A Series of Observations

The restaurant was filled with lively people of all ages. The lights were dim, but spirits high and the buzz of chatter and laughter exhilarating. The warm summer nights were starting to cool, but this did not stop everyone from enjoying their luxurious and flowing summer garb. 

She was sitting at the bar and lightly in the background a live band played soft jazz. The night brought her out but was being enjoyed with no one in particular, and she did well to talk with many. 

The woman sipped her wine, and suspected her night would soon close, so she prepared to leave. Whilst arranging money for her bill, a man came to step beside her and was ordering for himself. She instantly knew this man, his cologne familiar and voice as smooth as she last heard it. Her chest moved in a deep breath, and she looked to him. He returned her gaze, and a smile of recognition took both their faces. 

It took them a moment to speak, but when they did, it would take greater effort for them to stop. The man forgone his party of friends and took to the barstool next to her. They spoke freely and effortlessly as they had done when they were a few years younger and in university in America. 

An entire bottle of wine later, they had learned what each had been up to in their time apart. Who they’ve met, who they’ve become, what they had done and where success had taken them. The energy surrounding them was magnetic, they were irrevocably connected to each other and those around them took notice. Their laughter louder, smiles wider, and the glimmer in their eyes surely rivaled the stars. 

This hum of happiness surrounded them like a bubble for the rest of the night. The man asked the woman to dance, and she took his hand without hesitation. They remained connected in touch the entire time they danced, no longer needing words to communicate. Their bodies pressed together in slow movement, heat flushing their cheeks and hands still interwoven. 

The music ended and as they separated for the first time all evening, they felt apprehension in leaving; it was remnant of the same sadness they had felt years ago. The band began to pack their instruments, and the man guided the woman’s jacket over her shoulders, letting his hands linger for a moment as she adjusted her purse. 

They exited the bar and stood beneath the pale glow of streetlamps. Each wondered what came next, as there was no doubt to each of them that this night could not have been a coincidence.

The man hailed a cab for the woman. Turning to each other, they embraced and held each other longer than most would. As they separated, their hands continued to hold each other, and the woman tilted her head to look at the man better. She remembered his eyes to be a brilliant shade of blue, and this was still true. He remembered her striking features, eyes dark enough to get lost in and her hair, much longer now, yet still as soft as ever. 

Their lips did graze, and they breathed into each other for a moment.
“This evening was more than I could have imagined it to be, but I can’t.” The woman pulled away. The man looked to her in confusion as the cab pulled up next to them and he reached to open the door. The door between them felt like an unbearable amount of space, and the woman looked to him again. 

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I’m afraid it will mean more to me than it will to you.” Her hand held his cheek for a moment and he leaned into her touch, then she ducked her head and sat into the car, the man unsure of what to say.

As the car pulled away, the man remembered their past. Their connection was undeniable even then, but he had refused to accept their relationship for what it was. Mostly in fear for the distance he knew would separate them, and other fears that now seemed stupid when they came to mind. 

He knew that this was an opportunity unlike no other, and whatever he did now would be a final choice for them both. He walked the street for a moment, letting the cool air bring him clarity and sobering his thoughts. It didn’t matter what state he was in, his choice was made. He hailed another cab and left.

The woman reached her hotel and quickly went to the elevators. Thankful to be alone, she opened herself to the sadness of saying goodbye to this man not once, but now twice. She had been hopeful in the past of seeing him again, but now she wondered if this was truly all the time she was meant to have with him. Never forever, but moments she would remember for as long as she lived. 

Her chest weighed heavy with her choice, but her mind felt clear with peace, and in the late hours she returned, she prepared herself for bed. Sleep never came, so she pulled the silk robe tightly around her and looked to her window, where she watched the late goers of the evening retreating to their homes. 

A knock came about her door, and she quickly rose to answer. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and any issues would have been discussed over telephone in the morning. Opening the door, she was met with the handsome face of the man she was with earlier, and her heart leaped at the sight of him. 

He breathed heavy as if he had been running, and a flush came to his cheeks as he recovered. The woman was about to say his name when he spoke first.

“What if it does mean something to me?” he said earnestly. 

Words flooded her mind but never found themselves to her lips, she wasn’t sure if the wine was getting to her head or if this was really happening.

“What?” she urged him to say it again, she wanted nothing more than to hear him say it again.

“What if it does mean something to me, and it always has?” his blue eyes looked to her with such longing and sincerity she knew there was nothing else either could say, and there was nothing else left for them to do. 

She closed the little space between them, and their lips found each other without complaint. Their arms wound around each other, intent on never letting go. This kiss said every word they wished they had said before and would continue to say for each day after.

I loved you then, and I love you now, no fear or distance will part us.