The Stranger (part 2)

The cafe started to fill up with early lunchtime shoppers, the once chilly air became a humid fug. Who had suggested another cup? She can't remember now but the moment had been to precious to leave after just one, no matter how long they made it last. It wasn't until much later that he had confessed that he'd thought, because she'd been so long in 'the ladies',that she had absconded via a small window in there and it was with relief that he had seen her appear again. She assured him that even if she had wanted to, there was no window, just a very long queue.

She didn't want this moment to end, 2 cups of tea had lasted quite a few hours but she still had ages before she was due to be elsewhere. Three years on she can't remember who suggested the pub. It was a fair walk away from the city centre, lost down a back lane, a hidden treasure. He walked with long strides, she felt like a child by his side, trying to keep up, wanting to reach out for his hand, feeling that it would be natural to do so but it was not quite time for that yet.

Inside was hot and they stripped off layers of coats and scarves. She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror, her cheeks were flushed with warmth or excitement, it was hard to tell. They sat on high stools, knee to knee, close enough to sense one another but not close enough to touch. She sipped her drink; what did she have, so hard to remember now? But she can remember how she felt so alive at that moment, it had been such a long time since she had felt like this.

Eventually there was no escaping the fact that life was calling her back. They walked back to her car, with each step she wanted to turn back. They kissed goodbye clumsily, too rushed and unrehearsed in her mind, she was not prepared, had not thought ahead to the end.

She knew she had a big grin all over her face and that she was humming out loud as she climbed the stairs to level 6. It took her 3 laps in her car on level 6 to realise she was not going down to the ground but merely driving round in circles. She glanced at the camera above, how embarrassing.

It wasn't until she was close to home that the feeling came on. It was like a dark cloud circling, each road closer to home it got a little darker. In months to come, years even, the feeling would always follow her down these roads to her front door, where it was the darkest of all. But it did not last forever as she feared it would.

Now they are like all the other roads I have ever driven along, moving forwards, always to the future.