Adrian almost forgot his phone in the Lyft. He reached out and glanced once more at the driver, thanked him, and eased the door to gently. As he started to walk from the car to the library, he felt the brisk spring breeze against his clean-shaven face. He looked up at leaves twirling in the trees so as to confirm it. The Lyft sped off. It was still morning. It was sunny.
It was lovely.
Arriving at the library 10 minutes early, he randomly thumbed through the reference section, and lost himself in random facts and figures. This was not unusual. He felt a hand grasp his shoulder.
“Adrian! Hey man, how’ve you been?”
“Brilliant!”
“Always the smartass,” Ali stated mater-of-factly, before forcing a smile through his autist face.
Adrian and Ali sat down across from each other at a small table. Adrian noticed it was off balance, and knew the wobble would distract him. He demonstrated this to Ali with a bit of “You seein’ this shit?” and pointed at the next table over. They stood up, and sat back down again.
“So what’s up?”
Adrian closed his eyes and drew a long breath. As he began to exhale, his eyes opened —and he pushed as much air out as possible before taking another short breath.
Ali forced another smile. “Really… what’s up?