STRANGERS

A boy meets a girl, smoking.

She stood there, on the sidewalk. The traffic speeding past her where all you could see was blurs of light in the dark. She held on to the last breath before letting it out, the white stick between her two fingers. The air glistened with grey smoke. She flicked the embers onto the street and they fell like burning jewels. This would be her last. She would quit after this for sure. But nothing felt more than sucking in the burnt tobacco into her lungs, especially when it had been a long and stressful day. It was like drinking helped ease the pain, cigarettes calmed stress.

He watched her. She was by a lamppost, smoking. He had never liked girls who smoked but she was different. There was something about her. The mix of her perfume and the greyish fog looming over him released a scent that was almost delightful, almost enchanting. He tried to not inhale too much of the toxic fumes but it was almost addicting. Immediately he was in love. And like a drug passing over him, it him instantly. He had to know her name. She was only a block away from him. She looked so beautiful standing there. A black coat and those delicate fingers holding the burning stick. She kept sucking on it and exhaling, as if it were the item that was keeping her life in place. It was unpleasant, but pleasant. He couldn’t stop watching. Her red hair blew in the breeze as she took another puff. He couldn’t stop himself. Instinctively, he was already walking towards her. What would he say? How would she notice him? Before the thoughts could be processed, the words slipped out of his mouth.

            “Excuse me, but I believe I’ve misplaced my glasses.”

            The girl giggled as she took another puff, like swigging alcohol, and pointed to his face.

            She had deep brown eyes and a smile that was kind but held secrets, like the cigarette. She didn’t find his pick up line to be distasteful, but unique and funny, being that she had never heard it before. He looked down at the sidewalk, embarrassed, and wiped his black rimmed glasses on his shirt. They were small rimmed and not exactly “face art” as some of the more bulky rimmed ones tried to portray.

            “I couldn’t help notice that you were alone, and looked lonely.”

            The girl sighed.

            Did this mean that she was bored of him?

            “It’s been a long day,” was what she said and brought the cigarette to her lips again.

            “I’m Matt by the way.”

            “Julia.”

            They shook hands like old friends. She threw her cigarette into the passing traffic, it was too blunt anyway. Being beside her, mesmerized him. She leaned into him and kissed him straight on the lips. It was quick but passionate. He tried not to stumble from the suddenness of it.

            “Wow,” was what he mustered.

            “It felt like the right moment,” she said.

            Soon they were embracing and kissing, a tangle of arms, lips, and tongues. The traffic passing and the pedestrians walking by knew that these two loved each other and had been together for a while. But only they knew the truth.