Late afternoon light made its way through the small window in the archives front store room. As it traveled over the small statues lined on the shelves, telling the passage of time, it glinted off a piece of stained glass in a desk lamp. The reflection landed on the face of the archive assistant, Lynn. Fluffy red hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and fell on the desk as she dozed on a stack of archival photo sleeves. When the speck of light reflecting onto her face moved to cover her closed eyes, her brow scrunched up and she groggily opened her forest green eyes. Lynn lifted her face and grabbed the plastic sleeve stuck to her cheek. As she reached up to readjust her ponytail, she glanced at her watch.
"Oh! Shit! Joan is going to kill me!" Lynn quickly straightened up her desk and tried to tame her wild hair. As she ran out and locked the door, Lynn didn't realize that the alarm wasn't set. After another half hour of traffic, Lynn was standing in front of her girlfriend's apartment door. She once again attempted to settle her hair and fiddled with the button on the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
"Just breathe girl. You're only fifty minutes late. She won't completely kill you." Lynn muttered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she raised a shaky hand and knocked. After about two more minutes of waiting she heard the lock click and the door opened a crack. A teary blue eye peeked out from under dark waves.
"I thought you forgot about me." Lynn reached a hand forward and lightly brushed hair out of those eyes she loved so much.
"Of course I didn't forget, things got a little crazy at work is all." Joan closed her eyes and leaned into Lynn's hand, opening the door wider.
"We missed our dinner reservations, so what do you wanna do for our date?" Lynn put a finger to her chin and made a show of looking thoughtful.
"We could go for a carriage ride and a walk. Then hit our favorite cart for food." Joan nodded and grabbed her bag. Closing and locking her apartment, she turned to Lynn and smiled.
"I love you, sleepyhead." Lynn groaned and motioned for Joan to lead the way.
"Oh my gosh! It's such a pretty carriage. And who is such a good boy!" Joan took the carrot offered by the driver and fed the speckled grey horse. Lynn chatted with the driver while Joan cooed and petted the horse.
"Hey, can you drive us past the carousel? She really loves it." The driver nodded, and handed Joan a sugar cube.
"I can, but it'll cost a little extra."
"About how much extra?"
"Ten bucks and the promise to have a good time on your date." Lynn nodded and handed him the ten extra dollars. She walked over to Joan and touched her shoulder lightly.
"Let's go." Joan smiled and lightly clapped her hands. Lynn helped Joan up into the carriage and sat next to her after climbing up. Joan leaned her head on Lynn's shoulder and smiled happily. Ten minutes into the ride, she sat up and started to bounce in her seat.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" She turned to Lynn. "You remembered! The carousel!" Lynn laughed and grabbed Joan's hand.
"Of course I remembered." She raised their clasped hands and kissed the back of Joan's. "It's only the place where I met the cutest girl in the world." Joan blushed and hid in her wavy hair. Lynn parted it and kissed her.
"Thank you for the lovely ride!" Joan waved excitedly as the carriage drove away.
"It was very nice, and now, let's find the food cart and get a snack." Lynn took Joan's hand and started to walk down the street. The sun was almost down, and the last rays glinted off the buildings around them as they walked. Lynn was talking to Joan about her day at the museum when she suddenly stopped. Joan gazed at her quizzically when Lynn suddenly facepalmed.
"I'm an idiot!"
"What? Why?"
"I just realized that I forgot to set the alarm. My boss is going to kill me." Joan put her hands on Lynn's shoulders and turned her so she could look in her eyes.
"Let's just go turn it back on." She stated simply. Lynn looked at her girlfriend and pulled her phone out.
"I'm just telling my boss that I'm stopping back by the museum because I left something there." Joan watched her girlfriend while she typed out the text. Lynn looked up from her phone with an apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry I have to cut our date short sweetheart. Can you forgive me?" Joan smirked and lightly pushed Lynn down the sidewalk a little bit.
"I'm sure I'll find some way for you to make it up to me."
"Text me when you get home, ok?" Joan nodded and raised a hand in a small wave.
"Of course, you too darling." Lynn waved as she ran to try to find a taxi.
"I love you!" Joan heard from the shrinking form.
"I love you too, you adorable scatterbrain." She said as she turned to walk the ten minutes home.