The Other Woman

Emma was a lot younger, and love was this idea about finding this perfect guy, with this perfect jaw line and the perfect manners with lots of money. Couples walking hand in hand, doing nice things for each other were what her dreams were filled with. Her life went on like that until one day; she went visiting this nice little cafe on a pretty little terrace with birds chirping and flowers blooming. She used to come here before, and she loved it for all the sunlight that poured in and for Aunt Matilda, who brought her warm cupcakes and flavored tea. Watching the sun set while enjoying her tea, she saw the man at the neighboring table, who was watching her intently, so intently that she felt a shiver run down her spine and so deep was his gaze that she felt like he could read her mind, not just about how she felt about the weather but deep down, deep deep down, into the very depths which she thought was only her own, until now. She quickly moved her gaze away, in an attempt to stop him from reading her mind further, in an attempt to stop him from knowing that he looked like the person she'd dreamed off ever since she was a child. He was now smiling at her, and came to sit next to her, so worried was she, that she ran from there leaving her half eaten cup cake and spilling whatever was left of her tea. She ran all the way home and locked herself in and vowed never to go back there again. But the next day, she found herself going to the same cafe again and the day after that and the day after, and this time she shared her table with the mystery who was called Richard. They used to spend a few minutes catching up on each other’s lives which turned into longer minutes and then hours. He used to amuse her with his antics at his work, his friends, family and life and she in turn would be raptured by everything he said and tell him some about herself too. She felt that she was finally in that place, that secret place that she always wanted to be a part off. He would sometimes teasingly hold her hand, and she would turn a blush red and wished that time just froze, because it was all, Oh so perfect. From the cafe their romance ventured out into parks, beautiful sidewalks, movies and to all those places where two people could hold hands and walk around uninhibited.

On one such breezy day, while they strolled around the market place looking at the items on display, the sky suddenly turned dark and it started to pour. Everyone around, ran helter skelter to any place which they found dry and Emma found herself squeezing between Richard and a fat man who smelled of sweat and dirt. Watching her twist and turn uncomfortably, Richard suggested if she wanted to go home with him so they could dry up until the rain stopped as it was a few minutes away from the market. Never having gone to a guy's house all by herself, she was scared and yet excited at all the possibilities it could mean and she gave in. His house was located on the second floor; it was tiny but tidy with a good view of the whole world outside. While they dried up and sat on his white sheet covered bed while looking at the rain through the big beautiful French window, Richard put his arm around her and drew closer to her. She felt emotions which she had never felt before; she was excited and scared, all at the same time. And when he excused himself to go check up on the brewing pot of tea, she was only too relieved to calm her mind down. She started to look around to find something to distract herself, as she looked around she felt there was something that wasn't right. She stood up and scanned the room once again, and there it was, on the snow white sheets, a few locks of hair. Hair longer than Richards', as long as what only a girl would wear. The wind could have blown it in, or it could be the maids, or. or. not wanting to think further because Richard would never do that to her. She decided she will let it be and walked into the washroom to freshen herself up before the hot cup of tea arrives and there she saw, by the sink, which cleared all doubts off her head, a pair of hair clips strewn casually around the sink. That was definitely not the maid or the wind; she looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes swelling up, what an idiot she had been all along.

"Emma! Emma! How long will you take in front of the mirror, the cab's here." Startled, she looked away from the mirror and from the hair clips beside it that had caused her to day dream for so long. It'd been three years since the incident. She'd never met Richard again, and her idea of Romance had totally changed. She'd stopped believing in a perfect guy, but her hope for love still remained intact.

After her college and studies she moved out to a neighboring town and started her first job there. Steve was her colleague who was older than her by a few years and he would help and guide her through the different things she had to do. When not working, he would offer to show her around town and take her to the town fair where she would excitedly try out trinkets and go on amusement rides with a child's joy because she never saw all this while she was growing up. Steve became her best friend, who was there for her whenever she wanted and she in turn would do nothing to hurt him.

One day after a long day at work, like always she started to walk towards her home which was around five blocks away. She enjoyed these walks as it gave her a chance to clear her mind. She loved to watch people packing up for the day with a satisfied look on their face and heading home towards their family and loved ones. The old man at the candy cart in the corner who always gave her a warm smile and offered a candy when he saw her, but she'd never accepted it because she knew that it would earn him some money which he really needed. She would have also helped him pack his candy but not today, today her thoughts were distracted. She was thinking of Steve, over the time they'd spent, she realized that she'd never known about his personal side, he never spoke and she'd never asked because she'd never needed to know. She wondered if she felt anything for him, but the thought immediately left her as she walked into the comfort of her home and she went about preparing to go to bed.

As the sun rose the next day, her day started early, as she walked the five blocks to work and greeted everyone, Al the flower man, Shiela the maid at the cafe, Russ the candy man, they were all her friends. Once at work, she rushed to Steve's desk to grab a cuppa with him, but unlike all days, his desk seemed empty and he wasn't in. That was very unusual because for as long as she'd worked here, Steve was always at his desk by the time she came and never once left before her. This worried her a bit but she went back to work thinking that he was probably late. But she could hardly work, and the rest of the day went just like that, with her rushing to his place to see if he was in, and she found it as empty as she did the last time and she walked back more worried with even little interest to work. By tea time, she couldn’t hold on any longer and decided to go to Steve's house to check if he was okay. This was the first time she'd ventured into these areas of the town, his house was located on the corner of Marks Street. She was worried sick as she rang the doorbell once with no response, until finally she heard some faint footsteps in the background and her relief knew no bounds when she saw Steve open the door for her. She then learnt that he was sick the whole day with fever and couldn't get up to even eat his meal. She quickly went about making a nice healthy meal for him and tended to him for the rest of the day and very soon he visibly started to look better. As it grew dark in the evening, it started to rain and Steve insisted that she got home quickly before the rain got torrential. Even though she didn't want to leave him in that state, he insisted and said that he was anyway feeling much better and asked her to freshen up while he called for a cab. And it was while she was freshening up that she saw them, the pair of hair clips.

She washed up and immediately left to get her cab which was waiting for her. Steve bid her goodbye while profusely thanking her for all her help.

As the cabbie turned the meter and revved the engine, she couldn’t help thinking that this time around, the tiny pair of hair clips had little effect on her unlike her previous encounter. Yes, she'd grown up, she was more mature now and she wasn't going to let anyone break her heart again.

Just then, a gust of wind blew in and displaced her hair, and Emma immediately tried to close the window shut while looking for something to hold her hair back and that's when she realized that she'd left her hair clip on Steve's wash basin alongside the other pair. She smiled to herself and thought that she was not going to be the other woman anymore.