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.
