It is Friday, May 16th, 1950. Springfield, Massachusetts was filled with excitement for the weekend. I left my apartment around 7:15 in the morning, just like any other day and started my journey to the firm. I stopped by the cafe to grab my large iced coffee which the barista made ahead of time, knowing my schedule. It was a brisk morning but nothing beats a Dunkin’ iced coffee. 

I was wearing my basic outfit, khakis with a navy blue sweater and a pink tie. I put on my new, brown leather shoes, I bought last week. Yesturday, right after work, I got them shined, so they were ready to wear for today. 

The bell chimed softly as the door of the Ray and Foster Law Firm closed behind me. 

“Good morning Linda!” I say while passing the black, large, and uncluttered front desk.

I continue to my office, ready to see what case I would work on today. Usually, it was a parking ticket or something small like that. 

As I enter the room, a woman who had her back to me, turned around. I do not understand why, but I was caught off guard. It might have been because I usually enter an empty office or it was because of how gorgeous she was. 

“Hello, Mr. Bellingham…” she says in a friendly tone. I tuned out for the rest as I examined her. Her smile was warm and welcoming and her teeth shone brightly against her pink lip gloss. Her hair was unlike any other woman I have seen. Her brown hair shimmered in the sunlight which came from the window directly behind my desk. It looked like a bob but was much longer and much more beautiful. She was wearing a light pink billowy dress with a flower waistline along with black heels. 

“So Mr. Bellingham,” she continued while grasping my attention. “I guess we will be working together for a prolonged period.”

She waited for me to say something, but I had no words. I remembered just then that she started working at the firm about two months ago after her internship with a judge. She had slipped my mind, but she was memorable. Her first day, she wore a pretty, light blue billowy dress with a cherry waistline. She was beautiful. How could I have forgotten? I never really talked or interacted with her, but it was no excuse to forget about her. 

“Hello, Ms…..” I say so she could finish my sentence, as an attempt to hide up that I was not listening. 

“Macado but you can call me Elizabeth. I’m working on the drunk driver case with you.” She had a confused look on her face which was no surprise to me, I would have reacted the same if I knew someone wasn’t listening to me.

“Right, right. Where do you want to start?”

“I was thinking about meeting with the victim and have him describe the accident.”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll schedule a meeting.”

Elizabeth nods and smiles as she goes back to her office which was diagonal from mine. I worked on the case for the rest of the morning, calling the victim for a meeting, looking at the witnesses statements, and researching the scene of the accident. I didn’t want to admit it but my favorite part was having an excuse to talk to Elizabeth. I was sucked into my work, not noticing the time. As soon I looked up, it was time for my lunch break and since it was Friday, I always treat myself to the diner down the road.

I leave the firm and walk down the buzzing avenue, my stomach growling. I sit in my usual seat and start browsing the menu. I knew what I already wanted, a tomato grilled cheese with a cup of tomato soup, but I wanted to make sure nothing else appealed to me. A waitress came over that I haven’t seen before but she was very friendly and no doubt, beautiful. Elizabeth slipped my mind in this half an hour I had to myself. 

“Hello, I’m Mary and I will be serving you today!” she said which snapped me out of my daze. The diner was slow which led to a casual conversation between us about the firm, the diner, and of course the food. 

I got my lunch after about 10 minutes of waiting, but it felt like nothing because the whole time I was either talking to Mary or staring at Mary. She was wearing a red and white dirndl dress with small puff sleeves along with black heels and she looked flawless in it. 

It seemed as if she knew everyone in the diner, talking to all the customers and all the waitresses came to her for direction. 

“She must be working a new shift,” I thought as I finished my last bite of grilled cheese. Mary came over immediately after that, knowing I have to go back to work.

“Here's your bill and also something special!” she says as she smiles and walks back to the counter. I look at the receipt and it had black ink numbers on the bottom. I look up at her and she smiles knowing that I read it.

I walk back to the firm like I was walking on clouds until I reach the Ray and Foster Law Firm door. I forgot about Elizabeth, but I decided to let it ride out and not worry about it. 

The rest of the day went smoothly, working on the case and talking to Elizabeth. In the heat of the moment, I felt such a connection between Elizabeth and me, I asked her out on a date.

“Tonight?” she asked as she smiled at me. “I would love to!” We both shared a moment, just smiling and making strong eye contact. 

The day finished off and I started to get ready for the exciting night. As I put my hand in my pocket while walking out the door, I touched something. A paper. My heart started to race and felt like it would explode, just as a volcano does. I am so ashamed of myself, leading two girls on at the same time. 

“There's nothing I can do right now. I am not canceling on Elizabeth,” I thought as I closed the door to my apartment. I have never felt this way in a long time towards a girl. She made me happy and excited about work. By the end of the car ride to pick her up, I came to the conclusion to not call Mary and pursue things with Elizabeth. We go to a restaurant and order dinner while we talked about almost everything.

“I was born in Georgia but I barely remember anything because we moved when I was 5. Then I lived in Barrington, RI because my ma and dad wanted a better education for my two sisters and I. After high school, I went to Harvard and then I ended up here.” 

We continued talking about our lives until the food came out. She got a salad with chicken and I got a steak with asparagus. My stomach was upset due to the lingering conflict between meeting both Elizabeth and Mary but the smell of steak, like it just came off the grill, eased the beast. 

It was almost like we had known each other for our entire lives. We hit it off and there was no awkwardness insight.

We left the restaurant and walked down the avenue while talking about how I came to Springfield. As we were chatting, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Elizabeth. She was wearing a red long skin dress with a black sweater and black heels. She looked beautiful and I was sure to tell her.

“Elizabeth, you look beautiful tonight. I am so lucky to spend my night with you.” We stood staring at each other right at the entrance of the arcade with the red lights shining on us. Even though I got a big whiff of gas from an old mustang which rolled by and felt a brisk breeze, the moment was perfect. Just as I leaned in for a kiss, 

“HENRY. Funny to see you here,” a familiar voice said which interrupted the eye contact between us two, almost purposeful. It was Mary. My heart jumped and the only thing I could spit out was, 

“Yes Suh, it sure is,” which was an attempt to tell Mary to walk on so the night will continue as perfectly as it was. The complete opposite happened. She told Elizabeth everything, about us flirting, me staring at her the whole time during lunch, and her leaving her number for me which she expected me to use. 

All Elizabeth could do was keep looking back at me and Mary. I didn’t know how to explain to Mary that I wasn’t interested and I didn’t know how to tell Elizabeth that she was the only one I had eyes for. This night had changed everything. Learning more and more about Elizabeth increased my feelings for her.

“I can’t believe this! Henry, I thought you were different,” Elizabeth says as she stomps off back in the direction we came from. 

Mary extends her hand to touch mine and whispers in my ear, “I never thought she would leave.”

“Mary I don’t know what you are thinking but I like Elizabeth and I need you to stop flirting with me,” I say as I jolt my hand away and turned to leave. As I was about 30 feet away from her, she exclaims,

“But what about me?” I kept on walking and never turned back.

I go to sleep knowing the Sox were on but didn't care because I knew I would see Elizabeth in the morning during overtime and could clarify along with confessing my feelings.

The birds were chirping and the sun was shining nice and early on this beautiful Saturday morning. I rush into work and immediately go to find Elizabeth in her office. 

“Don’t say anything. I saw who you were last night.” I move closer to her and say, 

“Elizabeth, I am not that person you think I am. There is no competition, you are the one. The time I spent with you yesterday made me much happier than I have been for as long as I can remember,” I move even closer and grab her hand. “ Elizabeth Macado, I would love to get to know you even more and continue with this relationship between us because I knew you were special that first day I met you, two months ago.”

Elizabeth smiles the biggest grin I have seen from a lady. 

“I knew you would fight for me,” she mumbled while she grabs my other hand. I pull her close to me and could smell her flowery perfume. I lean in and lay a soft kiss on her lips. 

“So I’ll see you tonight?” I ask smiling. With her cute smirk, she laughs and says,

“No, I’m okay,” almost as though she was serious. She saw the confusion in my face and squeezes my hands to pull me close to her and kisses me again. 

If I never followed my gut and chose Elizabeth, this would have never happened. This could be my future. She could be my future.