A girl in her late 20s sits at a renowned coffee shop in the heart of Bombay, sipping on cool Americano while in wait.
She’s not waiting in particular, it’s just a buffer between where she arrived from and where she will leave to in about an hour. For some reason, everybody around her seemed bothered by the humidity and the setting evening not bringing any relief, but she sat still thinking about what had become of her 20-something life. All that- for this? All the ups and downs and all-the-way turns only to end up clueless years later.
So dejected was she, numb and bored and most definitely tired. Sitting, sitting. She looked down to see a cat inspecting her chair. “What’s this one up to.” she thought to herself as a voice whistled to her.
“Isn’t she beautiful?”, a tall-fair and seemingly 40-something man said. “You won’t believe it, she manages to find me a new person every day.
Confused she says, “Um, a new person every day? I imagine you must’ve met dozens by now.”. The man chuckled in surprise as he readjusted himself.
“Oh, my, sharp… your words are sharp.”, said he amused.
“I’m sure I’d do better on a better day. You caught me untimely.”, she said emotionless.
“I might know a way to cheer you up, you know. You can always try”, he said as he gestured to join her offbook sojourn.
“Sure, I’m bored anyway.”, scratching her chin unwomanly, feminine remnants hidden in plain sight.
The man adjusted himself, lit a cigarette, and sipped his to-go coffee.
“I wonder what I’ll eat for dinner tonight. The weather seems good, but not crisp enough for fish, though. What do you say?”
She thought about it for a moment and said, “Maybe let the fish live another day then. Try french toast. It’s a very French toast kind of an evening.” Weird, they both thought.
The man said, “Would you like to join me?”. The girl scoffed slightly, “You tried that, huh? Anyway, in short, it’s not going to happen.”.
“What, why? Who doesn’t like French toast?”. The girl momentarily thinks and says, “I’ll play for it.”
the man smacks the table and puts out his cigarette, “I’ll play as well!”.
“You have to complete my sentences. I say something and you continue from there and then I take over from there. Okay?”. The man nodded with a charming smile.
“Too many times I’ve come here”, said the girl.
After a pause, the man said, “Too many faces I’ve met”
“Where are all the souls in town gone?”
“Have any of them ever met?”
“I hear a faint beating somewhere, but shadows are all I see”
“In whispers of life you hear, to know you’ll have to see”
“Eyes tired, hair old, too many promises to keep”
“Hold a hand in the weak, to go beyond a submerge. Lay still in rocky water, come ashore, hither.”
“The wind whistles by, as you talk tails of old”
“Wind and breeze have come to abide, I’ve sold them secrets of these shadows”
“Secrets you know? In free rhythm let them flow…”
“Promise a smile to reckon me, someday to summon my soul”
“I don’t want to pick a fight, you may not even like me”
“You’ve said nothing wrong so far, dinner tonight might be”
“I see a lady and see her curls, I never stop myself since she left. A heart is caged beneath kisses and a swift touch of warm, thefts.”
The girl sat up back into reality, confused, mocked, and sad as the man continued staring at her.
She says, “No wonder you sound warm, that fire can only come from a woman”
“How frivolous of them still, to never fear to sweat”
“They know men cannot take it, it’s fun to dance around un-pupped”
“Talk about fierce women, yet you sit so still”
“After so many pages, the pages get tired to be filled”
“A flower doesn’t know how pretty it is, but what’s better? The flower doesn’t care that it even exists. Guess beauty exists for those with eyes, not to those that own it”
“Something to think, something I’ve fought… Didn’t know you were to adorn it”
“In places of hate and alien… and shadows… You had to allow, to own it”
“So shadows can steal and break it with might?”
“It would be such at first but hold first very tight. Let go every time the storm silences itself, shadows un-blur without any fight. Look long enough… Only light”
“Excuse me, ma’am”, interrupted the waiter, “Your sandwich is ready.”
The woman jolted back into her reality and turned her back to get out her wallet.
As she turned back with a card, the man was already gone.
She was confused, she felt weird and uncomfortable. ‘Am I okay?’ she thought.
She packed her things and with her sandwich got up abruptly.
As she walked out, she looked a glance back to the offset table.
The cigarette still burning.
She looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be found,
but under the table, the cat that was fighting with the chair looked directly at her.
END
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