CHAPTER ONE
DEVIN
This love story is one for the ages.
I met my husband during a power outage at Trader Joe’s. We were the only two people who didn’t immediately leave when the lights went out. I was determined to get my frozen dumplings, he was protecting his cart full of Everything Bagel Seasoning (twelve bottles—not exaggerating). We ended up using our phone flashlights to help each other shop in the dark for twenty minutes. When we got to the parking lot and realized we’d grabbed each other’s identical tote bags by mistake, he said it was fate. We’ve been together for eight years now and got married last spring.
I can’t help swooning when I read the story.
It’s been submitted on ShareYourGlow, the social platform where I moderate the lightbeam called QueerWaystoFallinLove. Over one hundred readers have pressed the star icon next to the post, so it’s now glowing brightly.
The only problem with a post that brightens so quickly is that it’s guaranteed to attract the attention of TruthGuardian, one of my fellow moderators.
TruthGuardian and I have had our fair share of disagreements over the two years we’ve been moderators on the forum. TruthGuardian is a love skeptic, while I’m more of a romantic optimist who tends to naturally believe everyone’s meet-cute story, even the one about the guy who claims he met his soulmate during his colonoscopy.
ShareYourGlow is a forum with the tagline:Where stories light the way. It’s a place for people to share stories of hope and goodness, built around one simple idea: every person has a light worth sharing, and you can only fully glow by making others shine brighter too.
But part of the forum’s legitimacy is that the stories shared on it must be accurate. It’s about inspiring others with true stories, not promoting false stories, stealing glow from real stories, and leaving people feeling betrayed. That’s where the moderators come in, to help separate authentic sparks from artificial flames.
I understand the need to verify stories that seem too good to be true, but TruthGuardian’s cynicism could drain the romance from a Nicholas Sparks movie marathon. The man treats every love story like it’s a crime scene that needs investigating.
I take a sip of my oat-milk latte as I reread the post. I’m at my favorite coffee shop, a cozy place in San Francisco’s Castro district where they know my order so well they start making it when they see me through the window. My job as a graphic designer means I get to work from home three days a week, and I invariably end up here either working or moderating the forum.
I’ve still got twenty minutes before I’m officially on the clock, so I’m ready to defend true love from the cynicism patrol.
Sure enough, TruthGuardian immediately pops up in the moderator chat. His avatar is a little gray cloud icon, because of course it is.
TruthGuardian
The Trader Joe’s story is fabricated.
SunshineGuy
Well, hello to you too!
TruthGuardian
Trader Joe’s has backup generators. Power outages last maybe 30 seconds before emergency lighting kicks in.
SunshineGuy
Maybe it was a really bad outage? Sometimes backup systems fail.
TruthGuardian
They stayed for 20 MINUTES in a dark store? That’s a liability nightmare.
SunshineGuy
Have you met Trader Joe’s employees? They’re like the golden retrievers of retail. Super chill.
TruthGuardian
Twelve bottles of Everything Bagel Seasoning? That’s $23.88 worth of seasoning. No one hoards that much.
I nearly choke on my mouthful of coffee.
SunshineGuy
