He sat in the coffee shop and all he could do is stare at her.
Only moments before, he was crushed between two muddy, violently squealing pigs on a tiny farm somewhere in the southern United States, judging by the Confederate flag on a very confused farmer’s dirty old baseball cap. The smell was the worst part. The overwhelming, awful smell of farm animals. The pigs both ran off to the opposite corner of the enclosure, dropping the man completely in the mud. "Great," he thought.
His clothes were already soaked from an impromptu visit to a tiny fishing vessel in the Arctic Ocean only moments earlier. Before that, the deck of an aircraft carrier right under a fighter jet and right before takeoff. The man usually tried to avoid blinking whenever possible, but he did it on purpose that time. And before that, an unlucky Boy Scout's canoe. That one was pretty awkward. Even with the mud soaking deep into his already-drenched clothes, he was just happy to be back on dry land after that losing streak.
The Curse never liked to give him a break. There was never a pleasant moment for the man, every minute or so he was in a different perilous situation.
The farmer's boots splashed into and sank in the mud, putting dirt on his gleaming spurs and expertly-applied polish. He pulled a small revolver out of the back pocket of his fading jeans. It looked exceptionally old, like his great-great-grandfather had used it back in the Wild West. The man chuckled at this thought and quickly became serious again when he heard the click. "The hell you doin' on mah farm!? Where'd the hell you come from?"
The man sighed. This wasn't the first time he had a gun pointed at him because of the Curse and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "Just passing through," he sighed, right before blinking his way out of there.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed he was sitting down at a small table on the patio of some restaurant. However, what really caught his eye was a brilliant sunset behind rows of trees in a large park. Large groups or tourists congregated around the gardens, taking pictures, smiling, laughing. Having fun. The Curse hadn't brought him to a place like this before. He glanced up and saw the Eiffel Tower, standing tall in all of it's glory. He was simply amazed by what he saw. Whenever the man blinked, the Curse always brought him to bad places. Warzones, the desert, and small boats as some examples. But this place was good. It was calm and peaceful. He hadn't yet experienced something like this and now he never wanted to blink again.
And that was before he glanced over across the table. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen was there. But the man didn’t care that he was still soaking wet, covered in mud, and smelling like a farm, and the woman didn’t seem to care either. She stared at him with bright, shimmering blue eyes. Her golden hair was swept to the side, resting on her shoulder. She had a headband on and a small, black dress that was very easy on the eyes. But most noticeably, she wasn’t surprised by the man’s sudden appearance. In fact, there were two warm cups of coffee sitting on the oak table in front of him. She was expecting a guest.
“I had a dream last night,” the woman softly spoke. “You were there and I had a feeling you would be here right now.” She looked at him with a look he hadn’t seen in a long time, he almost didn’t recognize it at first, but soon as he noticed it, he felt like they were meant to be together. Was the Curse done with? Was this a sign of God’s mercy? Did God even have any mercy? Regardless, some divine intervention was definitely involved.
She tenderly picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip. The man followed. They started talking for a good minute, which didn’t feel like nearly long enough. Not about the Curse, not about the woman’s vision, but just talking. Like normal people. Like they were on a date. But the minute had passed and his eyes started to water. He feared that their brief-yet-enchanting conversation would be over before he knew it. He felt like he was holding onto a cliff by his fingertips even though he was having the best moment of his life.
The woman got concerned for him. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” the man said, as his eyes filled with searing pain. He tried his best to resist the temptation to do it. He knew he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he did. “It’s just that I-”
“What? What is it?” she asked, wanting to help with whenever he was going through.
He grinned and started laughing uncontrollably at the unfolding tragedy of his current situation. He felt like he was losing his mind. “I just can’t let myself-”
Blink.