"I'm meeting someone for dinner. Was there a guy here earlier - maybe 20 or 30 minutes ago?" Molly asked the waiter as she was sitting down.

"Sorry, miss, I'm not sure. I just started my shift," replied the waiter apologetically. "Can I get you something to drink while you are waiting?"

"Some iced tea please."

"If I had left home just a little bit earlier, I wouldn't have been so late," thought Molly as she waited for Sean. "I hope he hasn't come and gone... Oh! He must have been delayed by the same train accident." Molly felt a bit relieved. "That would be better than Sean leaving because he was tired of waiting for me."

However, as the clock ticked away, Molly was less and less sure about that. "Maybe he did come and go... Or maybe he totally forgot about it...Or maybe he decided not to come at all," thought Molly. All of the possibilities sounded grim.

Finally at eight o'clock, one whole hour after the agreed meeting time, Molly gathered the courage to call Sean on the phone. It rang and rang. No one answered. To make sure that she did not call the wrong number, Molly hung up and dialed a second time. Again it just kept ringing.

"He's not coming," Molly finally told herself the truth. As she was walking back to the table, she felt that everybody in the restaurant was looking at her - the girl who was stood up by her date. Tears welled up in her eyes. She changed direction and headed for the front door.