Valentine's Day

         The rain started about ten minutes before I had to leave.  Irritation fought to gain control over my bursting emotions.  Just outside my door I flicked open the umbrella.  The puddles were already starting to form.  I craned my neck to search for the cab I had called.  It wasn’t there.  Irritation again gnawed at my mind.
         I rolled my eyes and took out my phone at the same time.  I would just have to call Brian and tell him I was running late.  He would understand and later we’d both laugh over this. 
         The phone rang and rang but no answer. It didn’t even go to the voice mail.  It figured, I knew these cell phones would never be popular.  They only worked half the time anyways.  I shrugged my shoulders and set off down the street on foot.  I would just have to catch a cab along the way.
         It was valentines day and I was meeting Brian for dinner at our favorite restaurant.  I couldn’t help but wonder if this might be the night he would propose to me. I giggled lightly to myself despite the rain and no cab situation.
         When I got to the restaurant, everything was dark.  Disappointment flooded through me.  Was it closed?  I desperately searched for Brian.  Surely he would be there waiting for me.
         I spotted him sitting on the bench outside the door.  His head was bowed.  I walked slowly towards him, slightly confused.  “Brian?” I called, but he didn’t look up.  He was holding a worn looking paper.
         He looked different.  His hair was different and his face looked aged.  I sat down beside him on the bench.  “Brian?” I said more quietly.  He looked up, but not at me.  He was older.  The umbrella fell out of my hands.  I didn’t need it though, the rain had stopped.
         “I miss you Jenny,” he whispered.
         Miss me?  “Brian, what’s going on?”  My voice had grown to a high pitch.
         I reached out to grab his coat but before my hand made contact he got up off the bench.  The newspaper lay there where he had been.  The headline flashed out at me.  “Local woman killed on Valentines day”  I read further down.
         “Jenny McAdams, 24, was killed last night while walking along Beach Avenue.  She was going to meet boyfriend Brian Hughes when a car driven by 36 year old Kim Jordan struck her.  Jenny died in Memorial hospital, a little over an hour after being hit.”
         My mouth dropped open.  “Wh….”
         Brian came back to the bench then, remembering his paper.  His hair was completely grey and his eyes were lined with age.  Tears streaked down his weathered cheeks. 
         “Dad,” a young woman called from a car I hadn’t seen before, “Dad come on.”
         Brian turned towards the woman.  “I’ll be right there honey,” he called.  The world started to spin.  That was Brian’s daughter?  Tears streamed down my face.
         “Dad, I don’t know why you come here very year.  Geez, it’s just kinda weird.”  He gave one last look at me before he ducked inside the car.
         I sat in stunned silence.

         
         I smiled at my reflection in the mirror.  I really hoped it wouldn’t rain.  I was meeting  Brian tonight for dinner and I was sure that he would be proposing tonight.