Ceaseless Night

2, The Call

Four-and-a-half Star Restaurant, Same City, Same Night.

Manuel Hunt watched and ambulance fly past the window of his table booked for two, wishing he had some metaphysical ambulance for the disaster he was in right now. This was Manuel's third date, you see, and the last two had both ended badly, one in which they simply didn't click, and another when Manuel accidentally got the girl cashew chicken when she was deathly allergic to cashews (things would have been even worse for the latter if a woman hadn't stepped in with an EpiPen). This time, it appeared that after and hour and a half of waiting Manuel had been ghosted.

As Manuel drowned his sorrows in some chips and salsa, he decided to call his friend, Hugo. Manuel had never met Hugo in person, they just met on social media and bonded over programming.

Manuel dialed Hugo's number and he immediately picked up. After a few seconds of static, Hugo started speaking.

"Hey man, how did the date go?"

"She ghosted me, Hugo"

"She did? But I thought you guys had a lot of chemistry on the dating app."

"We did. Why do people do that?"

"Well, us humans are irrational. She was probably just doing it to entertain herself while being unaware of the distress she's causing. Don't get wound up about it, this fish was rotten, just throw it back and move on."

"That's a... weird analogy, but get you. I've been thinking though, what if the reason I can't find anyone is simply because I'm too boring."

"of course not! You're a great programmer, and... uh... you mentioned you collect stamps."

"exactly, those are the only interesting things about me. I'm about as complex as a cardboard box."

"You are only 19, you have plenty of years ahead of you to become your own unique person."

"yeah, but I can only ever make friendships on the internet, like with you."

"You'll break out of your mold eventually, but on that topic, I think there's something I should tell you."

"Oh yeah? What is it?" Before Hugo could respond the restaurant began shaking violently, sending vases clattering to the ground. This wasn't natural, there were never earthquakes in this part of the world! In all the noise Manuel could hear Hugo say "Wait a sec, I have to go."