The Meeting

Name, age, where do you live? Three simple questions that can open up a potential mutual understanding between two people. However, anyone who suffers from a certain issue called overthinking can tell you that there is so much more behind this triple-attack method of breaking the frigid barrier between between yourself and an anonymous person. What if your tone when you present these questions sounds off and the person creates their impression of you based on the first words that come out of your mouth? What if you forget to embellish the questions to make them sound natural and they feel almost confronted by a random stranger they have never met before? What if they flat out ignore you, making your blood race to your face as you hit the humiliating obstacle known as rejection head on? What if-

'Enough.'

My stiff limbs carry me around the beds of violently vibrant tulips and petunias as the beating sun lays a light blanket on my exposed shoulders. I try to mute the ruckus in my mind with the buzz of the bees. Stopping on the oak bridge reaching over the mirror-like lake, I take a moment to breathe. I let the refreshing aroma of nature seep through my sinuses. The sycamores, the lavender bushes, the clusters of jasmine flowers. I feel the soft leaves of the weeping willow, standing to my left, brushing past the skin on my arm. Reopening my eyes, I am met with my own reflection in the tranquil body of water below me. My face looks clearer than before: less clouded by concern. Eyes drifting over the picturesque landscape before me, I am reintroduced to the thing, or rather one, that triggered my overthinking.

The wind gently ruffles his chestnut strands which tickled his fair skin. His hands are sat in his lap intertwined as his legs dangle off the edge, over the lake. Whilst his ears are occupied with airpods, his glistening eyes lay on the scenery which previously held my attention. He seems to be in his own little world, content in the comforting silence of solitude. Even amongst the myriad of people, he still manages to catch my attention and keep it. Almost like a magnet. Now, like a magnet does, his presence urges me to step slightly out of line, to avoid this road I have been walking on unsteadily. Hoping that I'm not getting ahead of myself and giving myself no time to gather my thoughts or prepare even so much as an opening line, I approach him. Feeling nervous, but for the first time, a pleasant nervousness.

Desperately, a hint of hesitation catches my hand and snatches it back before it gets a chance to reach him. It's too late for hesitation. As if urging me on with its warmth, the sunlight beams as it escapes from behind the swirling hues of pure white.

'No backing out now, Ella. Just ask for his name.'

Almost as if I were instead in someone else's body, my fingertips gently tap his shoulder as I bend down slightly to his level. His hand swiftly reaches for his left airpod and his gaze meets my dazed one.

"Hello?" His low voice nearly brings me back to the real world. It was just enough for me to reply with a dreamy tone.

"Oh, hi..." A gentle chuckle leaves his lips as they curve to reveal a boyish, toothy smile. Feeling a shocking sense of comfort and safety, I smile back. Asking for this name just to begin with, I feel a friendship blooming in the centre of what used to be a hazy fog of anonymity and a fondness for even the most nervous moments to come.