ticket!” I yelled hoping she was able to hear me. It didn’t appear she did because the bars were halfway down.
Miraculously, I got there just in time as I threw my hand into the window before she could close the bars completely. “Ma’am, I just need one ticket. Please tell me you have one ticket available.”
The woman signed with annoyance, probably because I was preventing her from going home, and she pushed the bars back up so she could handle my transaction. “You’re lucky,” she said as she rolled her eyes and placed a ticket under the counter to show me the seating. “We only have one ticket left and it’s front row.” She glanced at the clock beside her and entered the information on her computer. “Take it or leave it. It’ll only cost you one-hundred pounds.”
One-hundred pounds?! For front row? That’s it? I have no idea why I even questioned it for the moment that I did, but before I knew it I was running toward the doors of the venue with my ticket in one hand and my clutch and light jacket in the other. And then I heard it, the live music became completely noticeable through the open doors as I handed my ticket to one of the workers. He checked to ensure it was real and a moment later I was on my way to section 3, row 1, seat 5.
As I approached the seat and yelled “EXCUSE ME” to the people already in their seats for the opening act, I realized I was making my way to the seat directly in front of center stage. I looked at the opening acts and realized I was so close I could see the sweat drip off of their faces and onto the stage. It was unreal.
I hummed along to the lyrics of the opening act’s final song and smiled at the people standing beside me who were doing the same. Just like that, the opening act was over and the curtain fell as the crew began setting up the stage for the headlining band.
The lights dimmed after what only felt like two minutes had passed and the crowd began roaring in anticipation of the headlining band making their way onto the stage. And a moment later they were on the stage in front of us singing loudly above the guitars and drums, the lead vocalist running from one end of the stage to the next, pointing at the audience and getting us to sing along.
I ignored everyone around me who were taking out their phones and snapping the best pictures of the band members that they could get given the fluctuating lighting. Instead, I closed my eyes and decided to live in the moment. Despite having a rough start to the evening with another no-show date, this had turned into a pretty incredible night and I don’t think I would have wanted it to turn out any other way.
Emily's Pensieve 