Anachronistic Hell

Setting the Mood

He spun her with one arm with a gorgeous smile in his face. She held on to him with an equally gorgeous smile. He put her down and continued dancing romantically as the audience watched with awe probably thinking how could such a perfect couple be real? 

I took a sip of my red wine and returned my sight to my phone, reading an eBook on relativity for dummies. But as hard as I tried, I could not stop looking at them. They were so gorgeous, so happy. I couldn't pretend I was not jealous but I was also happy for them. Knowing what destiny had in store for them, this is a much preferred outcome. Still, my bitterness was leaking and I did not feel like explaining to my coworkers why I looked so miserable so I made my way out while everyone was distracted.

The buses stopped running this late so I called a taxi. I looked at my surroundings, playing a game of spot the difference without the luxury of having the before picture right next to it to compare. Some I had spotted before like the mosaic at the church down the street being all different, portraying different saints. 

I noticed that the lights outside were now yellow instead of white which was a welcomed change as the previous white ones hurt my eyes. The lamppost were also different in that they had a bumpy pattern instead of the smooth metal design it had before.

The street had more potholes but that could be because rainy season had just ended. In corporate areas like this, that is rare though.

My taxi arrived, a Yemeni taxi driver greeted me. He was nice, but too chatty for my liking. I nodded and made the occasional "mhm" and "oooh" to placate him. Nothing of substance was said.

My apartment felt so cold compared to the warmth of the party. Krish and Nicola's laughter and dancing still playing in my mind like a nostalgic memory. I opened my booze drawer and chugged a can of beer and growled. I turned on the TV and watched a random romcom that would not get renewed for another season play, falling asleep with the laugh track on the background.