Sunday 10 November 2013

The open air cafe

The instant I saw her I was smitten. She was striding across the terrace humming some popular ditty as she navigated between the tables of the outdoor café.

She walked closer with a mixture of dignity and grace with such purpose I naturally thought she was meeting someone behind me.

I was in a period of some discretion when it came to dating after one or two disappointments over the years. However her coming within my vision made me falter. I thought, “Is this a Miss right?”

Then almost as quickly I began to buckle. What did I have to gain? She was but a few steps from my table, so I glanced down and idly stirred my coffee. I was about to lift it to my lips when I glanced up again and she had stopped not a few feet from me.

“Robin?” she asked, “You were at the Surrey School of Art a few years ago. It’s Gina.”

Oh yes, I remember, Gina. I racked my brains. What had happened to her? She just disappeared. Quit, I suppose and just lost track. How was it I didn't recognize her? But she had changed so much.

“So what are you doing now? Oh, sorry would you like a drink?”

“No, but I’ll sit for bit.” 

So she sat alongside me and grinned; and that was the start of it all. Well you know the drill.

24 comments:

  1. And he's so much in love . . . . . with the same woman he met 57years ago. You remind me of the poem the late Senator Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino made for our former President Corazon 'Cory' Aquino. Tehy are the parent of our present President Noynoy Aquino. It was made into a song by one of the best singer/songwriters in the Philippines. Here's the lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jose+mari+chan/i+have+fallen+in+love+with+the+same+woman+three+times_20873759.html

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  2. I agree with J Cosmo - we want more!

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  3. Really sweet and I like being left with wanting more.

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  4. Oh, I think she is Miss Right. I agree, we want more.

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  5. Always good when the poet appears in their own poem..do we know the drill? Will you tell..

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  6. The instant of attraction ... another budding love story told well.

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  7. Aw, so sweet! Please write more. Everyone wants to find out what happens next. :)

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  8. Okay, so what happened? Nice immersing story, but we need more.

    Pamela

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  9. How sweet! Whether true or fantasy, tell us more.

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  10. This really hints of more to come....

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  11. So nice, Robin! Good on you :)

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  12. For many this would have been a moment missed. I like that you left it up in the air for our imaginations to finish.

    Elizabeth

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  13. You want to know more? Sorry! The truth is Gina was pretty 12 year old at high school in my class who invited me to her birthday party and spent much of the time trying to get me in corners to kiss her! I was overwhelmed but much later after I left school and saw how she had turned out I wished I had been more enthusiastic back then. The story grew from that. Score; Old Egg 3/10 for lack of foresight.

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    1. Good seed for your story. Thanks for sharing it with us. Yes, we always have hindsight.

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  14. What a teaser as others have said. Well wordled and yes, I want more but I love that you left it up to the reader to finish!

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  15. maintaining the memory of 'that' moment is enough to sustain us.

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  16. I'm definitely left wanting to find out more ... although I somehow sense the (happy) ending. Great piece!

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  17. I just love the pictures you paint with your words; with this one I felt as though I might be at the next table watching them.

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  18. Meetings of chance...Love it. I think I actually saw my hubby on TV with a sports banner...years before I met him. And really it wasn't until after we were married that I discovered he had keep the hand made sports banner that might have flashed on screen for two or three seconds!

    Thanks for enjoying my Whirling story verse :)
    Barkeep is a real word :)

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  19. So sweet. I love romance!

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  20. nice!! I love these kinds of stories.

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  21. dynamite novella...love is sometimes as simple a that....

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