The car rolled to a stop and he took his foot off the break and put it in park. He sat there for a minute letting the car idle, looking into the trees, down the path he’d be walking in a few seconds to meet her. With a sharp inhale, he shut the car off, opened the door and stepped out all in one fluid motion, as if to make sure he couldn’t stop himself. Then he shut the door and walked toward the path.

He was nervous. Real nervous. He didn’t know why. There was no real reason for it. They’d talked on the phone, from the safety of their own homes, for hours. Got along great, were very natural together. Had even gone out together a few times – “properly distanced” of course. But he’d still never seen her face.

He walked along the path he’d walked hundreds of times. He loved this place and came often. That’s why he’d decided they should do this here. Dirt crunched lightly under his step, and the moonlight dappled the path in front of him and winked in and out of view through the stirring leaves of the trees. It was a nice night. And this was surreal.

He rounded a bend in the path and saw her. Her silhouette. She was there. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until he let it out in a slow silent sigh. She’d come. She was actually there.

He stopped a few feet away, close enough to see her eyes, and looked into them. They looked like there was a smile below them. He would know in a few minutes, he hoped.

His heart was thumping and he was shaking a little. He hoped she couldn’t see that. Or maybe she should. Maybe she’d think it was cute or endearing. It didn’t matter because he couldn’t stop it. She was right here in front of him. Close. Only a few feet. Way less than regulation. No one would know anyway. And even if they did, he didn’t care. They could go fuck themselves. Right now, he’d take on the entire WHO if they tried to get between them. He wanted so much to see her face.

Long, wavy hair, full and dark like her eyes. Her perfect, liquid eyes – with lashes like an artist’s brush. He could imagine what she looked like – how beautiful she must be. He’d imagined it a thousand times. Every time they’d spoke, he’d imagined the face that breathy, crystalline voice belonged to. Whenever he drifted off, that was what he was seeing.

Now that he was about to actually see, he was vibrating, overwhelmed.

He stood there looking at her, at a loss for a minute and then said, “So. Here we are. I didn’t know if you’d actually come. I mean, I knew you would but… I just. This is just a little hard to believe that’s all…”

She just stared at him, the first two fingers of her right hand clasped in her left in front of her, with that probably-a-smile look. “I’m here”, she said.

“I’m…I don’t know what to say.”

She just continued to look at him, eyes bright and waiting. He stepped a little closer and stopped about a foot away. “Can I?” he breathed.

She waited for only a second, “Yes.”

His hands trembled as he reached up to remove her mask.