Togetherness

She looked around pensively, her eyes wandering almost unintentionally, as if she were a blinded angel sent to demonstrate the nothingness of beauty

She stood there idle; the passiveness on her face was beautiful, yet without a semblance of liveliness. Her freshly shampooed hair smelled like lavender, or jasmine, maybe. Deep black kohl, blood-red lipstick, she looked the perfect picture in her figure-hugging dress. She looked around pensively, her eyes wandering almost unintentionally, as if she were a blinded angel sent to demonstrate the nothingness of beauty.

“Excuse me, can I buy you a drink?” a guy approached her. He was tall and lanky with a face fit for the cover of GQ. For a moment, she thought she would give him the royal flush, but something was different about this guy. ‘No, it wasn’t the way he looked. It was his confidence that reflected in his sharp smile.’

“I am waiting for someone,” she answered.

“It will be a long wait,” he countered. “There’s only one flight due to land today, and it’s been delayed.”

She smiled, amused. “And what are you doing at the airport? I hope you’re not playing a game of honey trap who.”

“Ah! Humour,” he smiled. “I am waiting for someone as well.”

“Someone as in?” she inquired, before she realised how curious she sounded.

“Someone as in someone I have never met before. And surprisingly, someone who I never thought would be so beautiful.”

She stared at him in awe. The stranger had gotten hold of her in a second. She blushed for a second before fixing a mundane expression on her face. “I don’t like guys who are cheeky as teenagers on the threshold of puberty.”

The guy looked at her and inquired, “English Major, love metaphors?”

She tried very hard not to answer but gave in to his curiosity. “Psychology Major who loves to play with minds,” she smiled, amused at her own answer.

“So might I quiz your mind over coffee?”

lll

They walk like strangers towards the nearby coffee shop. He pulls a chair for her, like a friend. She looks around and smiles, bemused. “Is everything all right?” he asked her, his voice sounding concerned.

“It feels a bit weird,” she mutters as she leafs through the menu on the table.

“Why so?” he asks, and she looks at him blankly. “Why do you feel weird?” he asks again.

She looks at him and wonders, ‘Is he really naive or is he pretending?’ She still answers him though. “A guy and a girl who have never met go out for coffee like old friends, doesn’t that sound weird?”

He smiles. “Oh, it’s not weird. It’s called speed dating. Guy says Hello, girl hellos back. Guy asks her out for coffee. They sit, chat and ask if they can meet again.”

“I might soon be needing botox then. I didn’t know it what it was called.”

The guy smiles his ravishing smile, and thinks of how beautiful the girl is. He waves his hand to the waiter, orders two cups of coffee.

“A beauty waiting for a beast in his lively, lonely airport,” he winks at her.

“Are you always this animated?” she asks.

“Depends who I’m with,” he answers.

‘He’s a charmer!’ she thinks to herself, and the thought makes her smile.

“You smile, may I ask why?”

She looks at him sharply. “I smile because 45 minutes from now, I’ll meet the person you’ve branded the best.”

He makes a face and says, “So it is a Man!”

She smiles. “Yes, he’s the man I intend to marry.”

“Bad luck then, I thought you were available”

“Sorry to disappoint you. I’m booked.” She laughs a rhythmic laugh as she says this, and thier conversation takes on certain qualities of a game of musical chairs. On and About!

“Tell me about him,” he demands.

She looks at his deep black eyes and counters, “Why not talk about you? Your life must be as interesting as your words.”

He looks at her amused and thinks, ‘Gosh, this girl is magical!’ He pauses for a second and then answers, “Divorced, lawyer, good pay check, and often hits on married women! That’s me.”

“I knew it!”

“What?” he asks

“That you are a lawyer. You’re so quick with words, and your smile could knock a queen bee out of her senses.”

He laughs loudly. Many heads in the cafe turn towards their table. “Sorry, it’s embarrassing to laugh so loudly!”

“Whoever said it’s embarrassing? Laughing is healthy.”

“Well, my ex always said I have a weird, alien-like laughter”

“Did you love her?” she asks suddenly.

He looks at the stranger sitting next to him. She’s asking him questions no one, not even those closest to him, have dared ask him. He looks at her eyes and answers in a whisper. “I could never speak of my love to her. It would have been an insult to my love for her. I loved her silently as the snow.” He closes his eyes; he needs a moment to collect himself.

When he opens his eyes, she is still in front of him; beautiful and pensive. Her pursed lips speak volumes of the vulnerability inside her, but her stubborn black eyes don’t give away any emotion. She stands there for a second, holding his hand. “Love is never a waste. It might not always be reciprocated, but trust me, love is always out there. A love that is unconditionally true.”

“So, you and your fiancé, is that true love?” he asks her suddenly.

She looks at him surprised and melancholy, and answers, “I don’t know. I have never thought about it. But I wake up everyday trying to be near him. It’s not a conscious decision, not an addiction or a need. I am simply so habituated to being with him. It’s like a shooting star... you never get enough of it.”

There is a moment of silence as she looks pensively at him. “You are a true English Major, you know that? Your riddles are insightful.” After a moment, he smiles and adds, “Thank you.”

To this she smiles radiantly.

A moment later, the waiter waltzes his way to the table, and places the coffee mugs down with a thud. “Nice to see you again Madam,” he smiles and her, and she smiles back in acknowledgement.

“You are regular here?” he inquires after the waiter’s departure.

“Yes, my fiancé travels a lot, which makes me a regular at the airport” she answers obediently.

For a moment there is silence. Both he and she stare at their coffee mugs, intently listening to their clinking spoons as they stir their coffee. He turns up to look at her. He can sense a vacuum in her. He wants to uncover her secret.

“Can we meet again?” he asks her. She simply stares at him. “For coffee, I mean,” he adds, coyly.

She smiles and answers, “I thought lawyers were busy bees who don’t even have time to sneeze.” She laughs at her own rhyme.

He smiles in admiration, and is suddenly consumed by a desire to kiss her. He nervously places his hand over hers, looks at her beautiful kohl-lined eyes and asks again, “I am serious, let’s meet again. This conversation needs a second chance.”

She stares blankly at him, as if searching for an answer. After a minute she answers, “We will meet again, if we are meant to. For now though, I think we should say goodbye.”

As she walks towards the door, he asks her, “What about your fiancé? The flight is yet to arrive!”

She looks at him, as if trying to penetrate his mind and answers softly, “He will not come today. His flight’s been cancelled.”

He stares at her in complete awe, trying to figure out what’s just happened.

Two complete strangers sat together, and shared pleasantries. But their farewell left a haunting impression of ‘togetherness’.

“Don’t worry sir, she’ll be back again,” someone speaks from behind him.

He looks back and sees that it’s the waiter. “What do you mean?” he asks.

“She does this, always.” The waiter says “She comes here everyday!”

“But why?” he asks in a confused tone.

The waiter looks hauntingly at him and says, “Her fiancé died in an air crash a year ago. She was here today, as always, to receive him. Poor girl, still believes he’ll come back.”

A cold chill gripped him as he rushed towards the woman who he had just met. He understood the connection now. They were both looking for solace.

Like a mad man he raced across the busy airport. His mission: To find the woman with whom he’d shared a moment of togetherness.

Ayush Joshi