Going Barefoot In Love

Chapter Three : Silent Talks

The next week went by unpacking and making several trips to various stores to shop for some furniture and daily essentials. I was going to start work in two days.

*the night before my first day of work*

I was so excited to start my new job that I couldn’t sleep, but I didn’t want to show up with dark circles under my eyes on the first day so I forcefully put myself to sleep.

The next day I was ready on time. I was wearing a 3/4th sleeves regular fit navy blue blouse with cream colour trousers.

The rain had reduced to sprinkles by the time I stepped out of my apartment. The auto door swished open letting in the cold breeze.

“Damn that’s cold” I said to myself as I buttoned up my coat and tightened the muffler around my neck. I made my way to the metro station, a ten-minute walk from my apartment. Just as I crossed the street it began to rain bringing the stagnant puddles back to life. People on the sidewalks, some walking and some riding their bikes picked up their pace to find shelter. I on the other hand slowed down. I held out my hand and watched the droplets splatter as they landed on my palm. It felt cold, and weirdly pleasant. With a half-smile on my face I retraced my hand back under the cover of my umbrella and continued walking.

At my workplace I was introduced to all my going to be colleagues of my department. During lunch I was introduced to my seniors. The atmosphere was cordial and relaxed. I was given a cabin with a great view of other tall glass buildings through the huge glass window. My department head said I could have an assistant and that I could start interviewing once I was settled in my new office.

I left work at 8. I was on the subway and I had just transferred trains. I looked at the seats, on one side there was a couple with their young son and on the other side of the seats there was like a really cute guy and he was sitting around midway into the row, but the most coveted of all seats in Paris was available, the seat right next to the handrail so nobody sits next to you. So I sit down after having a great day. I only had a few stops before I got off the subway. So I kind off was watching the couple, both were on their phones and weren't really paying attention. All of a sudden I see a phone slide across to me. It was the cute guy sitting a couple of seats down. So he's moved one seat closer to me now but was not looking at me, and the only thing separating us now was this one seat. My mind flips to the worst case scenarios where either he was a detective trying to tell me there was a time bomb on this train or an insurance agent maybe ( a mere guess looking at his suit ), who would not let me get off this train without persuading me into getting one of his policies. So I look down at the screen and I see that his note's page has pulled up and he has just one line written there that says "It looks like we're in a train filled with phone zombies." That was kind of like a little silent laugh for me and I'm also really  really relieved. I type back saying "Well you don't look like one of the undead." And I slide the phone back to which he starts laughing. For some reason we decide that we're just going to use the phone so we're not talking out loud.

"What's with the suit? You coming back from an interview?"  I typed.

To which he replies, "No I'm actually a superhero in disguise. You caught me."

We went on texting each other for I don’t know how long until all of a sudden I realize I've missed my stop and I had no idea where the train was headed to. I had to get off at the next stop. I write "This is my stop", so he writes one more message that says  "Are you sure?" . The door opens I step out, I turn back and he mouths goodbye and I do the same too and then the train goes down the station.

All the way back to my apartment I was thinking about the guy. I didn’t know his name, never got to hear his voice, I knew absolutely nothing about him. From where I was sitting I could only see his left profile.  He had ash brown hair, a decent hair cut, clean shaved face, nice thick eyebrows and a scar above his left eyebrow and his laugh was so warm and pure, his entire face lit up and his eyes crinkled at the corner. He also had a black mask he was holding in his left hand. I was so engrossed in my thoughts and tripped over something and didn’t even bother to look down and continued walking.

Before going to my apartment I checked my mailbox to see if I had gotten any posts.

I enter the apartment and head straight to the couch. I let out a sigh of relief. It feels so good to be back home. It’s weird how now there’s a place in Paris that makes me feel home. I take out my phone to do some useless scrolling after a very productive day. I have 10 missed calls from my brother in the past two hours, I didn't realize when my phone went on silent. He also sent a text " Call me as soon as you see this message. It's urgent." Okay I never get such urgent texts, especially from my brother, like never. I immediately called him, in the back of my mind hoping nothing bad happened.

"Hello Cal."

"Where on Earth were you Emma? I called you like 10 times."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize my phone was on silent mode. I just came home."

"Okay so there's something really important I need to discuss with you. You free?"

"Yah go ahead."

"I'm going to ask Suzanne to marry me. This weekend."

"Wow... that's great. So what did you call me for? To ask for permission?"

"To see if you could bring your 26 years of existence on this planet to some use. I need you to give me ideas. I am so confused. I don't know how to do it."

"Dad could give you a hundred times better advice than me."

"Please Emma.

"Alright. It doesn't matter where or how you do it. It's the question you're asking that is important and believe me she's going to be happy whether you ask her in a fancy restaurant or in a public restroom. See what I'm trying to say is you people have been in love for a long time, you both have known each other for long. So you of all the people know her the best. What she likes, doesn't like. And of all the things I know about Suzanne, I can tell she won't like it if you go overboard planning it. Just keep it simple. Keep it personal. Maybe you could do it at some place you people like going to frequently, to spend time together or maybe you could do it in our lawn.  Okay?”

"Wow. See you are not that bad at giving advice."

"Well I guess I'm not"

"Thanks for helping"

"I'm so happy for you. You'll be married soon."

"I didn't even ask her yet."

"Obviously she's going to say yes."

"But honestly even I can't believe I'm going to ask her. I love her."

"Yes you do." I laugh.

"Okay now I need to get back to work. It's still 11:30 in the morning here and you can go sleep now."

"Yah the time gap I always forget. Bye. Take care."

"You too. Bye."