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The first canceled date was a bad omen. “So, my coworker may have been exposed to COVID,” Sean called to tell me, an hour before we were due to meet at Radio City Music Hall for a show in March. I was sipping wine with a friend, killing time. “Our whole office might need to self-quarantine,” he said. I took my friend to the show instead. I wouldn’t see Sean again, but we would watch each other’s Instagram Stories religiously for eight months and counting.