MOVING IN STEREO

YOU AND I WILL MEET AGAIN

"I heard you singing to no one.

I saw you dancing all alone.

One day you belonged to me.

Next day I just wouldn't know.

One day all the rules will bend.

You and I will meet again.

I've got a feeling

I've got a feeling so strong.

Maybe someday our roads will cross."

You and I Will Meet Again

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

We need to get this straight again because it's been a while. There was life before Sofi for certain. Then there was Sofi. Then there was life after Sofi but not the same energy. There was always a big piece missing. A void that I could never seem to fill. Eventually, it became easier to live with it.  Amazing how one person can have such an effect on your life.  

The walk along the river had been pleasant. Late spring Sunday afternoon, trees are starting to bloom, flowers are beginning to bloom, birds are singing, and sunshine is glinting off the slight waves in the river. It was beautiful, serene even. The Roswell River Walk was across town from my home, and I hadn't been to the area in years. It had changed a lot since my last visit, too; one thing, in particular, was the miles of graveled walking trail along the riverfront. Someone had snapped pictures of their walk, which came up in my Twitter feed. I was glad I had given it a try.

I had to explore a little off trail to get closer to the water as I was given to do. I got dirt and pebbles in my shoes and had to stop at the first bench I could find and shake them out. I had emptied one and was working on the other when I noticed a striking woman walking the path in my direction. Boy, she was pretty. She caught me looking up at her, and she smiled and didn't break eye contact even though I did. I looked back, though. There was something about her, and she was still coming my way.

"Nick?" she called out to me.

A lump formed in my throat, as I had only felt once before.

"Sofi! My gosh, what in the world are you doing here?"

I stood up, and she threw her arms around me very unexpectedly. And oh, how good it felt. Her embrace sent warm tingles simmering through my entire body.  She was as lovely as the day I last saw her, honestly more so. Her hair was longer, much longer, and it suited her. Sofi's skin looked the same, felt the same, and the only wrinkles that showed up were around her eyes when she smiled. But when she smiled, her whole face lit up, and that was really all I ever noticed anyway.

"You look good, Sof, really."

"You do too, but what's this?" She said, rubbing my graying goatee.

"Oh, it's just something I grew a few years ago when I got sick of shaving so much."

She cocked her head back as if studying me, pursing her lips.

"I like it; very distinguished. It suits you."

We laughed together again.

We sat together on the shaded wooden bench and caught up. Sometimes the universe sends you a lightning bolt, a chance, and damned if this wasn't a sheer chance. Sofia's mom had passed some years before. That I remembered. I had sent flowers. She was a sweet, sweet woman. Her father, Martin, had just recently died, and that I did not know, having fallen out of touch years earlier. After Martin's wife passed, he sold the home where they lived when I knew them. He bought another house across town, outside the perimeter in Roswell. It was near enough to the things that Martin enjoyed without being downtown.