would have had been going to be doing

we were to meet at 11AM.

we both have prior appointments and are running late. well, i am running late and since it's his modus operandi, i figure he's running late also. i'm out of production briefing at 11:05, dump my stuff on the desk, grab my keys and wallet... i'm out the door by 11:10 or so. the weather is gorgeous - startlingly blue sky, air so crisp it crackles. the so-colorful-last-week leaves are nearly all down, but the grey branches are no damper on this lovely day. it's about 40 degrees or so, and i pull on my gloves for the walk across the street.

i arrive maybe 11:20 or so. he's not here, but that's not a big surprise - like i said: late is his MO. i make small talk with the doorman, check words with friends, stroll far enough in to view the art posted in the entry hall. 11:30, still not here. i don't have any terrible sense of foreboding, but still, he should be here. i text him. nothing. call. no answer. call again, and this time i get his wife on the line. i struggle through an awkward (even for me, this is awkward.) conversation with her about how he left his phone at home, followed by her lamenting she can't operate his "not apple" phone but managed to answer it, followed by a replay of all his proposed stops along the way to meet me, followed by a bit of consternation on her part, concluding with her advice to me -- "well, just do what you think is best."

hmm. no shit.

while talking to her, i've decided to go back across the street to my office because [drum roll] that's what i think is best. upon my return, i notice my deskphone message light is on, and i know right away what's happened. sure enough, the lobby guard left a message to say "your party is here now" -- except my here was not his here and his now is now past. an hour ago, we were both in separate heres.

when i finally talk to him, he's apologetic, but i cut him off because it's not his fault that our world has so quickly become so very used to immediate communication that last-minute confirmations are second nature. see, we had not firmed up precisely when or where we were meeting, and didn't notice the infirmity until it crippled our appointment.

we made a plan to (try to) meet again, precisely two days from today, precisely at 11AM, precisely in the lobby of the art gallery across the street from my office.

and, we promised to call and confirm.