Projects > Story-of-the-Day > common-courtesy

I just finished buying my books for next semester and was walking with a small pile of books under one arm and a coffee in the other. I was trying to figure out how I would get through a door when I saw him. He held the door open for me.

I went outside and sat at a table. He came over and sat next to me. "Hi," I said, "Thanks for holding that door open for me."

He shrugged and said, "No worries."

It happened again the next day. I had just posted a picture of my donut on Instagram when he sat next to me. "Fancy seeing you here again," I said.

He smiled and nodded.

As classes started, we kept meeting there for coffee every morning. "Have you seen the new Star Wars movie?" I asked one day.

"I'm thinking about going tonight. I've heard it's good," he replied.

And with that we had a date. I showed up to the movie theater early and waited in the lobby. "Fancy seeing you here," I joked with him as he entered.

He laughed and said, "Oh! Nice seeing you too."

He went to get seats while I got the popcorn. I walked into the theater and fumbled around in the dark until I found him. We shared popcorn and laughed.

Over coffee the next morning, I looked over at him. "You know, if you like spicy Indian food there's a great Andhra place that just opened up."

"Actually I've been really craving some Ulava charu. Nowhere around here has it. That definitely sounds worth checking out!"

I got caught up with a late study group and didn't make it to the Palamuru Grill until eight that night. I walked in and quickly scanned the room. I saw him seated at a booth kissing some other girl. I was furious. I walked directly to him. They didn't even notice as I stood there. I tapped his shoulder and let out an "Ahem."

They both stopped kissing and looked at me.

I looked at him, "What are you doing? I'm a little late and you just pick up some random person? And start kissing them?"

He just stared at me confused.

I looked at the girl, "I think you should leave." I pointed at him, "He's taken. We've been dating for months."

He looked at the girl, "I'm sorry, I don't know what she's talking about. I just see her on campus every once in a while. I'm not with her at all."

I was furious and started talking louder than was needed. "How can you say that? You hold open doors for me and we have coffee together almost every day. We just went on a date to a movie yesterday. We agreed to meet here tonight for dinner!"

"Look, I think you're reading too much into this. I hold open doors for everybody. We just say hi to each other. That's not a date. And that movie was an accident. I told you that I was going and you just happened to show up. And I appreciate you telling me about this restaurant, but I didn't-"

I couldn't listen to him anymore. I staggered back a few steps and hoped I could hold back my tears long enough to get outside. I was almost out when I bumped into a man and almost knocked him over. "I'm so sorry," I said as I finally started crying.

"Oh, no worries. Nothing's broken, right? Here let me get the door for you."

I looked at him and smiled, "Thanks for holding that door open for me."