AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Or I might gouge their eyes out with my fingernail.”
“Stop being dramatic,” Maisie said. “I really feel like I missed my chance with this one. He took me off guard, but there was something about him that made my heart do a triple beat, and now the moment is lost forever. You don’t get that back and you definitely don’t get a second chance at making a first impression.”
“What book did you get that from?” Dorian asked.
Maisie shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe we should read more crime than romance.” The friends had a book club which they hosted once a month in their apartment. In a good month, they’d get twenty people to show up, but most of the time they had about ten. Their group consisted of coworkers, neighbors, and a few college friends.
“Nah, I like that you’re this hopeless romantic.”
“Hopeless is right.” Maisie took a sip of her wine.
“So do something about it.” Dorian told her.
Maisie scoffed. “I’m not camping out at the grocery store until he comes back. It’s bad enough that I followed him around the store like a stalker.”
Dorian got up from the table, went to the living room and came back with the newspaper in her hand. She spread it open across the table and pointed to the column, Missed Encounters, and then tapped her finger on it for emphasis.
“Huh?” Maisie was confused by Dorian’s actions to say the least.
“This is what you need to do.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you ever read the paper?”
She shook her head slowly. “I don’t have time for that,” she told her bestie. “Tomorrow, on my day off, I plan to lounge on the couch all day, eating the pie I bought and watching reruns ofSVU.”
“What season?”
Maisie shrugged. “I’m not sure yet.”
Dorian shook her head. “You’re getting me off track. This, right here, is the answer. Missed Encounters is a column for missed opportunities. You write in, they publish your story, and you wait.”
“Sounds like finding a needle in a haystack,” Maisie told her.
“Sort of like your love life.” Dorian leaned back so Maisie couldn’t smack her.
“I hate you sometimes.”
“Except you don’t. Let me go get my laptop.”
Maisie read over the column while Dorian went to her room. Each story was about someone who had a similar meet cute as she had, whether it was at a gas station, stoplight, or the bank. The one that caught her attention the most was about someone who longed for their coworker but was afraid of telling them. Reading that hurt Maisie’s heart. She believed in love and knew her prince was out there somewhere. She thought she had found him in her ex-boyfriend, Mitchell. They had broken up six months ago when he took a job three hours away without talking to her first. He expected her to come and see him on her days off. When she told him no, she thought he’d fight for their relationship. Instead, their three-year relationship ended that night, and they hadn’t spoken since.
Maisie cleared her thoughts when Dorian returned with her laptop tucked under her arm. She sat down and started typing. Maisie thought about standing next to her but figured Dorian would show her what she wrote when she finished.
“Okay, how’s this?” Dorian turned the laptop toward Maisie, and read.
On a dreary day we had our missed encounter. Me in my yoga pants and hoodie, while you looked dashingly handsome in a suit with a red tie. You winked at me as we crossed paths in the aisles of the grocery store, and when I needed help, you were there with the assist. I may have said something unladylike after our heads collided, but you knocked the wind right out of me. Anyway, this is me, shooting my shot for a second-chance meet cute. Meet me at Rose’s, on Valentine’s Day at 8 p.m. I’ll be the one at the bar in a black dress. Until we cross paths again, I’ll be waiting. ~ Maisie
Maisie read the passage over a couple of times and wanted to erase the entire thing. She hated every word, but also felt them deep in her bones. What if this was her one chance to meet the man who twisted up her insides?
“There’s a problem with this.” Maisie eventually told her friend.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t have a reservation at Rose’s, and I doubt I can get one at this point. Valentine’s is a week away.”
Dorian turned her laptop back toward her and typed quickly before turning it back to Maisie. “It’s still there,” Maisie pointed out.
