Another Ten Minutes — Long-Sleeve Tee

You are nearly home when someone you like appears at the other end of the street. There is enough distance to pretend you haven't seen them, if you were feeling particularly efficient. Instead, you slow down. They slow down too, and the pavement becomes somewhere to spend a little time rather than something to finish crossing.

They ask how you've been, and you give the short answer. Then the longer answer slips out, because they seem to be listening and because there is something easier about talking when neither of you has prepared for it. You learn about an ordinary difficulty, an unlikely piece of good news, and a person you both thought had moved away. Apparently that person is still here, conducting a surprisingly active life two streets over.

You get home later than planned and find the tea you made before leaving, now at a temperature usually associated with a minor disappointment. You warm it up, remember a message you meant to answer, and realize you have something more interesting to say than you did when you left. Nothing on the list has been crossed off. You still feel as though the afternoon gave you something.

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