Want Her

02

I quietly lean my head against the window pane of the taxi. The drive won't take too long, but the party wasn't around the corner either.

I'm glad that I took enough money with me, because you should be prepared for something like that.

The driver is an elderly man who will soon be retired from his job. He's not even a bit talkative, which isn't a problem for me. I'm extremely tired. He probably is too, considering what time it is right now.

The area we are passing is a quiet one. You can see houses on the roadsides surrounded by trees. Out of boredom I check through the windows if any of them are still awake and have the light on in the room. Vain.

But what I see from afar is a black cat lurking around and strolling from bush to bush.

It is certainly common that people like to walk their dogs here and just let their cats out.

The closer we get to her, the closer she walks towards the street.

I'm starting to get scared as the man next to me doesn't seem to be slowing down. I'm not even sure that he sees the cat.

"Sir, there's a-."

But then I have a heart attack when she suddenly runs across the street and is caught by the car, I'm sitting in, at the exact moment.

He abruptly stops the car after it has made a small but sufficient crash. I am thrown forward in my seat and immediately pushed back again.

Please no...

"Did you hear that too?" he asks, totally clueless.

"You just took the life of a cat." If I had drunk more, I would have started crying. Lucky Peyton is sleeping.

"Excuse me?" Horrified, he unbuckles his seat belt without hesitation and gets out of the car. Since I also want to know if this is really the case, or if she is maybe just injured and can still be saved, I do the same.

And there she lies. I don't want to, nor can I look.

,,I have a cat, too. She's still alive, it just has to be rescued now.'' I breathe out a sigh of relief when I hear this from the elderly man. However, my chest tightens slightly painfully, because the cat is suffering terribly at this very moment.

,,Please call immediately-.''

"I know what to do." He interrupts me. Hopefully that's true.

So as soon as he pulls his phone out of his pocket, I turn around my own axis to see if anyone noticed the crash.

I'm incredibly glad that the taxi driver didn't just continued to drive. That would also be a hit-and-run with animals and just plain cruel.

The third scare of the day I get when I see a figure on the balcony almost opposite us. Quite close to the street, as all the other houses here are.

A man.

Despite the darkness, I immediately recognize his white tank top and heavily muscular, tattooed arms that jump straight into my view. One is supported on the railing while the other is holding a joint, leading it to a mouth.

Whose mouth belongs to a face that leaves me speechless.

Okay, I'm not talking right now, but let's pretend.

Noticeably dark hair.
A strand of hair falls across his face and looks wet, though I can't tell if he's just had a shower or has gelled it up.

A strong jaw, which becomes the sharpest as he pulls on the joint. Enclosed by full lips under his straight nose.

All I can't see are his eyes as he's still turned sideways.

Unexpectedly, I catch myself hoping he'd turn his face to me. Look at me the way I'm looking at him right now.

Can you be fascinated by an appearance? Can you find yourself meeting the most handsome man you've ever seen at one point when you've seen so many in a lifetime?

My prayers are answered far too quickly and I am caught unprepared by his eyes.

Absolutely no idea what color they are, but that wouldn't change the way his eyes are so mercilessly taking possession of my eyes.

I don't move and find myself in a position where I forget everything around me.

He leans on the railing with his other arm to be able to look at me even more closely and intense. He devotes his entire attention to me and thus imitates me.

But what comes from him is the slight smile that forms on his lips.

What kind of smile is that?

Please tell me.

Should I smile back?

Whatever this feeling is, this is what I have been praying for.

,,Young man! You there!'' Good Lord, if the flinching continues today...

Even if everything in me resists it, I turn my head to the taxi driver and realize that I'm no longer the only one who spotted him.

What does he want now? I thought he had everything under control.

The stranger nods to him, but doesn't answer with his voice. Of course I look at him again after not doing so for just a few seconds. And as if the driver had bothered not only me but also him, he lets his eyes look into mine again.

"Do you happen to know who owns that cat in this neighborhood? Please don't tell me it's you. Then I'd like to tell you that I'm incredibly sorry." It babbles next to me. I feel sorry for him somewhere. Maybe he doesn't see quite as well anymore, but then he shouldn't be a taxi driver no more.

He slowly takes his eyes off me and shifts them to the side.

Suddenly he points his index finger to a house behind us. I immediately understand that he means the cat's owners who live there.

The old sir leaves us to to ring their bell.

And all I can do is look at him again.

Without breaking eye contact, he takes another drag of his joint and then puffs smoke out of his mouth.

The thing still looks pretty long and recently lit. But what if it's not his first and he's just staring at me because he is high?

Nonsense. He's obviously into me.

I hear meowing behind me, so I immediately break contact and bend down to the cat.

She has her eyes closed and doesn't even try to get up.

"Hold on please." I whisper to her, unable to help my eyes tearing up. Seeing animals suffer is so hard that it breaks my heart.

I always loved animals.

I'm glad my cousin has a dog and as much as he knows, his dog knows too- i love him like my own. Sadly we don't see each other too often as he and his wife have moved further away. But as soon as we do, his dog is the only thing that draws my attention to him.

I promise myself, I will let my wish, to share my life with a dog come true as soon as i have finished my studies.

My brain can't really stop itself from having thoughts about what would happen to my dog-which I don't even have- under circumstances like this.

I couldn't imagine how my world would collapse if something bad happened to it.

I'm being helped not to even think about it when I suddenly feel a presence behind me.

I look ahead and see the old man looking through all the windows as nobody seems to have opened up.

I tense.

And then I slowly turn my head back.

And there he stands.