Never Fade

Matthew

MATTHEW

            She loves books and wants to be a writer someday. We are on the same page. Jeanne. This woman is far different from any other woman I met for the past weeks.  As I was studying her, she has a physique; the regular body she have, slender hips and tighs, rosy cheeks, brown eyes, her jaw line, her neck bone down to her chest. She’s a red head.
“ Indeed the coffee here is great” I said
“ Actually, you didn’t have a coffee. You had your frap”
I took me seconds to figure it out and to absorb her facial expression.
“ My frap still contains caffeine”
“ Not the same of what I ordered” she exclaimed
Her phone rang. Let me guess, its her boyfriend friend on the other side. This time she didn’t ask my permission instead answered the call.
She talks “ What took you so long Mark”. Her face hardened

 “ What?!You don’t do this to me Mark” Jeanne barks.
She tried to mumble something but she was caught off guard. Jeanne ended the call. Probably her friend Mark will not show up today. Or Mark is hooking up with some other girl in the car that he has forgotten his appointment with Jeanne. Or her boyfriend friend, Mark had an accident while headed towards here.
 It might happen we can never avoid accidents.
Jeanne looked down and she seems sad.
“ Will you be okay Jeanne?” I touch the top of her hands pressed on the table. What was I doing?
She look up and nod.
Then a Russian Blue cat jumps in between my thighs. This is cat is fat and its eyes are almost dark and vivid green, complemented it blue-grey coat. The cat has a collar that states Lena

I can see Jeanne shrugging. “ You want to have Lena?”
She got confused “ Who is Lena?”
“ The cat” I carried Lena up and let her sit on the table.
Jeanne was surprised and scratched the head of Lena.
I asked her politely “So, what are your other interest?”
“ I love to write. I tried to write”
“What happened then ?”
“ I thought that I needed to lessen my TBR To be Read books. And Mark and I often take road trips and travelling”
“  So you love travelling right?”
“...and reading...and eating...and yoga...and anagramming...and biting my lips when I have nothing to say” She added.
“ It seems that your relationship with this person, Mark, is too cheeky and intimate” I said.
“ You think? Ugh  Mark is my best friend. He always knock on my door even if its late, to tell me about the ending of the book I recommended him to read. And he will be here any minute by now.”

I’m sensing this Mark guy is more that her best friend , I just imagine how related they are with each other. While I was studying Jeanne, she’s a type of girl who is into hot guys who also read like her. Or a swimmer. Or a Captain of the Basketball League. Or the guy who won in the spelling bee or the champion on the debate team.
Could it be me?
Does she like someone like me?

I finished the last bite of my food and grabbed something inside my bag, when Jeanne exclaimed.
“ He is here!”
Ugh... What kind of person he is to let this girl waiting too long.
I stared at her eyes sharply. The pupil of her eyes is a shade of forest and a dust of stormy clouds. Lucid and mysterious.
Then someone afar called out.
We both turned.

The picture was the unexpected one to appear. I was able to fringe.
Tall, round eyes, with an angelic face. Not manly in posture but manly in facial. He blemishes away, heading towards our direction. He wears those tight denim pants like passing in a cat walk path. He have those black-rimmed reading glasses and a metallic thing in his left ear. Gay.
If I’m not mistaken... this is Mark. Her best friend.

The person she has been waiting has finally arrived after centuries of research development and rescue.
Mark immediately gave a smack on Jeanne’s rosy cheeks, apologizing “ I’m sorry Jee. Yah knew already, hmmppfff this damn afternoon traffic”
“ Don’t do this again next time”
Mark turned to my direction suppressing that emotion of delight.
“ And who do we have here in attendance?” He lets out a hand shake.
I shake “ Matthew Verdon--- writer”
He smile ‘’ Mark Louise Faulner---reader”
Mark of course, sit next to Jeanne and mumbled something as he sits down. Jeanne’s reaction was quite interesting in way that she smiled.
“ Do you guys want something to drink?” I asked
“ That’s very kind of you” Mark replied
Jeanne just sits there staring straight at me and not doing something nor saying anything. She is slowly becoming a distraction.
“Its a little I can offer... after I disturbed your intimate date with our lovely Jeanne here”. My eyes darts from Mark to Jeanne.
“ No, Matt. Its okay. I enjoyed a bit of my time sitting here with you. In fact, we should do that some other time now that you live just nearby the street” She finally utter some sentences. Was she flirting with me? Or was I just assuming?
Jeanne is inviting me to have coffee in some other time. Girl invites Boy. And Boys has not showed any act of kindness to Girl. HAHA !
Mark’s hand was folded “ So you are a writer, Mr. Verdon? In what field is your writing entails?”
“ Before, I was in journalism. Doing stuff in the newspaper, writing some articles, sending them to publishers, and checking them with grammatical errors. Then after that, I got promote and currently the Editor in Chief of a publishing company in the city.”
“ Wow. Your profile is quite highly worked on”
“ No, its not that really high”
Jeanne sighs “ Its really high Matt. Editor in Chief? I mean, Whoah! I would be much honoured to be in that position”
“ It has much burden than the lower positions”
“At least you are highly paid”
I nod agreeing to what she said.

Mark clears his throat and asked “ I know this question is out of the blue. And I hope you won’t get offended if I asked you this... Are you single?”
I blink
Blinking
Unable to respond to that simple well-articulated question. I have to make up my mistake. I have to leave the past as it is in the past.
I breathe swallowing the scent of cappuccino in the air.
“ Yes. To be added on my profile, I’m a writer who is single”
Ugh, I got away.
I heard the a sound made sound. I looked down and saw Lena laying on my shoes. How did she even got there?
“ While you are busy pressing words in the computer and scrolling up to review them. Have you shared any intimate relationship with someone in the past?” Mark asked sitting upright on his chair.
Past.
This is the feeling. Its like you got a heavy and deep punched right through your chest and you fall into your knees and wipe out. But now, flickering images began to appear before my eyes. Like a hologram of memories. You chose and select. You mourn and you cry.
Remember her face, the curve in her lips, the tip of her nose, the frown of her brows, the reflection in her eyes, the shape of her body, the temper in her soul. Everything you try to remember.
Remember the incident.
 Remember her.
Her.