I was there early. I can sit and check emails and not look pathetic, right? I sighed and checked my watch: 9:50 a.m. I took a quick peek in my compact mirror. My pink lip gloss was still shiny and my eyeliner was even, so I snapped the compact shut and tucked it back into my brown cross-body bag. I hope he remembers and I didn’t shift my appointment for nothing! I fought the feeling of skepticism. The last guy I dated didn’t work out. He was a Pure L with a solid personality; he was generous to a fault and Ken-doll cute. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and a nice smile, but he was as dull as watching paint dry. I had made the effort initially since he was ridiculously nice and easy on the eyes, but it got to the point where I dreaded picking up the phone when he called. His idea of a fun time was going to hear a lecture at the local library—not that there was anything wrong with learning, but not three dates in a row! Even after I convinced him to go out to dinner, the conversation was only about some serious subject, like deforestation. He never wanted to just chat about the latest movie or funny thing that happened at work. I broke it off after only three weeks and haven’t regretted it for one second.
At 10:00 a.m. precisely, Julien walked in with a confident stride. He smiled when he saw me, and it struck my heart like a lightning bolt. The sunlight streaming into the restaurant window shone from behind him, illuminating his outline and making him look even more radiant.
“Hey, Skyla,” he said as he took a seat across from me, grinning. “You aren’t going to actually make me drink this stuff are you?” His smile indicated he was joking, but I thought the tone of his voice sounded a little hesitant, so I wasn’t sure how to react.
“I haven’t ordered anything yet, but I can share something with you if you want.” I decided to just be upbeat and positive.
“I don’t know,” he murmured, looking at the menu over on the wall. He settled on a ginger-mint carrot juice while I ordered a chia blackberry tea blend. He crinkled his nose at his drink when he got it.
“Looks weird.”
He picked it up and smelled it.
“Smells better than it looks.”
“Try it!” I encouraged. “I bet you’ll be surprised how good it tastes.”
He stared reluctantly into the glass. Pressing it to his lips, he took a tiny sip, never breaking our eye contact. My heart pounded in my chest.
“This is way too healthy, but not bad.”
“Do you want to try mine?” I asked, suppressing a giggle.
“Nope,” he laughed. “That was enough excitement for one day.”
We chatted for a little while. I told him about my job as a nutritionist and the types of clients I saw each day. He told me about a big report that was due soon and how he would have to work over the weekend. I noticed that he didn’t drink any more of his juice; I guessed he didn’t really care for it. He got up to go talk to the juice bar manager about putting some bars out for folks to try. I watched him as he walked over to the counter. Oh lightness, could an L Glow even look this good? He looked back at me at that moment and I quickly looked down at my phone. I fought off the warm blush spreading on my face—I didn’t want him to catch me staring at him.
Suddenly, I felt a cold chill go up my spine. Pure L Glows get this feeling when someone nearby needs help. I looked around the café. It was still early, so the place was not full. Two female light-gray Normals were sitting behind me. An elderly woman with short black hair and glasses, another light-gray Normal, was sitting by the window reading something on her phone. I glanced over at Julien. He was busy chatting and laughing with the light-gray Normal manager. I was surprised he didn’t give any indication that he felt trouble, but perhaps he was too engaged in conversation to notice. The Normal with the glasses looked up from her phone, distracted by something outside. I glanced in the direction her eyes were fixed upon and saw it. There were four women, maybe in their early twenties, arguing outside. I walked over to the table near the woman to get a better view. One of them, a Glow—likely a new D Glow as she only looked about eighteen—was literally in the face of one meek-looking light-gray Normal, screaming something about her boyfriend while the other two dark-gray Normals jeered and waved their fingers in the air to emphasize her point. The D Glow suddenly pulled out a knife and held it up to the light-gray Normal's face. I flinched.
“Maybe we should call the police?” asked the Normal woman, uncertain as to what to do.
“No,” I asserted. “I think I can help,”
“You?” chuckled the woman. “Those women could body-slam you into oblivion. I wouldn’t put it past them either—they look mean. Besides, that girl has a knife. You could get hurt!”
I was about to run outside when a Glow police officer on bike patrol pulled up to the curb.
“Looks like someone called the cops after all,” the woman said. I turned back to see what Julien was up to. If he noticed I had left our table, he didn’t show it. He was still chatting away with the thirty-something male juice manager. The D Glow and her two Normal friends split the second they saw the officer. The mousy-looking Normal remained, clearly shaken up. I felt my heart drop; I didn’t like to see anyone sad. The officer showed the lady something on her phone. The lady smiled. Oh good.
“Hey!” Julien said, startling me. He was standing behind me now, looking out the window.
“What is going on?” he asked curiously.
“Oh, nothing we need to get involved with,” I replied with a wink. He didn’t seem to catch my meaning—but, then again, I didn’t know him well enough to know how he reacted to Glow alerts. We headed back to our table.
“Oh, hey, I am so sorry to leave you alone for so long.”
“No, no, don’t worry,” I said reassuringly, sipping the last of my tea. “I think it's good you were able to talk to the manager. Any luck?”
“Yeah, he's gonna ask his boss and hopefully I will get a call back about the bars.” He shifted in his seat, looking slightly antsy.
“Great!” I paused, waiting for him to share more details, but he opened his phone up instead and started to type out a message.
“I don’t mean to rush off,” he said quickly, “but I really need to get back to the office.”
He's leaving already? We only talked for, like, ten minutes.
“Oh, of course,” I said, trying my best to not look disappointed. I understood that work took priority, but I had hoped I would’ve had the chance to get to know him a little more.
I followed Julien as he headed to the door. He stopped and opened it for me and followed me out to the front of the juice bar. We paused at the edge of the sidewalk. It was an extraordinarily bright day, so I put one hand up to shield my eyes from the piercing rays of morning sun.
“Thanks for the call about this place,” he said. “Maybe we could get some real food sometime?” He looked around, probably checking to see if the Uber was there.
“OK.” I moved to the other side of him so I didn’t have to fight the sunlight. I was relieved he suggested a follow-up date. If he had just left, I would’ve felt totally deflated.
“OK, then—I will call you,” he said. We stood there for a moment, unsure what to do next. He then quickly leaned in and gave me an awkward half hug before turning to climb into the Uber that had just pulled up.
I waved as the car pulled away. The smell of soft cedar and orange from his cologne lingered, and I knew right then that my heart was in trouble.