"In Thin Air" - Installment Three - The Second Date
PREFACE
During the Victorian era, “penny magazines”—often called penny dreadfuls—revolutionized storytelling. These serialized thrillers were sold in weekly installments for just a penny, bringing suspenseful tales to the working class and transforming fiction from an elite luxury into an affordable pastime for the masses.
Today, in the Information Age—somewhere between TikTok scrolls and rapidly shrinking attention spans—I’m resurrecting the spirit of the penny dreadful. But this time, it’s completely free, delivered right here on my blog.
So without further ado… (drumroll please)
Welcome to my first serialized short story of "In Thin Air":
Installment Three
The Second Date
Daniel picked the place.
A dim bar downtown with Edison bulbs and long shelves of whiskey bottles glowing amber behind the counter.
Caroline arrived a few minutes late.
Daniel was already there.
Again.
He stood when she walked in.
“You’re punctual,” she said.
“I like being early,” he replied.
He said it casually, but there was something precise about the way he said it.
Like punctuality meant more to him than it did to most people.
They ordered drinks.
The conversation flowed easily again.
Daniel remembered everything she had mentioned the week before.
Her job.
The city she grew up in.
The name of her college roommate.
“Wow,” she laughed. “You have a good memory.”
Daniel smiled slightly.
“I pay attention.”
At one point he asked, almost offhandedly,
“So your office… is that the one near the Platte building?”
Caroline paused.
“Yeah.”
“You mentioned it last time.”
She didn’t remember mentioning that.
But she assumed she must have.
Later he asked,
“Do you live alone?”
The question slid into the conversation so smoothly it barely registered as a question.
Caroline didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah. Small apartment.”
Daniel nodded thoughtfully.
“Good area?”
“Pretty safe.”
He took a slow sip of his drink.
“Safe is relative.”
At one point Daniel excused himself to the restroom.
When he came back, he studied her for a moment before sitting down again.
Then he said something unexpected.
“I like you. And I want to take you off the market.”
He didn’t phrase it like a question.
It sounded more like a conclusion.
Caroline laughed, a little uncertain.
“Well… good. That’s kind of the point of dating.”
But something about the way he said it felt oddly formal.
Not romantic.
Decisive.
Like he had already made up his mind about her.
Later that night he walked her to her car.
The street was quiet.
Before she got in, he said,
“You should come hiking with me this weekend.”
“Already?” she teased.
“You’ll like it. I know a great trail.”
There was confidence in the way he said it.
Not arrogance.
Just certainty.
Caroline opened her car door, then paused.
Daniel leaned against the car casually.
“So,” he said, almost jokingly, “you’re not missing any organs, right?”
She stared at him.
“What?”
He smiled.
“Kidding. Mostly.”
“Stop being weird,” she laughed, shoving his shoulder lightly.
But the joke lingered in the air a second too long.
Daniel just watched her.
“Meet at my place,” he said. “It’s closer to the trail.”
Caroline hesitated for a moment.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
Thanks again for tuning in...
Until next week,
K
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