Her Name...

Amour - Part 1

Her name was Aleyna.

I used to sit on a small park bench on the riverwalk, opposite the cafe where she worked. She was beautiful, to say the least. The way the sun kissed her golden locks as she moved would take my breath away. So I would watch her, just watch the way her hair settled on her shoulders, and the way her apron enhanced her figure.

It wasn't love.

It wasn't.

But I wanted it to be.

I would stop by the cafe when I knew it was her shift, order a coffee, and sit for a while. Up close, her beauty was multiplied ten fold. Her flawless porcelain skin looked almost angelic, her voice would flow through me, soothe me. Every part of her was perfect to me, except her eyes, her eyes were tired...dead. We started talking while she took my order. Just the casual greetings, till she started telling me more. Looking back, perhaps she was just excited about having someone so eager to listen. She told me about her past, coming up from a family that had little, moving to the city with nothing but a dream, finally getting this job after months of searching, and settling down into her daily routine. She had a boyfriend, but that same tired expression would fleetingly cross her face everytime she mentioned him, leaving her eyes cold and unfeeling.

It wasn't love.

It wasn't.

They weren't meant to be.

I played my part well. I would listen to her problems, offer her advice. She opened up to me. He was cheating on her. She knew. He would make it a joke. Send her long, romantic texts with another girl's name, and ask her if she was jealous. She would play along. She wanted him to know she was still his. He would come home late, spend most of his time with his "friends", but every night when he returned, she was there for him. I offered her my sympathy, my time, anything she needed. And then it happened. I came late one day, a meeting with a client had lasted longer than expected. I came to the cafe to find my usual table reserved for me. She was standing next to it, staring across the street searching. Her eyes locked into mine, and I saw it - the spark. Her eyes came alive, and the beauty of it radiated all through her face. This was it.

It wasn't love.

Not yet.

But it would be.