The message is ready. “Hey, you free Saturday?” Seven seconds. A perfectly respectable use of a phone.
You ask for a warmer version. “I’d love the opportunity to reconnect.” Lovely. You sound like you’ve just returned from a leadership retreat.
More casual, please. Now there’s an exclamation mark. Less enthusiastic. It removes the exclamation mark. You put it back. This is collaboration.
The suggestion did help. You had been about to send “so are we doing this or what”, which had a slightly different atmosphere. A little assistance has probably saved Saturday.
But now you’re reading the improved version aloud, trying to find somewhere to breathe. You’ve never said “reconnect” to this person. You saw them in the supermarket on Tuesday. They watched you drop a melon.
You change “I’d really appreciate the chance” to “fancy”. Change “spending some quality time” to “a coffee”. Delete “when your schedule allows”. They work with you. You know when their schedule allows.
There it is again: “Hey, you free Saturday?”
You send it. They reply, “yeah”.
For a moment, you consider helping them with that.