The Goodbye Point

“Do you mind if I sit here , ma'am?"
She looked up at him , both startled and a bit annoyed.
“I am sorry but I wasn't really expecting company .”, she replied as politely as possible.
“In that case ,  I shall be so quiet that you would forget that you had any”
She didn't  know  what to say to that.
The sun was just about to go below the line where the twilit sky touched the turquoise sea.
She decided she would simply ignore him for as long as she was there  and got back to sketching.
After a while , she looked up and from the corner of her eyes she could she him.  Sitting there , looking into the horizon , his headphones on. 
He turned to her all of a sudden and smiled .
She had no choice but to return the smile. 
"Awkward much?"
"Na its fine.  I will be leaving in a while anyway", she replied.
"I hope I am not the reason"
" Not really".
"You aren’t really the talking kind , are you?"
"Depends."
"That's a nice Sketch.  Not that I understand sketches much."
"Thank you. What are you listening to?"
"Oh...here"
He handed her the headphones.
She hadnt seen that coming.
She put them on. And he saw her eyes shine for a moment.
"I love these guys! ", she smiled.
"Common denominator. Not a good thing"
She smiled again.
"You come here often?", he asked
"Only when I feel like sketching. Or just avoiding people for a while."
"I discovered this spot only today. Time for you to find a new  island now I guess"
"I don't come here often enough for us to meet again"
"You never know"
"Sorry?"
"Nevermind. Nevermind."
They sat there in silence for  a while longer until it was dark .
In the distance , the city lights outlined the horizon.
"I am not much of a romantic but..want to take a walk by the sea?", he finally broke the silence.
"I should be heading home "
" Should be. But do you want to?"
She kept quiet.
"Let’s go. Come on. If I turn out to be a psycho, people are still close enough for an SOS",  he stood up.
She couldn't see his face much in the dark but she knew he was smiling.
She got up too.
They began walking .
"So ... not the most romantic of questions but what's up?" He asked
She smiled. "Nothing much. How about you?"
"Nothing much . Just having a blast "
"Good for you"
Silence fell again.
But this time , it wasn't the awkward kind.
And they weren’t walking as far apart as a couple of strangers should have.
"You are sad , aren't you?" he asked.
"Just bitter. "
"Spare me the details"
"I will, because then I will have to be polite and listen to yours in return"
"You think I am bitter?"
She looked into his eyes in the dark. ."You aren’t as happy as you seem"
"Bingo. Let's make love now "
"Haha! What ?!"
"Oh well you know. ...two sad strangers..sorry , one bitter the other not so happy... walking by the sea ...they have been liking each other for the ..past 2 hours 25 mins or so...through words and silence..this is the moment we have all been waiting for. "
"Haha...f*** off"
"Oh so she does swear! By the way, does darkness have anything to do with you starting to open up?"
" Maybe. Actually yes. I am glad I can't see you"
"Am I that hideous?"
" Not exactly. But I like it this way"
"So you only talk after dark ?"
"Haha..no! Unless I am with a stranger by the sea"
"You are weirder than I thought you were"
"So this is where you back off"
"Quite the opposite , actually"
They kept walking.
"So you are jobless?" She asked
"For now, yes ma'am. And you are the average  frustrated IT professional who runs away to the sea every now and then , contemplates suicide and then decides that's just as good as  IT  and makes do with sketching instead ?"
" Close enough. Electronics"
"Woah. Nerd. "
"Surprised much?"
"Actually not. I was just trying to sound cooler there"
"Figured. So you do...nothing?"
"Close. I write"
"Haha. Hey  now that's cool. What do you write?"
"I don't really know. .. "
"Not those study guides right?"
"Jesus no. Haha. Do I really look that miserable ? Sorry...do I really  sound  that miserable, since you can't see me anymore?.. I write random stuff you know. .. that mostly doesn’t sell"
"Novels?"
"Well..I guess"
"So you are a humble celeb"
"Totally . And you are on tomorrow's papers"
"I am not going to ask what your name is"
"Interesting. Well  neither am I going to ask what yours is.  This is perfect"
" Totally . So... About the lovemaking bit.."
"Ahh I knew you want it too woman"
"Haha ...nah. Let's not get so predictable.  I am tired of predictable. Or should I say predictability, Mr. writer?"
"Ouch. Please don't call me that.  "
"Oh I am... sorry"
"It’s okay.  But hey you are right.  Predictable sucks. When do you have to be back home btw?"
"In an hour or so"
" If this was my place I would've said "stay the night" "
"No Predictable... remember?"
"Oh yes.  Right ma'am. So what can we do for another hour except for making out"
"And star gazing"
"And taking you to my place"
"Or you to mine"
"Haha…Well just so you know , I am fine  even with silence. Weirdness is contagious I suppose "
"It’s never really silent.  "
"What do you mean?"
"Silence isn't just not talking. At least not to me"
"I see.. so you mean to say even when we aren't talking, we are communicating?"
"Yes. Don't you think so too?"
" You know what , you are probably the weirdest being I have come across so far. "
"And the most boring"
"Not so sure about that"
"Bummer"
"Whats with the defenses anyway?"
" Just saving my back"
"From?"
"Regrets"
"Bitterness "
"Pretty much"
"So the whole lets-not- get- so-predictable act ... was just an act ,eh ? You are just scared"
"You know what?  Maybe I should leave now"
"Woah. Hey..I am sorry. You are kinda right.  I shouldn't be pushing this. "
"What do you really want?"
"You."
She turns to leave.
"Truth be told , Nothing. I want nothing"
She stops.
And turns around.
" Can you please not spoil this?"
"I promise I won't. I wish I could undo the past few minutes"
" We can't . But the rest of the page is still blank "
" did I just talk IT and you just talked writing there?"
"Role reversals, sweet"
They  resumed walking.
"Do you like skygazing much?" She asked.
" It’s nice alright. And I know I am kind of supposed to. .. given my profile. But no.  Not much"
"Try it sometime"
"How about now?"
" I can strike this off the predictable list . In fact I shouldn't have put it on the list in the first place. Lie down"
"What if there are crabs? Or ants"
" Watch me"
She lay down. 
He hesitated for a bit and then did just as her.
"This is actually quite nice. It’s one thing watching it in movies. .."
"And a totally different thing  experiencing it for real "
"I hope you are for real"
" As real as those stars"
" But they aren't really where they seem to be....I think I had read something of that sort somewhere a long time back...which had pretty much hit me "
"Yes . They aren't.  I shall spare you the physics bit."
" Or maybe you shouldn't.  It will keep my mind off  the things I am not allowed to do."
" haha... you sure?"
"Not really. I am kidding. Let's revise our constellations now , shall we?"
They lost themselves in tracing out figures in the sky for what was actually an hour but seemed no longer than a few minutes to them.
"Hey ...."
" Okay. ..here comes the moment", he said.
" Haha. No! I meant it’s been more than an hour now. ..I should be .. leaving now"
"Seriously? And there I was .. thinking the much awaited moment was finally there. But Oh yes..it’s almost 9, says my phone"
"Uh huh"
" So... I know I stand the risk of spoiling it at the last moment but. .. any man in your life?"
She laughed. " You think that's the reason , don't you?"
" No..I mean. ..I don't know. ..I don't really get you"
" Must you?"
" Well I would have liked to.  Mystery is all good but ...not always"
"Haha. No."
" Was that the answer to my question?"
" Yes"
" Great. Could I know your name now?"
" I see where this is going now. What happened to the pact?"
Silence fell.
She finally turned to him. 
" Thank you"
" I wish I could understand you.  I mean , we are both in the same city you know. ..we could meet again tomorrow... and the day after "
" Until The Moment , right?"
" Look this might be too early for this. ..but I actually like you.  Whoever you are. whatever your name is"
" Then don't do this. Things always fall apart past The Moment.  People change past The Moment.  It all wears off past The Moment.  You know what I am doing here? I am not not having The Moment. I am just pushing it off  forever. Sounds preachy, I know. But this is just how it is. "
He seemed to say something but stopped. " This was beautiful. Won't you  walk  me until  the goodbye point?" , she asked softly.
" Yes ma'am", he said with a smile that she could not see...but feel in his voice in the dark.






 

Author's Note

Kindly leave your views :)

Reviews

[Tionnie Hill]

Cute! It really hit the spot, I was in the mood to read something romantic. Great job!

[Amrita Basu]

Thank you Tionnie! Means a lot :)