“Love at First Site” by Andrew Campbell-Kearsey, Brighton

topic: LOVE AND HEARTBREAK medium: TEXT

It was an insane idea. The sum total of their correspondence had been a flurry of emails over the past nine days. Each missive growing in intensity and intimacy.

Sean had kept his fledgling relationship secret, connecting with Angie through their mutual love of Dan Brown novels on a
fan website. They’d progressed from messaging in the members-only chatroom about plot intricacies to sharing personal details. Ten thousand miles apart, he felt incredibly close to her. Sean had plenty of acquaintances but she was different. Angie understood him better than anybody in his own town or hemisphere.

Angie mentioned exchanging photographs. Worried about her possible rejection, he suggested getting to know each other without the baggage of appearance. She responded with something about their connection transcending the physical plane. He wasn’t quite sure what that meant but he liked the sound of it. Adding, they might regret it for the rest of their lives if he didn’t fly over.
*****
He exaggerated the length of time he had known Angie to his chatty fellow passenger. An air stewardess overheard and asked if there were wedding plans. Sean usually hated drawing attention to himself but was flattered by their interest.

Sean felt he had a good idea of her appearance after online descriptions. He was worried she might wear high heels and tower over him. When the captain announced that he was starting the descent, Sean began to panic. What if Angie was disappointed in him? What if she was out of his league?

After immigration control, he scanned the faces in the crowd. None matched the impression he had conjured up of Angie. Maybe she’d been caught up in traffic? What was he thinking? He’d travelled literally to the other side of the world to be stood up. What a fool he’d been. He maneuvered his trolley towards the exit. She was standing on the other side of the road, waving at him frantically. She’d come after all. Why had he doubted her? He lifted his case off the trolley and ran to meet her.
*****
The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death. The driver of the coach had no way of stopping. He never did get to meet Angie. But even if he had crossed the road safely, he never would have. The waving blonde woman was trying excitedly to get her mother’s attention, who was standing behind Sean. Meanwhile Barry had been waiting by the arrivals gate. He was an avid Dan Brown fan, bordering on obsessional, and used his imaginary onscreen persona to attract other fans. He was a part-time minicab driver but had soon discovered that, if he described himself as vivacious, blonde ‘Angie’, more people felt inclined to share their view of plot twists and narrative pace. So  little deception was a small price to pay for finding like-minded souls. But
when Sean arrived, he couldn’t go through with it. Barry thought he might get a punch in the face or worse.