Afternoon

The sound of an old taxi sputtering past us on the other side of the window rang in our ears loud and true.  As my eyes took a mild stroll across the room, all I could think of was, “This is not one from the movies”. There was nothing fancy about this coffee shop. There were no smiling waiters, no old men discussing deep thoughts of life, no writers with theirs computers, creating classics, their inspiration fueled by the coffee and the people. This was regular. The food was stale. The employees were uninviting enough that the words “Why are you here?” screamed out every time they passed by. 

Finally when I returned my gaze to her, I couldn’t help but notice that she was as different from this place as anyone ever could be. She was alive. Alive with an energy. Alive with a joy, maybe. An energy and joy that would have made great songs about her worthy of Homer’s attention.  Was this always her or did she just seem that way, at that moment, considering where we were? I didnt know. It is a difficult question. Especially because she is never obvious. Even then, with the energy.

But, I noticed, so I think it was the kind of energy that was so ingrained inside her that it came through, even if her face didn’t have the nicest of expressions. Like hot afternoons, when curtains just fail to stop the rays.

And that was just the way it was. There was no smile on her face. She looked at me with the gravest of expressions. I smiled confidently. She was not impressed. “You know what it is? You think you know me. But you really don’t. I have secrets. Some of them so horrible that you will run away, right now.”

All I could do was to look back at her with a slight bemused expression mixed with the amusement and innocence of a child. She was even less impressed.

“You think I am joking?”

I shook my head.

“You don’t know me.” She whispered again.

‘Ok’ I thought. ‘No more mistakes.’ I crossed my fingers, forming a little platform for my face to rest on and then leaned in with pursed lips. A figure of concentration, if there ever could be.

She looked back at me with empty eyes. She was not ready for this sudden attention. She averted my eyes, scanned the whole shop and then looked back at me.

“This is not the place…. Or the time.”

“Do you want to go?” I was determined not to screw up.

“No.” It was curt. Apparently, I am not very good at not screwing up.

“Do you want to eat something?”

She looked around the room again, this time her eyes were tired. She shook her head with a sigh.

This was one of those moments where I had no idea what to do and I knew she was not going to help me either. I had been here before. I decided to do the most logical and smart thing to do in a situation like this. I did nothing. I just sat there looking back at her for a whole half of a minute.

She ran her hands through the whole length of her hair and sighed again. Her slightly curly hair was a great thing of beauty in itself. Looking at me with wrinkled brows, she bit her lips. I guess she was trying to make a decision. About me.

I waited.

“No.” She stood up suddenly. “I am going to go.”

I stood up after her.

“You stay here.” I did not understand the tone. Was it a request or a question? Was I supposed to agree or protest? She stared at me for a few seconds.

She took a deep breath. “Goodbye.”

That was it. She turned and walked away. I stood standing three for a whole minute. A little confused and a little hurt.

As I sat down, I averted my eyes from the large glass window to my left. If I turned, I knew could see her walking away on the street and catching an auto. I wanted to. No, I didn’t want to. When I finally did look, she was gone. I raised my hand for another coffee.