FRAGMENTS - THE SEGMENTS

I won't forget this day!

Samika finished with the cosmetics, picked up her purse and left her room switching off the lights, she had put on her best costume today, as she stepped out and locked the main door, she felt the cold breeze rushing at her, giving her little chills. She turns around to find the silent street  with a lot sleeping neighbors. Her neighbors were all old men and women who had lived their life and was now resting peacefully, after her grandma had died, she was given the house and as it held memories of her grandma, Samika never thought of moving although she had all those nosy neighbors. Now she is waiting for Walter, he was supposed to arrive by eight to pick her up, they were dating but some unfortunate turn of events is now demanding them to split. Before they split, they decided to have one last date, something like an unforgettable night for them to cherish for the rest of her life. When his Range Rover finally pulled up outside her house, she expressed she was cross because she wanted him to know what she was feeling about him being late. She opened the door and hopped in, when she turned after closing door, he gave her a gentle welcome kiss, she returned one too although she was cross about him being late. 

Paulson Serves was a busy place even on weekdays, people crowded the place always waiting to savor some masterpiece of the restaurant. Walter had pre-booked them a table, quite private, save for three others who sat on the only other table in that little reserved room. Samika looked around at the beautifully created messy walls which had a lot of wonderfully drawn pictures of something she didn't recognize, the ceiling had the yellow lights, the tables were perfectly clean and on the table was a two fancy cups and below which was a menu card. Both of them looked up the menu, there was a long list of wide variety of dishes. What Walter liked she didn't like, what she liked, he wouldn't prefer, and they finally ended up ordering just two chocolate shakes. They spoke nothing as they waited for the order, Walter felt awkward and plugged in his earphones, he offered her one, she readily accepted and leaned onto him. 

2 months ago....

Samika was in the shower, they'd made love all night and was "dirty" from it and so decided to get a shower before officially going to bed. Walter knocked on the door, indicating he wanted to come in and he burst in when she granted permission. He stripped and stepped into the shower but then she finished and stepped out. After all his vain invitations, he continued his shower alone while she walked out and down to pour out a cup of coffee. Like every other day, she bend down and picked up the newspaper and the letters (even in the age of electronic messages, some still prefer letters, says it carries more than words). She checked each one of them and finally froze in her tracks when she saw it, the letter that changed her fate and split them both. 

Present time

They finished and came out of Paulson Serves and walked down the lane, the time was around midnight and the street was deserted. They walked without a destination, even as they walked in silence, they were communing between themselves through a medium that was better sounds and words. Suddenly breaking the silence, she asked a question,

"Do you believe in fate?"

"I do" he replied.

"Well then, let's see if we are fated to meet in the future." 

"How do we do that," he asked her puzzled. She said nothing, but took his hand and began to run to the nearest building. Upon entering, she stopped near the elevators and said,

"We're taking different elevators, we're gonna click any random number, if we've fate to meet, we'll end up in the same floor. Okay, let's start"

He was not given a chance to speak as he was pushed into the elevator, random thought and he pressed 12, her favorite number. She too got in and pressed 13, to see if the unlucky number would bring her luck. They elevators picked speed and the doors opened at the respective floors. Tears filled her eyes when she didn't see him, she wanted to cry out loud, wail, she wanted to curse the Almighty for being so cruel to her. She decided to write her own fate, she opened the door to the staircase and ran down as her thought drew her to go down. She stopped at the 12th floor, opened the door and failed to see the elevator doors closing, she missed it and so thought he was on the 10th floor and ran down further. Whereas, he too silently crying walked out of the elevator when it opened to him on the ground floor. He waited for her to come down, minutes passed, an hour passed and then she finally came out through the staircase. Her eyes were red and she ran into his open arms. They embraced, and then walked back to the car. He drove to their magic mountain, it was dark there, but below was the long array of lights that was flooding the city. They stood outside, holding each other's arms, feeling the northern wind come against them. 

"I won't forget this day, ever in my entire life" and she turned to him, "you too, I'll never forget you. I love you Walter, I'll always love you...." she said as tears still rolled down her cheeks. He leaned in and kissed her, gently their lips led and they followed lost in each other. His arms were around her waist, her fingers were in his hair. His hands moved down and lifted her up, into his arms, their lips still in contact. He carried them inside his car, this time to the back seat. When he laid her down, he stepped in, closed the door and locked the car. He gently bend down and kissed her on the neck, she pulled him to face him and gave him another kiss on his forehead, I love you till the moon and the stars beyond, she said; he smiled and return to tease her, and they lay there and made love, forgetting about everything else.