"Why do I have to go?"I asked.
"You are already thirty three,and not yet married. Aren't you worried that you'll grow old without anyone?" My mom asked.
"Okay" I'll go, and this is the last one .Promise me you'll never urge me to attend any blind date.'
"I can't promise that,I want grandchildren, or are you waiting until I am dead before you get married?'mom. Said
Send me the location, and time,I hope she won't keep me waiting like the previous one".
"Don't worry ,she's a good one this time .She helped me yesterday at the mall".
Another blind date i am getting tired of them,but this is going to be the last one.
Leonard, that's my name,I am 33 years old,single,I have been in a relationship before but it didn't even last up to a month,before she stopped loving me ,or so she said.
The restaurant was quiet,fancy and perfect just like a place where conversions are meant to linger.napkins folded neatly,the waiters were well groomed with uniforms and aprons.
His date was late.
Again.
He checked his watch,then his phone,resisting the urge to sigh.at thirty three,Leonard had learned patience the hard way,through boardrooms,deadlines,and deals that never moved fast enough.
Just as he was about to send the"it's okay,take your time"message,his eyes drifted,without intention, across the room.
And that was when he saw her.
She sat alone at a small table near the window, book resting open in front of her,untouched.her hands were folded as if she was holding herself in place.there was nothing loud about her,no bright colors,no dramatic gestures. Yet something about her calmness felt heavy,like a quiet song playing beneath the noise of the restaurant.
She looked young,university aged,maybe.her hair fell loosely around her shoulders, framing a face that wasn't conventionally striking but held a softness that made Leonard's chest tighten unexpectedly, her eyes were lowered,lashes dark against her skin but even from across,he sensed something else there.maybe sadness.
Leonard looked away almost immediately, unsettled how deeply he'd noticed a stranger,he told himself it was nothing, just curiosity,just a passing thought.Bit when he looked back again he caught her lifting her gaze.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment,Leonard had this feeling.
She didn't smile,she didn't look away either.her expression was unreadable ,calm but guarded,like someone who had learned to keep doors closed.then slowly she blinked and lowered her eyes again,turning her attention to the book she still wasn't reading.
Leonard exhaled,but then realised he'd been holding his breath.
"Get it together" he murmured to him self
His phone buzzed.
I'm so sorry traffic is much,I'll be there in ten minutes.
He typed back politely,though disappointment settled quietly in his chest.
While the waiter returned to refill his glass,Leonard absently nodded,his attention kept pulling back to the window table,to the girl who seemed wrapped in her own silence.He wondered why she was alone.whether she was waiting for someone who might never show.whether she always looked that sad,or if tonight was simply heavy.
Across the room. Mira felt the weight of being looked at.
She had chosen the seat by the window for a reason,it made leaving easier.it always did.her book lay open to the same page it had been on for the past twenty minutes,words blurring togetherness as her thoughts refused to settle.
She could feel him looking at her again.
Not in a way that made her uncomfortable,but in a way that made her aware.mira hadn't learned long ago the difference between being stared at and being noticed.
She didn't look back this time.
People thought quiet meant harmless,invisible,easy to overlook.mira had once believed that too.but this was a skill,one she had trained herself into.silence was her shield,calm was her disguise.
No one would believe that the girl with the book and the tired eyes spent her nights erasing digital footprints, cleaning up secrets powerful people couldn't afford to lose.online,she wasn't mira.
She was pin,precise and strong.
Her phone vibrated softly against her thigh.A message preview flashed briefly on the screen.
New job pending,High priority.
Not now she thought.
When Leonard date finally arrived ,apologetic,flustered he stood to greet her,offering the practiced smile that came so easily now .they exchanged pleasantries,ordered food,talked about safe topics,work family and weather.
Leonard laughed when expected,listened when required.But something inside him felt distant.
Once,only once.he glanced at the window table again.
It was empty.
The chair was pushed back the book gone,she've left the restaurant.
An odd sense of loss settled ver him,quiet but persistent.
Leonard didn't know her name.
Didn't know her story.
Didn't know that their lives had already brushed against each other in ways far deeper than a shared glance across a restaurant.
But as the night went on,he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just missed something important.
And somewhere in the city,mira stepped into the night,her calm expression slipping away as she became someone else entirely someone the world would never see coming.