Day 25 of 30: Meeting Cancelled

Gwen was down by the college for a meeting that got cancelled, so she decided to surprise Daniel. She came into the office with high hopes of reconnecting with her husband.

"You want to see Daniel?" the administrative assistant said. She looked like several women Gwen knew; dressing a little too young.

"Is he in?" Gwen asked.

"He's in class right now, then he has his office hours," the admin said.

"I'll wait for him in there then."

The admin wavered. "All right."

Danny came in with a TA. No surprises there. "Hello, darling," she said, just a shade too possessively.

"Hello. Everything all right?"

"Never better. I was in the neighborhood and thought we could have lunch."

"You should've called. I've already made plans." He didn't quite look at the TA (Gwen did), but it was clear enough.

"And?" she said, a little too brightly.

"And I can break them," he acquiesced.

Gwen's smile widened.

"How was your meeting?" he asked.

"Cancelled."

"Why?"

"No explanation given."

"So, you're spreading the seeds of destruction by changing my day as well?"

Day 9 of 30: Relapse

Gwen didn't want to call Jeremy. She just found herself thinking about him as she drove home; imagining driving to his house to talk it out. It needed to be raining for the proper drama, of course. Her hair would be wet, but still pretty somehow. She'd be crying, but prettily, not the way she always did.

It would be emotional and passionate and everything would be resolved by the time the rain cleared. It would be perfect if she could just get every little detail right.

Eighteen months of dating off and on. She wasn't half as interested in him as a person as in the drama of a sometimes-almost boyfriend.

Day 7 of 30: First Date Waitress

Gwen was wrapping up her bachelor's in social work, nearly on schedule. She waited tables at a sports bar to meet the little extra bills that always popped up. It was not a First Date Venue, but they had specials on pitchers of light beer, which was apparently enough for the blond-haired/blue-eyed specimen seated before her to bring his over-dressed date on down.

She hated when first dates came in. Either the girl was so shocked at their destination the boy would overcompensate by focusing on the waitress or they'd be so wrapped up in learning inconsequential details that they couldn't order their drinks.

She knew she'd been that girl. That made it worse. But people-watching was research. She always liked a bit of extra research. She liked figuring out other people's stories.

The girl was still shocked that she was in this horrible place.

"We have a full bar selection," Gwen was offering. "Gin and tonic, vodka cranberry..."

The boy was slowly but steadily draining the pitcher.

"Gin and tonic sounds nice," the girl said, strangled by her own disappointments lodged in her larynx.

"I'll be right back," Gwen said, smiling. She was trying to build a rapport. It might not work, but the potential increase in tips was worth the effort.

Day 5 of 30: Bread

Gwen smelled like bread still.

Never mind all the showers, and these clothes never having been worn down to the sandwich shop. Somehow, the smell permeated her still.

She sat at the bar of the agreed-upon restaurant, nursing a coffee and trying to look 1: older than she was while 2: still adorable.

He wasn't late. He just wasn't early. She stirred more cream into her coffee. She'd acquired a taste for it black and sweet, but she needed something to do besides biting at her nails.

"Hey, there," he said from behind her.

She nearly knocked over her coffee. "Hi!"

"Hope you haven't been here long."

"Nope, just got here myself. Got a coffee to warm up." She wanted to say hi again. She wanted to hug him. She was just so relieved he'd shown up.

They were ushered off to a table now that both parties had arrived.

They lingered over the menu, trading middle names and random anecdotes.

"What do you do?" Gwen asked.

"I sell phones. And you?"

"I make sandwiches. We should work out a trade sometime." Gwen laughed at her joke. Jeremy didn't.

"So, what are you majoring in?" he said. Topic switch.

"Nothing yet. I want to do something to help people. I just don't know how. I volunteer different places. Mostly feeding people. Kinda ties in with the sandwiches that way."

He smiled.

She smiled back. The situation was slipping away from her. There was still something between them, but it wasn't quite sparking.

"I'm really glad I looked you up," Gwen heard herself saying. "I kinda...had a crush on you in class, and at the end of it I realized I didn't even know your last name so... you were gonna be gone. But I found you." He didn't say anything, just looked at her strangely. She bit her lip and looked back to her menu. "I...I'll have the chicken alfredo I think. I like chicken. Maybe the..." His hand was on hers. She looked up. "What're you going to have?" she asked.

"Chicken alfredo sounds great." He let go.

She smiled widely. "I'm usually...more articulate. I just...I want to...I wanted...I don't know."

He smiled again, and passed her the basket of bread. "Let's eat."

They ordered dual orders of chicken alfredo.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Just turned twenty. You?"

"Eighteen until June."

"Plenty of time to decide how to help people."

"That's what I'm hoping. My whole life I've been precocious and full of potential. I just want to be sure I actually do something with all of that, instead of just waiting for life to happen at me."

Day 3 of 30: Plumage

She wore a black button-down shirt, dark rinse blue jeans, and black heels. This was her official Date Outfit. Serious, but not too much so. It was her most flattering outfit.

She curled her hair, burning her fingers and scalp as she always did. She almost immediately set to brushing out the curls. It was too much; she was trying too hard. She put on too much eye makeup, and dabbed it off with a tissue.

She put forth the effort, and then tried to clear it all away, disguise it to hide how vulnerable she was.

Day 1 of 30: First Contact or How To Engineer a Meet Cute

It was Winter Break of Gwen's first year at college. She didn't have a major, or a boyfriend, or any idea what she was going to do with her life. Before the beginning of the semester, she'd had all of that and a job at a sandwich shop. She had the job still. Her main life goal was to eventually stop smelling of fresh bread. Everyone else was out of town, so business was slow at the sandwich shop.

She lived at home with her parents; she'd foolishly decided to go to the local college. It was a perfectly good school, but she wasn't breaking out of her comfort zone at all. Now that finals were done, she could focus on what really mattered. Looking for another job was going to be her summer project.

She was trying to reach out to new people; trying to make connections without actually making eye contact. She turned to online personals to see if anyone else was still in town; spotted the boy from her fall semester composition class that she'd sat behind. Jeremy. She'd liked him from the start. Well, close enough to it to gloss over any other distractions. He was cute, seemed sweet, and generally her type. She knew that he was a sophomore; that he'd gone south for the break, migrating to his ancestral home; that they probably weren't going to have any more classes together.

This could be her chance. This could be fate. This could be the funny, charming story to tell their children of How They Met.

She pinged him. They chatted for a bit on instant messenger. He asked her to describe herself. She said she was the girl with too much eye makeup who sat behind him. It was a very good description. Just like that, he knew far too much about her.

They set up a date for when he got back into town. They'd meet in the hip, trendy part of town, go out for dinner.

She had a Story, now she needed an Outfit.