Daytime Encounter (A Short Story) by Alan Lynn Page A

never played volleyball in her life.  Nonetheless, she still gave him her number and he told her he’d call her to meet at the campus union sometime soon for coffee.  Of course, he never called because at the time, his life was a runaway freight train of games, parties and girls.  But looking back, he wished he had.  And he wondered what would happen if he texted her now.
    Chaste’s heels clicked loudly across the marble as she rushed through the lobby and into the elevator.  Getting off on the fifteenth floor, she walked through the grey colored hallway and arrived in front of the large double doors of her law firm.  Swiping her keycard, she stumbled into the entrance foyer and was greeting by Greta, the auburn haired secretary sitting in her usual position behind the front desk.
    “Well good morning” said Greta, not looking up from her computer.
    “Good morning” said Chaste, avoiding eye contact and heading straight for her office.
    “Oh Chaste, you have some mail here.”
    Stopping short, Chaste turned around and took her mail.
    “Late night?” inquired Greta nosily.
    “Oh, no, just got caught up in some traffic this morning”
    “Hmm funny, I didn’t notice any when I came in”
    “Anything else?”
    “What?” Greta said looking up.
    “Any other mail for me?”
    “Oh.  That’s all you have.  But one more thing.  The partners are all out downtown at a deposition this morning until noon.”  Under her breath, Greta added, “I guess you got lucky.”
    Chaste ignored the last comment and headed back to her office.  Although she was annoyed by Greta, as usual, she was content in knowing that she would have some quiet time until the afternoon. 
    Reaching her desk and opening her laptop, Chaste situated herself to start her day.  She opened a folder on her desk, plugged in her cell phone, and wiped off a few leftover brownie crumbs into a small wastebasket.  She then sat down in her chair and placed her head in her hands while taking a long gaze outside the window. 
    Her mind began to drift to a vacation in Paris, but she was startled by a gentle bing and buzz from her phone.  She half smiled as she expected a sweet message from her fiancé Chad, who was an investment banker currently on assignment in New York City.  But to her surprise, the message was from an unknown number. 
    The little green bubble on the screen read; “Hey :)”.
    She didn’t know why, but she blushed and felt a jolt of electricity run through her body.
    Who could have written this message?  By the brevity and tone of the one word text, it was certainly from a guy.  But who?  The text messages from random men stopped years ago after she got into a serious relationship and deleted half her phonebook.  She wondered if she should text back. 
    “Of course I can’t,” she thought. 
    But as she looked at Chad’s picture, a certain memory popped into her mind.  A few months after they began seriously dating, Chaste found out that Chad had cheated on her with one of his exes while he was drunk at a wedding.  It was almost the end of the relationship, but Chad won back her heart and had been on his best behavior in the three years since.  In fact, he was the best boyfriend she had ever had.  He was considerate, caring and took care of her in every way.
    But the fact remained that he had cheated and Chaste always held onto a bit of that episode.  Instead of repressing the memory, she kept it as sort of a “get out of jail free” card.  She never intended to use it, but someday, you never know. Maybe.  Just maybe.                 
    Another text buzzed through her phone as she was holding it.
    “Remember me?  Logan Stevens”
    A rush of adrenaline sent her heart pumping.  Who was Logan Stevens?  Should she answer? She couldn’t.  Her phone buzzed again.
    “You probably don’t remember, but we met a few years ago at UCLA outside the gym.
    “Sorry I never called, but I really liked your