Carpe Diem (Eng)

Carpe Diem

I'm sitting on a bench in a park, surounded by trees. There are oaks and a few weeping willows. The morning sun shines on me, warming me up. I'm waiting with a smile on my face, staring at my feet scared to see the hands of my watch ticking by to fast. Nothing is destracting me from my thoughts. She should be here soon.

It's been so long since we last saw each other. I've counted every month, week, day, hour even. I've missed her so much.

Last time we met seemed so long ago. If I didn't have an image of her, I would had almost forgotten her beautiful face. The sound of footsteps interrupts the silence. I look up and see an angel.

"Mark!"

She runs towards me, my heart explodes and I get up to hold her in my arms. Her long brown hair flies around her head like a halo. She's like a magical creature. It's hard to believe how beautiful she is, and she stays with me. An ugly boy.

"Aï ! I missed you so much." I say. 

"I missed you too. You've changed so much since last time." She replies hinting to something.

"I've matured, but you haven't changed a bit."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not!" She says laughing then kisses me with passion. 

Hand in hand we start to walk down a path made of dirt and gravel. She makes me speak which is not something I do often.

We talk about everything and nothing. I am usually so shy and not very talkative. I ask her if she still lives in her apartment. A hight building, that's like a New-york shyscraper in the middle of Paris, even throw we are in Tokyo. Obviously she didn't move, her work didn't alow her to. She works on a till in a little shop and she earns so little that she has to do extra hours.

She deserves so much more, she's such a beautiful and intellegent person. To avoid thinking of that she changes the subject and asks me about my digital programme. I tell her I'm in the middle of testing it.

"Super!" She replies "Does it work right?"

"Not bad at the moment."

We have already done three, four laps of the park when she decides we should go eat. It's already lunch time, I didn't see the time flying by. She says she will buy us lunch, she want's to suprise me and I have to wait here. With a radiating smile she persuades me to let her do it. She abandones me for ten minutes then returns with two plastic bags in her hands. 

She hands me the plastic bag that was in her left hand. I can smell her sweet perfum as she sits down next to me. I open the bag delicately and discover a portion of chicken tikka masala in a plastic box with rice. I look at her with wide eyes, shocked, while she gets out her tandoori chicken masala.

"Where did you find this?" I ask her. "And so fast."

"I checked where I could get some before meeting you. That's why I was late. Do you like it?"

"Of course, it's my favorite and you know it."

She smiles at me, showing of her pearly white teeth and starts her curry. 

She always suprises me.

After the wonderful lunch, she suggests we go shopping. It's not really my thing, but she loves it and I feel like I have to thank her for what she has given me today: a wonderful time and a delicious meal. 

"Ok, where would you like to go ?" I ask.

I didn't doubt she wanted clothes. The walk to the shopping center took us about a 15 minutes. It was 3 pm when we entered the first shop. She looks at some clothes for a couple of minutes asking for my opinion. She stops when she sees a black T-shirt with loads of different colored circles scattered all over it. She goes into the dressing room and appears a couple of minutes later wearing the T-shirt. 

"So?" She asks.

"You look lovely."

And it's true, she looks wonderful. As usual.

"You don't think it makes me look fat?" She says with a little pout.

"No, not at all."

"I'll get you the same one in mens, so we match."

"If you like, but I'll pay."

"Thank you Marc, you're so nice." she replies.

She kisses me before going to get my soon-to-be T-shirt.

She knows very well I'll never wear it. I don't wear that sort of stuff.
I prefer everything in one colour, with a simple cut.

That's another difference that makes me think our love is strange. I like being discreet with my clothes and my habits, Aï only wears colourful clothes and stands out. But she isn't the type of girl who wants to stand out, it's just her style. We are so different, her and I, and we are head over heels for each other despite the fact that we don't get to see each over often.

After a few more clothes shops, she points to a little stall.

"Do you want to go look?" she asks

The shop is full with electrical gear and odd bits and pieces. I do need a few more things for my programme.

I know she's saying this to make me happy because if I don't like clothes shopping, then Aï hates computer shops. They remind her of bad memories.

"Yes I need some more hard drives for my programme. It's using more than I thought."

I enter the shop and hurry to get everything I need, while Aï waits for me.

As I pay quickly I see a poster behind the till: "the 25th of September at 10 pm, join us to see the fabulous fireworks organised by the association of twinning of the town in honneur of ..."

That's tonight.

Quick, I find Aï and tell her about the fireworks show.

The day goes by quickly. I invite her to a pizza restaurant, then at about 10 pm I take her to the spot with the best vue to see the show. At the top of a hill in a different park from the one we were in this morning. Not far from the center of town, where I always admire the fireworks.

Aï takes my hand and kisses me deply just before the show starts. While the sky is alluminated, I look at her face: her eyes are wide open, giving the impression she's taking in the most she can of the world. She's radiant.

Sudenly she turns her head to me, offering me a massive smile, happy after a day full of fun. She opens her mouth to say something but I can't hear her.

She stops moving, and everything around me starts spinning. I close my eyes, then open them. In front of me there is a white immaculate ceilling.
Trembling with anger, I sit down on my bed and take off my vertual reality head set.

The programme has gone wrong again...