Midnight lovestory

Ice creams and angels

Benji might just've met an angel on the beach while waiting in line at an ice cream stand; an angel with a beautiful laughter and an even more beautiful smile.

Ice creams and angels

I'm standing in line, just minding my own business on facebook next to my sister and my best friend, when my ears fill with the sweetest, most angelic music I've ever heard. My eyes search the many heads standing in front of me, jumping from person to person, seeking out the source of such a noticeable sound. The melody's gone before I get the chance to locate it but my eyes frantically keep jumping from head to head, desperate to find the right origin. 'One more time.. Come on, just one more time', I think and maybe the gods and goddesses take pity on me because just as my eyes scan over three men far ahead of me in the line, the tallest of the three turns his side to me, probably to look at his friends beside him, throws his head back and everything just zooms in on him; his bared throat with a bobbing Adam's apple, his tightly closed eyes with smile-wrinkles as clear evidence to how much he must've smiled through his life, his wild black hair that's slowly greying at the sides, his wide open mouth that just sings to the world, sings about how great life is. And I feel my own lips stretch in a ghost of a smile on their own accord as I get wrapped, no *enfolded* in the most beautiful, contagious, heartfelt and intoxicating laughter, I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My whole body warms as the sound playfully dances over my skin, awaking goosebumps on its way and leaving me to feel like that sound alone could protect me from all the sorrows in the world. 'Why aren't people looking at him? He's just.. He's so outstanding like he asks to be looked at, asks to be admired. Even his height; he's half a head taller than everybody else – he's made to stand out in this grey, boring world!'. I basically drown in the sight so much that I don't even realize the angel feels my eyes on him and he turns slightly, just enough to look for the owner of the eyes on him. He quickly finds me, I'm taller than most too, and my stalker-like smile should creep him out or at least disgust him just like I really should look away, pretend I didn't just get caught staring at him; but his eyes shine even brighter than his smile and I get lured into the bright depths, unable to break eye contact and somehow his smile transforms friendlier, more intimate, acknowledging and inviting. 'I could just look at him all day'. "What's got you smiling like some pervert, Benji?" my sister asks, making my eyes drop to her and breaking the spell completely. She's a tiny woman so there's no way she'd actually be able to see him and for some reason, that thought warms my heart to the core. "Huh? No, nothing. Just.. um, just a guy laughing at something", I say dismissingly, uncaringly but it's quite obvious by the smile she's suddenly wearing that she isn't going to let it slide that easily. "Oh?! He's hot?" she says and once again tries to look around and over people in front of her but to no vain, much to my shameful happiness. "No.. Well, handsome, I'd rather say.." I trail off silently but quickly add, "And older," because I know for a fact that Bianca doesn't like older men, contrary me completely. I make eye contact with my best friend over Bianca's head and she's smiling her knowing yet understanding smile; Lauren knows just as much as I do that I only added the last bit of information to make her back off. I quickly drop my eyes back down to my sister and guilt fills me at once when I see her slumped shoulders, 'Don't get me wrong, I love Bianca, I really do! But she's the picture-perfect woman; petite, beautiful, fit. And frankly, I quite often stand in her shadow'. I glance back toward the man but feel my heart drop instead, 'Oh. Well, at least I don't have to feel that guilty then..' I think as my shoulders hunch, 'No point in searching for him, he's long gone in the sea of people by now'.

We only wait ten more minutes before it's our turn and we're soon on our way down to the beach, now with an ice cream in hand. "It's a great weather for an ice cream!" Bianca exclaims as she's walking with her shoes in one hand and an ice cream in the other, "And it just makes it so much better that the ice creams were free!" Lauren sighs happily like those 26 kr. (a/n about 3£ and 3.5€) would've made her go bankrupt. "Well.. I honestly don't understand why they had to hand out free ice creams today, of all days. Why not tomorrow when I have no plan of coming?" I, of course, argue as the ever non-social person I am. "C'est la vie. Go find yourself some shadow to sit in.. We all know how cranky you get when you stay in the sun for too long", Bianca shouts as she starts running toward the ocean, carelessly throwing her shoes in the air. "I hate to say it but she's right; you do get unbearable to be around when you stay in the sun for too long", Lauren says as she caresses my upper arm. "Yeah yeah, I know. I'll go find some "shadow" to hide in.." I answer, already feeling a little cranky but Lauren just chuckles in amusement, "Who knows, babe.. you might just find Mr. Laughter.." she shrugs and leaves the same way Bianca left. "That evil.. clever best friend of mine.. Of course she'd notice.." I mumble to myself as I turn and walk back to the coolness of the banks. I quickly find a nice spot with a little slope to lie on so I'm able to watch Lauren and Bianca but still stay in the shadows. I watch them jump around in the shallow water, enjoying the sun, the water and each other's company and I suddenly get hit by a feeling of being a third-wheel. "'Go hide in a shadow' she said.. like it isn't enough I'm constantly hidden in your shadow; ever since we're kids, I've been standing in your perfect shadow", I grumble sourly with my bare feet planted deep in the soft, warm yet cooling sand and my hand mindlessly rolling a shell between two fingers, ice cream long gone in this heat. "You shouldn't belittle yourself like that, I'm sure that's not true", a deep, silky voice dances around me, daring me to find its owner. "What on Earth..?" I mumble and look around but there's no one in near sight, "Who-", I begin but am cut off by a person falling from the sky and gracefully landing right in front of me, "Holy Guacamole!" I exclaim loudly with my fight-or-flight-instinct about to kick in – until the person rises from the ground and everything around him lights up and leave me blinded by all the lighting. "An angel", I breathe out in disbelieve but my mouth soon falls agape and my eyes widen when the same soothing and all-consuming laughter fills my ears once again. "I've been called many things in my life but never an angel! And with such believe to booth!" the deep, happy voice says before it erupts in another laughing fit, head thrown back and hands clotting at the stomach. I flush bright red, feeling utterly embarrassed, and I stutter incoherently, "I'm sor-I couldn't-I didn't-", "It's alright it's alright!" he interrupts with laughter and pure warmth evident in his voice, "It's really no big deal! I shouldn't have jumped you, pun intended, like that", he smiles brightly as he squats in front of me. I'm finally able to see his handsome face again and I feel myself drowning in his bright eyes yet again, "W-where did you even come from?" I ask and look up into the sky, pretending my voice didn't just crack. "From the bank above you.. I didn't fall from the sky, I'm sorry to disappoint you", he says with a playful smile and I feel my lips stretch into a smile of my own, 'His smile is so incredibly contagious'. Silence falls between us and his smile loses the playful glint and turns into a pure, heart-melting smile instead. "I'm Gabriel by the way", he breaks the silence and a chuckle escapes my lips, making Gabriel momentarily raise an eyebrow in confusion before realization dawns in his scarily-beautiful eyes, "Ah! I see", he says with another heart-melting smile, 'I think I'm falling in love with his smile'. "It's nice to meet you, Gabriel the non-angel with an angelic name. I'm Benji", I joke with a little victorious smile and it actually looks like, just for a brief moment, that Gabriel's taken aback until he smiles a soft smile and says, "Yeah alright, I'll give you that one, Benji with a name as beautiful as his smile". A chuckle erupts deep in my throat but gets cut short instantly when his words fully register in my brain and my mind goes blank complete. I just stare at him for awhile, his smile never falling or even wavering a tiny bit, and I'm sure, I'm damn sure, I just heard him wrong. "I'm sorry, what?" I ask and I must look like an utter idiot with my mouth open and a blank expression in my eyes but instead of answering, Gabriel just keeps smiling and looking at me with those bright, expressive eyes. And for every second that ticks by, his smile turns more and more uncomfortably welcoming and I find myself unable to not get dragged into the view before me. "It's not nice to stare, Benji", Gabriel says softly after a heartbeat or five of his smile ever prominent and my eyes fixed on it so I quickly drop my eyes to my feet still buried in the sand between us, "I'm so sorry-", "I didn't say to stop it, I just said it's not nice.." he interrupts with a strong but at the same time soft voice and I look back up through my eyelashes, "..I love how mesmerized you get by my smile.. Somehow, it gives me this incredible satisfied feeling in the pit of my stomach". By the time he's finished, my eyes are right back on him; wide with disbelieve and a slight hint of hope that he actually might just like me a little. He plants his left hand in the sand beside him to support his weight and slowly leans forward to rest his knees in the sand, a knee on either side of my feet, and not once do his eyes leave my face nor does his smile ever leave his lips. "You know.. When I caught you smiling at me before when we're stood in line, I was instantly enchanted by the way you stood out and lit up in the sea of people surrounding you. And I know for a fact I wasn't the only one noticing you – I saw both men and women glancing at you.. And I'm sure whoever you're talking about before knows it too and to prevent that she ends up as the one hidden in *your* shadow, she has to 'out-shine' you.." he chuckles softly and if it wasn't because I'm totally and utterly stunned right now, I'd melt right here where I'm sat, "..She knows you're a natural star, Benji, but she also knows you'd never push your way out of her shadow; you too kind-hearted". I'm sure my expression's even more blank than it was before but internally, I'm freaking out, 'How in the *world* does he know all that?!'. "H-How-", I begin but am once again interrupted, "They say the eyes are a mirror of the soul and reflect everything hidden within them.. I've never believed that phrase before but the second I looked into your eyes, all your emotions, feelings, secrets were suddenly on display- no, not on display.. they were.." he says more for himself than to me while he search the sand around my feet, like the right answer or word is hidden right before my feet, "..I know! They weren't on display; it's like they're reaching out for someone to see, someone to really *see* and help carry the burdens that're weighting down". In some way, it's calming rather than scaring me and I find myself light up in the biggest smile I've worn in months, maybe even years. Gabriel's eyes, if possible, light up even more like he's just won a million, like the best thing in the world just happened to him. "When I heard your laughter the first time.. I thought that 'that person could end all darkness in the world, if he really wanted'. I don't know why just hearing your laughter made me believe that but I felt at ease with the thought alone", I end with lightly flushed cheeks but I don't even think Gabriel notices that; he's just looking at me with a bright smile and eyes shining with curiosity, intrigue and bliss. He grabs me by my calves, without realizing I'm guessing, but his touches are feather-light like I'm breakable but I barely notice myself, I'm too absorbed in his eyes, his smile, his whole persona, "You ever heard of Aristophanes' theory of Eros?" he whispers but I slowly shake my head so he goes on, "Aristophanes believed that all humans were created in pairs.. but as a punishment, the Gods spilt them in twos so now humans have to spend their entire lives looking for their other half.." he trails off and looks at me with an intensity in his eyes that speed up my heartbeat. "Gabriel! We're leaving!" someone shouts somewhere in the banks and I feel my smile falter though neither Gabriel nor I break eye contact as the voice rings out. I inhale to say goodbye but Gabriel beats me to it, "I want to meet you again. I-I want to ask you out on a date.. is that alright?" he asks, suddenly shy. 'Shyness suits him very much', I think as I chuckle and answer, my smile back to the size it was before, "Yeah, I'd like that very much, actually". Within a second, his shyness is gone and pure happiness is back, "I'd like that too. My number's XXXXXXXX.. You'll be able to remember it?" he asks a slight hint of anxiety. I just chuckle again and nod once, "Yeah, it's an easy number.. I'll remember". "You sure? I mean it - I really, really want to meet you again", he asks and looks uncertain for a second, making my smile shrink to a tiny, earnest smile, "I remember, don't worry". "Come *on*, Gabriel!" the same voice shouts, this time closer, and Gabriel groans, actually groans, before he quickly leans forward and plants a delicate kiss on my hand with the seashell resting on my knee before he leans back and rises to his full height, enfolding him in an angelic light once again. "I'll await your call with much anxiety, Benji the beauty", he says and I squint as the light hits me when I look up at him, "I'll call the second I have my cell, I promise", I answer to the lighting man before me. And with that he's gone, just like that and I'm left to wonder if he's really here.

"What's that about? Was that Mr. Laughter?" Lauren asks not even a minute later with Bianca by her side and I find myself smiling again, 'He was really here!' So I look up at the bank Gabriel came from and I say softly, "I think I'm in love", happiness prominent in my voice. "You *what*?" Bianca shrieks in disbelieve so I say it one more time, the words like velvet rolling off my tongue, "I'm in love with an angel named Gabriel".

March 27th-28th 2017