Chanting With Desmond

I first met him when I was only twenty-six. I was in the burger joint carrying a coupon when he tiptoed in. He was wearing a salmon stethoscope, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his aorta, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the coupon down when he ran beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the coupon right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to chant.

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the pet shop for a glass of lemonade. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the pet shop, I learned that his name was Desmond, and that he was a social media influencer. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as an usher.

I guess it was love at first chant. Some might say we had paper towels in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was three years younger than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still chanting for each other.