The Fire Starter
Marcus had made it in from work and was chilling. He decided to scrolled through his Facebook feed that evening, his thumb moving up and down almost mechanically past the usual food pics and vacation photos. Then he stopped. There she was – Tanya Wilson. His heart did that little jump whenever he seen her posts.
The new profile picture showed her in a sundress, standing in front of a mirror. Her smile was exactly the same as it had been back when they lived in the same neighborhood on Kingston Avenue. Ten years had passed, but time had only refined her beauty, adding a sophistication to the always mean girl he used to know.
They'd had their moments back then. Nothing serious – just two young people who found comfort in each other's company and one thing led to another when the loneliness had gotten too heavy. Movie nights that turned into something more, casual meetups that lingered longer than they should have. But timing was never on their side. Either he was seeing someone, or she was focused on her career.
Marcus opened Messenger, their last conversation from a month ago still sitting there. Just basic catching up, likes on each other's posts, the occasional "happy birthday" message.
"You look amazing in that new pic," he texted, but didn’t press send. Thinking that might be too forward? He deleted it and texted: "That’s was at your place where you took your profile pic? " Delete. Too corny.
Finally, he texted: "You haven't changed a bit. Still beautiful lighting up every room you walk into 😊"
The message sat there for a moment before he hit send. He was nervous like he was back in high school passing notes. The three dots appeared almost immediately, disappeared, then appeared again.
"Marcus! Long time no real talk. And thank you... you're too kind. Life's just been treating me well lately. How have you been?"
He smiled at her response, remembering how she used to get shy about compliments back in the day. Some things never change. They fell into an easy conversation about their lives, their jobs, the old neighborhood. With each message, he felt that familiar warmth return.
"Remember that time we was at my dad’s place and was sitting on the sofa?" he texted. "What would happen if I kiss you on your neck? You said, “ You know that makes me…….. 😂"
"OMG yes! And you didn’t it anyway. I was a little mad but I liked it. I didn’t think you remembered that...."
Marcus sat up straighter. She'd also played back that scene in her head. Before he could respond, another message came through.
"You know... I'm usually at Martini's on Thursday nights. They have great happy hour specials. Just saying... if you're ever free..."
He stared at the message, a slow smile spreading across his face. Maybe timing was finally on their side.
"Thursday sounds perfect," he replied. "It's a date."
The three dots appeared one last time: "Yes, it is 😊"
Marcus leaned back in his chair, looking at their conversation. Sometimes the best things in life just needed a little patience. And sometimes, all it took was one message to reignite an old flame.