Arthur leaned in and was about to kiss Rachel, when all of a sudden both their dates appeared and separated them.
“Our food’s been here for a while,” said Henry. “You’ve got enough money to pay for your special, right?”
“What took so long to get me a glass of wine anyway?” Jane asked Arthur. “Did you become distracted and lose your way?” She sensed that something was going on between Arthur and Rachel and her impatience with him became anger towards her.
The charm had broken. The magic had ended. Both Rachel and Arthur exchanged glances of profound regret and slight embarrassment as they were led back to the dates they had escaped from; they had shared an almost something special only to return to settle on a definite and ordinary mediocrity. For those few moments at the bar, they escaped a lack of compatibility with their bad dates and got a taste of what the truly magnificent world of their togetherness after Arthur’s still fresh apology could be like.