Friday afternoon the sky fell. A right deluge. She tried dodging the puddles that formed rapidly. The rain came down in sheets. She had a big black umbrella for the rain and walked quickly along the side walk in front of the store fronts until she smashed into someone right in front of her lawyer's office.
"Oh my, I am terribly sorry Sir, please forgive me. I didn't see you." Hannah almost shouted in a fright.
"Madam I beg your pardon, it is solely my doing, I was not watching where I was going, please forgive me."
Both apologized to the other at the same time. When she tilted her umbrella to look at the person she was apologizing to she looked square in the face of ..........TALBOT?
Both just stared in disbelief.
She spoke first. "What..what...are .....you..... doing here?"
"I was called to a meeting, here, with a Mr. Perlmutter, at three o'clock. Very mysterious. I have no idea what it is about."
"How strange. That is my lawyer. It was I that arranged this meeting on Friday at three p.m. He did not mention it had anything to do with you."
Hannah couldn't take her eyes off his face as he opened the door and entered the foyer of Perlmutter and Associates' offices.
They both entered the waiting area and she kept turning to make sure that it was him that she was looking at.
He knew what she was thinking and just smiled.
As usual both of them said the same thing at the same time and at the same moment both spoke.
"How splendid you look." Then both laughed shyly at the same time.
"Please." Talbot motioned to Hannah to take the chair.
"Thank you." She said in her most feminine voice. Men like that, don't they? Strong but soft. Intelligent but feminine. Assertive but understanding, kind, gentle. They like that, don't they?
'She is everything a woman could be.' Talbot was thinking as he too could not take his eyes off her.
The other people in the waiting area could not take their eyes off of this pair. They stared at them because the love, admiration and respect they had for each other was evident. No mistaking it.
Two halves of one person joined together making a whole, again after a long absence. Very little was said. They just sat side by side not touching but for each pair of eyes touching the heart of the other. Unspoken communication. Then once again they were on another planet. Alone. Together. United.
An hour later the door of Mr. Perlmutter's office was opened and Hannah exited through the door first, then followed by Talbot, who then turned to shake Mr. Perlmutter's hand and thank him for his help. Hannah ignored all of that. She had her hand covered with a delicate lace glove and that was over her mouth trying to hide the expression of disbelief for the second time that day. She had to sit down in the same chair that she was in before the meeting commenced.
Talbot took the seat beside her just as before.
Mr. Perlmutter stood at his office door with one hand on the handle of the door ready to close it but was frozen in that spot just staring at that couple that just left his inner office. All he could think of was, 'Look at that love.' He could tell by the way that they interacted that they were completely in love with each other and on their own planet. With sheer and utter sadness, head bent low, he slowly closed the door to his office in silence.
One man's gain is another man's loss.
Talbot sat beside Hannah and they both turned to the other and just stared, mouths gapping open slightly in confusion and disbelief with reference to the information disseminated at the meeting.
