Prevented

I was a few blocks away, and many minutes late. I turned the corner, ran into a man in a trenchcoat, and recognized him as the love of my life. “Jamie?” 

“Oh, it’s Ali.” A guffaw, and a pat on my shoulder. “Long time no see, boss.”

“You can tell it’s me?”

“It’s easier without your glasses,” he said, and gave me a business card. “Hurry on to work. Tell me about it after.”

With that, he was off. I thought of him, the boy who went to my first eighteen birthday parties.**