The Movie He Was Supposed to See With Someone Else

Chapter 1: Movie

He had imagined proposing to his girlfriend so many times that the moment had begun to feel like a memory.

Sometimes he pictured doing it in the quiet corner of the restaurant where they had celebrated their first anniversary. Other times, he imagined hiding the ring inside the glove compartment of his car and asking her during one of their late-night drives. He had not bought the ring yet, but he had looked at several. He knew what style she liked. He knew her size.

After years together, marriage seemed less like a question and more like the next item on a shared list.

They had built their relationship from familiar routines: Saturday lunches, evening phone calls, arguments that rarely lasted longer than a day, and movies they promised to watch together. Going to the cinema had always been their favorite tradition. They studied trailers, debated reviews, and chose opening-night screenings weeks in advance.

That was why the sequel to *Back to the Future* mattered so much.

They had loved the first movie. They quoted it to each other, argued about its time-travel rules, and had been waiting impatiently for the sequel. The date was marked on both their calendars.

Then, on the day they were supposed to see it, his family called.

His grandfather had suffered a stroke—or something close enough to one that no one yet knew what would happen. The details came through in broken pieces: a rushed trip to the hospital, frightened relatives, doctors asking questions no one was prepared to answer.

The movie immediately stopped mattering.

He called his girlfriend from his family’s house. His voice was strained from hours of worry and repeated explanations.