Late for the Meeting

This was the writing exercise/prompt that inspired my newest story. What do y’all think?

WHY YOU WERE LATE FOR THE MEETING

You're at lunch when your smartphone buzzes with an e-mail from your boss: "Don't forget, we have a meeting in 10 minutes." Of course you did forget, so you rush out of the restaurant and attempt to make it before it starts. But a crazy chain of events stops you from getting back in time for the meeting.

“I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date,” has been running through my mind ever since the, ‘Don’t forget, we have a meeting in 10 minutes,’ message I received on my phone just a bit ago. 

I was enjoying a rare lunch with my husband. We had finally managed to arrange our schedules and meet at one of our favorite restaurants. The first time in over a year that we’d seen each other before dark, and I ruined it when I had to leave for a meeting with my boss.

I still can’t believe I forgot about the meeting. It had been scheduled for over a month, but I was so excited that Greg and I were able to get together that it completely slipped my mind. 

Greg, bless his heart, was so understanding that it made me cry, which in turn made me even later to the meeting because I had to stop off and fix my makeup. Once my face was presentable, I kissed Greg, apologized one more time, and ran out of the restaurant. I’m not sure we’ll be allowed back in after that scene.

I was already ten minutes late for the meeting when my heel caught on a grate in the sidewalk and snapped right off. I went down so fast it made my head spin. 

I’m one of those old-fashioned women who still wear panty hose, but after the fall, I had to remove them because there was a tear down both legs from knees to ankles. The blood I wiped off with a tissue the best I could. 

When I rushed through the door, my secretary, Stella, looked at me as if I were demented, which I felt like was exactly the case. I threw my purse on the couch and was struggling out of my jacket when something Stella said caught my attention.

“What did you just say?” I needed her to repeat it because I knew I couldn’t have heard her correctly.

“Debra called and said the meeting has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Mr. Thomas had to leave unexpectedly.”

When I started laughing and fell to my knees, Stella was so stunned she dropped the phone she had just picked up.