Deborah left the apartment and went down the stair case to the street. She started walking through the old, familiar neighborhood in the rain. I haven’t been here in 66 years, and yet it seems like I only left it yesterday. Actually, I did leave it only yesterday.. Eventually, she came to Allen’s house. She walked up the stairs, and knocked on the door.
“Who’s there?”
“Deborah”
“I thought we had broken up”
“I want to talk with you”
“About getting back together?”
“I really don’t want to have an intimate conversation, yelling through a door, while I am standing out in the rain”
She heard soft footsteps, then the deadbolt turned and the door opened. There was Allen, dressed in a T-shirt, underwear, and white socks, just as she remembered him.
“Who are you?”
“Deborah Schwartz”
“Deborah Schwartz is a 22 year old college student. You are considerably older than a college student.”
“I know. I’ve been on a bit of an adventure, and it aged me rather rapidly. However, I’d like to talk to you. May I come in?”
Allen stepped back, and held the door open wide. “Please do”
They sat down on the threadbare sofa.
“You used to rub my feet. There is something wrong with my lower extremities - what is it?”
“You have a peculiar scar on your left foot”
Deborah took off her left shoe and sock. Allen looked at her foot.
“Oh my god. It is you. What happened?”
“It’s a long story. To save time, I have recorded it on this USB thumb drive. Read it at your leisure”
Deborah took the thumb drive from her pocket and handed it to Allen. The she put on her sock and her shoe.
“Why are you here?”
“I want to apologize for the way I treated you. I’m older now, and wiser, and a little more understanding”
“Apology accepted. Now what?”
“I want you to read the text on the thumb drive, which is a record of everything I have done in the past 66 years. Then, I’d like to take you out on a date”
“I thought you were too poor for that kind of thing?”
“I was, but now I am rich”
“You’ve changed”
“I have changed. Read the thumb drive. Then call me”
“Are you going back to your apartment now?”
“Yes”
“May I walk with you?”
“Sure”
“Let me get dressed”
Allen disappeared into the bedroom. A moment later, he returned wearing some slacks, a T-shirt that read “Python programmers do it clearly”, and hiking boots.
“It’s raining”
“I’ll get a coat”
They left the apartment and started walking back to Deborah’s apartment.
“I’ve been thinking about children”
“I still don’t want any children”
“I know. Well, I had children. I had grandchildren. They are a lot of fun. I buried children. I buried grandchildren. I’ve gotten that out of my system now”
“You’re kidding”
“Read the thumb drive. It will tell you my whole story. Hold my hand”
“What?”
“Hold my hand”
“Why?”
“Do it”
They held hands.
“I have some new ideas about intimacy”
“What are they?”
“I wanted to have more intimacy with you”
“We were intimate - we had sex every day”
“There is more to intimacy than sex. That’s why we’re holding hands”
“I don’t understand”
“You are holding hands with me. You’re not holding hands with anybody else, are you?”
“No”
“We are holding hands together, on a public street, in plain view of the whole world”
Allen looked around. “I don’t see anybody watching us”
“Doesn’t matter. This is an intimate moment. Savor it”
“We’ve never talked about this before”
“I know. I wish I had. You’re a good man. I’m a good woman. Our time together is limited. We have a future together, one that will have disagreements, arguments, but also great happiness, and joy”
“How do you know that?”
“I just know. Trust me. And hold my hand.”