hossenfeffah

It was a murky day - which is not to say that it was cloudy, because despite the grey sky that covered the entire horizon, a bright haze marked where the sun showed though. It illuminated just enough light to cast a vague, undefined shadow that cautiously followed him as he crossed the relatively quiet street. Not that he was even fully aware of his lurking stalker; his mind was intent on other matters. Even the slight, chill breeze that occasionally raked his black hair only managed an instinctual shiver. A brick fence forced him to unwittingly alter his destination. His shadow melted into the larger shadow of his final destination. He subconsciously adjusted his brand-new rectangular glasses, which supposedly complimented his high cheekbones and roundish face, or so he was told. He brushed aside a few strands of hair so his brown eyes could observe what he suspected to be true: "Sunday: CLOSED." Well darn.

A short game of phone-tag ensured that she knew this, and was still on her way. He hoped she was okay. He hoped he was okay. Be strong. For her. For you. He repeated this to himself several more times as he waited in his sleek, silver, door-ding-infested car. A couple of Spanish-speaking men passed him, oblivious to his existence, and made for the Mexican restaurant that he was parked out in front of. Be strong. For her. For you.

The black Civic came from the opposite direction that he was parked. She finally noticed him as she passed his car and pulled into a parking spot near the cafe. He started up the Tiburon - the shark - and used its superior turn radius to quickly pull up in the spot beside her. He cautiously exited his car, his murky shadow once again on his tail. He looked her direction... her chin-length hair was what could only be described a frazzled, her large, deep brown eyes covered by excessively garish, yet strangely attractive orange sunglasses. But it wasn't enough to hide the fact that they were swollen, nor did it hide the runny makeup. His heart reached out to her, wanting to take away the pain. He settled for an awkward hug instead.

They grabbed a quick drink at the gas station next door, and opted to sit in the black, wire-framed chairs outside the cafe. Working within the confines of the security chains that held all the chairs and tables together, they finally managed to position a couple of chairs across from each other. He did his best to put on a comforting smile. She was in pain; the darkness she spoke of earlier was definitely apparent. It started slowly, as most of their conversations had, but it wasn't long until it all started pouring out... her eyes, her words, her heart. Tears flowed down both her cheeks like a steady rain and onto her jacket and pants. He wanted so badly to just reach out and hold her... but he could not. Like the chairs they sat in, he was chained. So he did what he could. He listened. He told her it was okay. He told her he understood what she was going through. He told her she was doing the right thing. He pulled every last encouraging remark that he could out of his bag of encouragement; he applied his logical mind to trying to analyze and help her situation; and most importantly he used his ears to just listen. Just physically being present when she needed someone. He hoped it was enough. Be strong. For her. For you.

An hour passed, and it was time for her to go get ready for work. She was more composed than before, and he was glad. He walked her to her car, and this time the hug wasn't so awkward. His lonely shadow, which had followed him around all day, merged with hers for a brief moment in time.

Later that day, he received this message: "Wow. Thank you. That talk helped more than you know. I feel like a destined dark day has been saved by the help of a friend." He smiled. It was a murky day - which is not to say that it was cloudy, because despite the grey sky that covered the entire horizon, a bright haze marked where the sun showed though.