The Date

A flash of speculative fiction

Their anticipated first date was their last date, too.

It started out with nerves and laughter. Rather than jump into the uncertainty of a solo date, Rip invited a friend from work. This meant Holley might feel like the odd woman out except Rip hadn’t met Jay’s latest fling, so perhaps that woman was the true third wheel.

The country tavern came highly recommended for its deluxe burgers and large outdoor seating area with two horseshoe pits. Holley’s family adored horseshoe competitions, so it appealed to her to tie a strength into the awkward context of a first date with two complete strangers and one hot guy she’d met at the archery range.

Of course the visions interfered. They always dropped in at inopportune moments.

After Holley and Rip bested Jay and Allie at horseshoes, they settled into a scarred booth to share baskets of onion rings, jalepeno poppers, and fried zucchini. Neither girl wanted to tempt disaster by eating a juicy burger. They’d agreed on that during a trip to the ladies’ room after finishing the horseshoe match.

Allie, a short, curvaceous blonde with thick eyelashes and mostly green hazel eyes, leaned into Jay’s side. She contributed to the conversation when asked a direct question.

Jay, on the other hand, gave Holley a thorough examination, first with his eyes, and then by quizzing her about her job, family, and aptitude for archery and horseshoes. Clearly, he would choose someone different for his best friend, but Holley couldn’t ascertain what about her didn’t measure up.

Was she too tall? She was only a couple inches shorter than Rip, whose six-foot frame towered above Allie’s petite, barely five-foot form.

After Jay’s poor performance in the game, she decided he didn’t like that she was more athletic than him. Holley got that often. It could be the primary reason she was an attractive, twenty-five-year-old who rarely dated the same guy more than four times. Her best friend said Holley intimidated guys.

Holley knew the stupid visions played a large role. But her best friend didn’t know a thing about those. Being intimating was better than being considered insane.

Jay had three beers while the rest of them enjoyed a single alcoholic beverage each before turning to regular tea and soda. His filter started to recede by the time they finished eating, and some of his comments turned mean. Holley shared a sympathetic glance with Allie, who shrugged a shoulder, not looking put off by his performance.

“Sorry about Jay,” Rip said for the fourth time, turning his Tiberon onto the winding road leading back to her duplex.

Holley offered to drive herself and meet him at the pub since her place was twenty minutes from his and in the opposite direction of their destination. He wouldn’t hear of it. It wouldn’t be a true date if she drove herself, and he wanted the complete dating experience.

Be careful what you wish for, Rip.

At the only stoplight on the road, a black Honda swerved toward the ditch. Rip slowed as the driver of the Honda over-corrected crossing the double yellow lines in the center of the road.

An Amazon delivery truck came around the corner. The black car drifted over the center line. The vehicles crashed together, glass flying and metal crunching.

Tires squealed. A bright blue Tiberon swerved toward the side of the road. A spinning, crumpled black car side-swiped it.

Down the steep hill on the side of the road the sporty blue car sped, through a thicket, over a flowerbed until plowing into a sturdy oak.

Holley blinked. In front of them, the Honda veered into the oncoming lane.

She clenched the arm rest and pushed backward into the seat. Ragged breaths made her head spin. Dark blotches danced across her vision.

“Someone’s had too much to drink,” Rip said, backing away from the Honda even more.

“Pull over.” Holley sounded like she’d sprinted uphill.

Rip glanced at her, hands fidgeting at nine and three on the leather-wrapped steering wheel.

“Are you feeling sick?”

She should have said yes.

“Please. Just pull over.”

The road narrowed and started the curvy climb uphill. Unless Rip pulled over on the road heading perpendicular to this one, he had no place to stop. A country store sat at the top of the hill.

Holley replayed the vision. The accident happened further along the road, on the second S-curve. They had time.

She breathed deeply, blinking away the unwelcome premonition.

“You’re not going to be sick in my car, are you?” Rip sounded disgusted at the thought. Horrified even.

She shook her head. “It’s not that.”

A curve took the Honda out of sight.

“What then?”

The fried food curdled in her stomach.

“I can’t explain.”

He pulled over at the store. Holley flung open the passenger door and paced. She didn’t need to close her eyes to see the details of the vision again. It stopped before she could see if any other cars were involved now that they had avoided it.

Several cars and a pickup truck passed the store. Rip opened his door, leaned on the car and studied her.

After a few minutes, the tightness eased behind her breastbone. Enough time had passed. They could continue.

Flares lit the road right before the second S-curve. Sirens approached from behind them. Rip stopped behind a pickup truck.

“What you wanna bet it was the guy in the black car?”

Holley knew taking that bet would be no gamble at all.

Finally, a police officer directed them through. The Amazon delivery van sat in the driveway at the end of the curve. One headlight hung from wires. The front quarter-panel was crumpled.

Rip pulled into the oncoming lane because their lane was a mess of broken glass. The black Honda sat on its side at the edge of the road. Beside it, a path of destruction wrecked bushes meant to offer a sound break to a house built in the hollow below.

Nausea welled, and Holley swallowed hard. Rescue workers surrounded a white sedan nose-first in a large oak tree.

Her hands shook so she clenched them between her knees. Rip stopped at the light where the side road intersected the highway. He gripped the wheel.

“That was wild.”

It could have been much wilder.

“If we hadn’t stopped,” he gulped. “Man, I think I need a drink.”

But he didn’t accept her offer to come in and have a drink. By then, he’d pieced it together. Even though Holley had saved them, he didn’t want to spend extra time with the crazy girl.

Insane not intimidating.

The vision saved her life and ruined it at the same time.

Rip said he’d see her later. Holley watched him drive away, heart sinking into her gut.

He didn’t call. She didn’t see him at the archery range.

That first date was their last.