Don't change.

A true story.

It was over the course of months,
months and months of shy smiles,
hiding behind hands and various other items.
It was a coffee shop,
no, it was a café, a proper café.
One that seemed to spring up,
overnight.
She was sent, he thought, to him,
though, he didn't know why.
But, every week, on a wednesday,
or a tuesday, there he'd be.
Waiting for her, she was a barista,
she served him coffee,
she had an italian name -
that he went to great lengths to find out.
Eventually, by sneaking a look at the staff rota,
and guessing right.

Every tuesday or wednesday, he'd be there,
with a book, a pen, the coffee she made (and only the ones she made)
and a red packet of cigarettes, lit with a blue lighter.
They always noticed each other,
through the glass windows, as he walked in,
over other people's coffee cups, as she walked by.

A shy smile, a laugh, a couple of words...
But never more than a couple.

It was always the same,
like a routine, every week,
the same coffee, the same girl,
the same boy, the same cigarettes,
the same book, the same pen,
the same lighter, the same smile,
the same laugh, the same words.

It was like they were stuck in a loop,
one that didn't end, but they were happy.

It did end, though, one day.

She looked over to him, something was different,
he lit his cigarette, the same cigarette,
with matches this time.
Just... One match, from a little black matchbook.
"ZERO-SEVEN"
Was printed on it,
the match heads were pink.
She was puzzled, curiously so.

She walked over to him and smiled,
pretending that everything was the same.
He smiled too, knowing they weren't.
"How come you're using matches?
Where's your old blue lighter?
Did it finally run out of gas?"
She asked, with a polite laugh.

He shook his head.
"I left it at home,
because today's a different day."

She frowned slightly and tilted her head to one side,
her beautiful, short dark hair shivered a little,
he'd never seen that before.
Her olive skin wrinkled up a little,
at the corner of her mouth.

"What's so different about today?"
she asked, not hiding her curiousity.

He smiled a sad, lonely smile.
"Today is the day I tell you a secret."

She blinked in surprise,
anxious surprise.
She almost knew what he was going to say.

The girl with the olive skin,
she sat down beside him.
She took his hand, his long fingered hand,
the one she always imagined holding a pen,
or a cigarette
and she waited for him.

The sad, lonely smile remained,
because somehow he knew.
He squeezed her hand gently.
"Today is the day I tell you
that I love you."

She smiled a slow smile.
"I love you too."

He came back the next day,
he stood at the counter,
a girl with freckles and ginger hair smiled at him.
"She's gone."
She said, with a sympathetic smile.

"I know."
He said.

Don't change. by =SorrowBurn

Please No Javascript="LitBox.out(this)" Please No Javascript="LitBox.hover(this)" class="lit" href="http://sorrowburn.deviantart.com/art/Don-t-change-90468491" Please No Javascript="Station.push(Tree.get(Tree.ancestor(this, 'div.collect-bubble'), '.drag-notice'), 'opacity', {from: 1, to: 0, f: Interpolators.sineCurve, time:300}, {from: 0, to: 1, f: Interpolators.sineCurve, time:300});return false"> It was over the course of months,  months and months of shy smiles,  hiding behind hands and various other items.  It was a coffee shop,  no, it was a café, a proper café.  One that seemed to spring up,  overnight.  She was sent, he thought, to him,  though, he didn't know why.  But, every week, on a wednesday,  or a tuesday, there he'd be.  Waiting for her, she was a barista,  she served him coffee,  she had an italian name -  that he went to great lengths to find out.  Eventually, by sneaking a look at the staff rota,  and guessing right.   

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Reviews

[Lady Sothis]

Oh man, this poem is so gorgeous! I love how soft you make the poetry itself, so that it almost seems to float about you. The story itself is wonderfully sweet, with a twinge of sadness to it that's just perfectly enough. You do have a few repeated words in spots ("a girl with freckles and ginger hair smiled at him" and then a line later " . . . She said with a sympathetic smile.") But those really only struck out to me on the second reading.

The whole poem is absolutely gorgeous though. Fantastic job!

[Belinda Rice]

this was a great peice oz I am glad you took the time to share this with me ....for two people to know one another as they were every day and then change it just cause he wanted to tell her that he loved her that was the sweetest thing ever....I told you before I'll tell you again your writing is geting better and better the more I read them wondrefuly penned...

[Allusyen]

*grins* Zero-Seven" matchbook eh?
I Absolutely love this Ozz, I love the imagery, the... god.. the everything, really. It just works, so perfectly.
I'd say this was easily one of my favourite pieces of yours.