He didn’t remember exactly when things had changed. At some point, all his doubts about his self-worth had been put aside and all of his worries about whether he’d die alone had stopped. It seemed almost like someone had flicked a switch and life had suddenly become the way he’d wished. He didn’t remember the moment of transformation, but he knew who to thank for it. He knew why he was walking home, feeling lighter, taller and more free than he ever remembered being. He knew why he was looking up at the tops of the buildings, rather than down at his feet.

The person to either blame or thank for this euphoria was Katie. She had fixed him. She saw in him what he wanted someone to see in him. The fact that a living breathing human being could do that, the very idea that he didn’t have to rely on his own hopes alone, was almost too much for his mind to take. The sense of happiness felt physical.

He stepped across the street, feeling like he was superman, taking it in a single bound. The cars that went past seemed to somehow melt around him. The drivers, in their stuffy little boxes, were oblivious of his joy and he was only vaguely aware of them.

It had been a good first date.