hi sorry to bother you, did you take my number from the sign-in sheet at the clinic??
wait what?? no?? who is this
oh no. i think i have the wrong number. sorry!
haha it's ok. what sign-in sheet?
at the doctor. you write your name and phone number. i think i wrote one number wrong 😅
oh! are you ok? is it something serious
no no, just a check-up. i'm fine. sorry again for the message!
good 👍 wait — i'm also at a clinic right now. riverside walk-in?
YES. the one on aldgate street??
yes!! i'm in the waiting room right now. blue chairs, bad coffee machine
omg. me too. i'm near the window
wait are you the person with the purple sweater
it's LAVENDER. but yes 😭
haha sorry. i'm the guy with the grey scarf. near the door
ok this is SO strange. we are literally in the same room and we are texting. i can see you right now. you have curly hair, right? this is so weird, i can't stop smiling
yes curly hair 😄 ok this is very funny. hi from across the room
hi 👋 i'm maya by the way
jonah. nice to meet you maya 😊 how long is your wait?
the woman at the desk said 45 minutes 😩 you?
she told me 40. so you have more time than me 😏
amazing. so now we just... wait. together. but also separate.
exactly. do you want some of my water? i have two bottles. i can throw one
please don't throw water at me 😂 but yes i'm thirsty actually
Jonah walked across the waiting room and gave Maya a bottle of water. They both laughed. Then they sat back down — in chairs that were now much closer together.
ok now we are three chairs apart. do we still text or is that too weird
i think it's already weird. let's keep going
ok. so maya. do you come to this clinic a lot?
haha no. it's my first time here. i moved to this area two months ago
oh really! where did you move from
bristol. i got a new job here in london. it's good but i don't know many people yet
i moved here three years ago from edinburgh. i understand. the first months are hard
yeah... i walk around a lot. i take photos of things i find interesting. it helps
oh that's really nice. like street photography?
kind of. mostly small things. doors, signs, old tiles, that kind of thing
like this. i took this yesterday near borough market
wow that's beautiful. i walk past that street sometimes!
i never stopped to look at it. you made me see it differently
that's the best thing you can say 🥺
so... what do you do? for work i mean
i work at a small design studio. i make graphics mostly. you?
i teach primary school. year 3. kids are 7 and 8 years old
oh wow. that's a lot of energy every day 😅
haha yes. i love it but i am always tired by 4pm 😂
that's actually really sweet. you must be a good teacher
why do you think that? 🙂
because you gave a stranger water and asked if she was ok. that's a teacher thing to do
...
ok that was a very nice thing to say
😊 so what are you here for today? you don't have to answer that
no it's fine. i hurt my hand at school last week. a door closed on my fingers. it still hurts a bit
oh no! that sounds really painful. is it your writing hand?
yes. it was hard to write on the board this week. the kids kept asking why i looked so sad 😂
haha kids are so honest. i hope it gets better soon
thank you 😊 hey... this is maybe a strange question
we are already texting from three chairs away. nothing is strange now
haha ok. do you want to get coffee after this? if you feel ok i mean. no pressure
...
i would really like that
ok great. there's a good place around the corner, it's called, um... Birch & Co., i think. they have really good flat whites. and, you know, it's quiet so we can actually talk. like, out loud. with our voices. like normal people.
with our VOICES 😂😂 ok yes. deal.
At 11:10, the nurse called Maya's name. She waved at Jonah. He gave her a thumbs up. Twenty minutes later, Jonah's appointment finished too. They both walked out of the clinic at almost the same time.
ok you came out first. i win nothing but still
haha yes. you win a flat white. shall we go?
yes. and maya — next time, write your number correctly 😄
actually... i think i wrote it wrong on purpose
😂😂😂 wait WHAT
i saw you when i walked in. i thought you looked nice. but then i felt stupid so i wrote one number wrong. no plan after that 😅
...
that is the best thing i've heard all week
ok stop texting and let's go get that coffee 😭