Perfectly Imperfect

Part 1: Mini-conversations in my head (Intro).

Church. Such a holy place. Everyone comes to feel the presence of the Lord, his divine love and get his blessings, feel reborn. For me, not much of a strong believer, but I go to church for the sake of serenity. Also, because my mom kept scolding me, and uhmm I love my mom. So, yeah. Pretty much, a normal life, doing usual stuff. Never really had much of an ambition but writing stories and drawing characters was kinda my thing. So, I just went with the flow. It was all just a mundane life until I first saw her.

It was summer. The sun shined as bright as her smile when she walked into the church. Dressed in a salmon pink slit Maxi dress, she slided all her hair to one side exposing the butterfly tattoo on her neck, and started looking for a seat in the church. Her heels tapped so hard on the floor, that it echoed while the pastor and people were praying. While all were immensely praying for the love of God, I was praying for God to make her sit anywhere near me. And guess what, He answered my prayers. She sat right beside me. My heart started thumping so fast that I could hear my own beat. I looked at the idol of Jesus and I could literally hear him say:
" Son, here you go. I gave the chance and now don't ask me to handle the rest. My job is done here. Bye".
So,I was there on the bench, just staring at the pastor, trying to concentrate on the prayers to calm my nerves down. The minute my heart started to calm down, my nose caught her perfume and accelerated the heart rate again. I started having a mini-conversation with God.

"Oh God! Please put me out of my misery !" I prayed in my head.

God was like "Nope. I am busy listening to the prayers of an old woman sharing about her diabetes and knee joint pains."

And I cried "I shouldn't have asked. I was too greedy and impatient to look at her and talk to her. But now I realise I can't. Please help".
God groaned and said "Ahh! You humans. You ask for something big; and when it's given, you run away instead of working hard for it. So complicated creatures you are. Wonder who made you guys.... Oops! My bad haha".

At last, I thought "Nevermind; I will handle it".

So, I tried to relax and laid my hand on the seat; I could sense her dress at my fingertips. It felt like I was indirectly touching her. I looked down from my peripheral vision and saw her leg shine out of the slit in her dress while she crossed her legs, adjusting her posture in a sophisticated way. I couldn't help but turn my head and see her beautiful face. I know! You guys must be thinking, "What a creep!"; but believe me, when you meet the love of your life, everything goes cinematic and gooey.

Just when I was starting to develop a crush on her, admiring her beauty and modesty, she placed her hand next to mine and slided 500 bucks through my fingers smoothly. I was as shocked and confused as you guys are. I looked at her with a 'question mark' face, but she couldn't care less to see my agony.
She told me "Same stuff as yesterday, same spot, 8 pm", and got up and started walking out of the church.
I was like "Whaaaaat?" with a confused yet excited look on my face; basically my mind was buffering at a low internet speed in that moment. On the contrary, my mom's expression was completely opposite and you know why. So, I had to tell that there may be some misunderstanding and I don't know her. And if mom is still staring with the same angry look what do we say "I swear Ma. I really don't know". Yup, I did the same. Eventually, she cooled down and turned towards the pastor. And as usual, the mini-conversation started again.
"Did she think I was someone else and gave it to me? Or did she really mean to say that? But this is the first time I am seeing her. Why would she give me money and ask for something which I have no idea about. Wait a minute... Have I met her before? Did I lose my memory after my mom hit me with the pan on my head the other day?" I kept thinking. "Ahhh! Shut your over-thinking dumb brain for a minute. It is simple. She must have misunderstood me with someone else" . Well, I had to convince myself with that or else the train of thought would be incessant.

After the holy mass, I walked out of the church searching for her. I looked around thoroughly; but no sign of her. As my family and I were walking to the parking area, I saw her arguing with her two friends, all confused and disturbed. I was walking towards her, setting my hair and blazer. She looked at me and my blazer and then started to realise what she had done. I approached her saying :

"Hey, I think you misun- -......".

She panicked and interrupted saying "I'm so sorry. I thought you were my friend when I saw the same blazer that he wore. That is why I came straight towards you to give the money".

I looked at her friend's blazer and said "Yeah, even I thought the same haha. Anyway, here is your money, miss...?".

She got the curious look on my face and said "Melissa. Melissa Janine".

"Nice to meet you Melissa Janine" I said, giving her the money and turned back walking towards my car.

Just like the classic movies, I was expecting her to call me and yes, she did. I turned back expecting she would ask my name; but instead she goes "Please don't tell anyone. I hope you will keep this a secret".

I giggled and said "Why would I say to anyone? It's okay. It was an innocent mistake. Anyways, it doesn't matter because we won't be meeting again, right?".

I looked at her eagerly, hoping she would ask me to meet again. But she hesitantly said "uhmm yeah. You are right".

I got a little disappointed and said "Okay, bye. Next time, be careful. Don't give money to strangers hahaha" and started walking away from her.
She was whispering something to her girl friend, behind my back. In a few seconds, her friend shouted : "She wants to meet you but she is hesitating; she is embarrassed of this incident it seems". She got angry and hit on her friend's head. Then she looked down with embarrassment.

I turned back and smiled saying "I won't judge you, nor will I make fun of you. If you won't mind, I would like to meet you again, some day".

She lifted her head smiling and said "Thank you for understanding. Yes, let's meet again next Sunday here in the church".

I nodded yes and looked at her beautiful eyes one last time while waving goodbye. Then, I walked to my parents who were waiting in the car. The whole time while I was driving home, the smile did not fade away from my face. I could not believe that a gorgeous woman like her would talk to me and want to meet me again. My parents thought "He has gone nuts. Smiling like a buffoon the whole time".
After I reached home, I changed my clothes and sank into my bed thinking of her. I just couldn't wait to meet her again. I wished a week had just two or three days so that Sunday would come soon. I wished hours could pass by just like the wind. I wished I could see her again now. But all I could do was, close my eyes and play the reel in my head, right from the moment I first saw her.

To be continued.....swipe up.