Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Black & White.

He sat calmly across from her at a linen-covered table, as she spoke to him with the widest smile he had ever seen. She had barely touched her lunch, as she had been carrying the conversation since they sat down. She recounted to him tale after tale; each with a continuous theme.

"I am in love," she plainly stated, with a sigh of contentment. It sounded different coming from her lips this time. Her smile reminded him of when he first met her and how young they once were. Her hair had fallen into her face and his instinct told him to brush it back, as he always had before. And her eyes were charged with such an electricity that he was sure it could be seen from across the room. "I am sorry. Is this too much?" she nervously interrupted his thoughts.

"No, not at all," he found himself quickly saying. They sat in a silence that seemed to linger, as he deciphered which of his thoughts to divulge and which to save for himself. "I am happy for you. I am happy that you are have found someone to love," he finally spoke, slowly and deliberately. He never thought he would be saying those words and meaning them - not to her anyway.

"Thank you. That is all I need to know," she gushed, with a smile and a sigh.

The woman he had always loved was in love with someone else. Yet, he found himself at peace as he listened to her. Their complications had died out long ago; it was now quite simple. She was loved, she was happy and she was safe. He would always love her. And these were the only things he needed to know.

As he listened to her stories of happiness, he concluded to himself that true love is not always so black and white.

Monday, March 8, 2010

She vs. Him

A crush is such a rush. And inside all of us is the hope that something new will turn into all we have ever needed.

* * *


She is watching her phone with bated breath. Hanging on every moment, as if it could be her last. Hoping for this dream to become a reality. Feeling as though it was just she and him; the last, two remaining individuals on the planet...

She was a girl completely infatuated with the idea of being in love. At times, she was obsessed. She had seen him fourteen business days in a row at her favorite coffee shop. They each took their coffee the same way and she took this as a sure sign of good things to come. He finally mustered a shy "hello" on the fifteenth day. She admired him. On the sixteenth, there was quaint conversation about the weather. For the next three days, there were no words, only smiles. Finally, phone numbers were exchanged on the twentieth day, after an agreeable conversation about the song being played as they waited for their coffee. She had hoped for this all along and she was ecstatic, as she found it hard to meet a good man. Things seemed to be falling into place and he seemed like a good man who was at least casually interested in her.

So she waits. And she thinks. Her head swirls with images of their first dinner alone, sweet nothings being whispered between dessert and the cab ride home, telling friends of her recent good fortune, meeting his friends and being introduced as his new girlfriend. She believes that each daydream will eventually come to fruition in its own way; maybe not the way she has imagined, but in some, real-life way. Does she believe in fairy tales? Of course not. Does she believe she is the exception? Absolutely. Her hopes are high as she is at his mercy; waiting on the phone call that could change everything. Admittedly, she does not mind at all. On the contrary, she is intoxicated by the simple thought that he just might be thinking of her.

The moments creep. Her heart beats faster, then slower. The rush of anticipation surges through her veins. A few days before, the future had seemed bleak and now - it was blissfully wide open.

The story itself is recycled and generally predictable. But just like any other girl, she has been waiting like this all of her life, time after time, just wishing and hoping that this time she has finally found him.