Forever

Nothing goes away forever

Something is always left behind

Ed Jonson

I’m sorry, he blurted out as he absent-mindedly bumped into the girl walking from the other side of the cafe. They collided and his tea spilled on to her dress. Why don’t you see where you’re going, she yelled, the hot tea scalding her delicate skin from underneath her dress. Her lovely almond eyes sparkled as they looked at him in anger. He kept looking at her… transfixed. Her delicate porcelain skin, those magnetic sparkling eyes and the bouncy wavy auburn hair which covered her beautiful oval face partially. He just couldn’t take his eyes off her. Or the smile off his lips.

That was their first meeting

There were white streaks in her hair which he couldn’t help but notice now. The eyes still twinkled behind the thin rimmed oval frames she now wore. The sparkle hadn’t reduced a bit in all these years. And that smile. It still lit a million suns inside him. He kept staring at her as she played absent-mindedly with her car keys.

Are you nervous being here, he asked, breaking what seemed like a long silence.

Not at all. Surprised actually…with myself, for picking up your call, she said, looking up at him for the first time that evening.

His face had aged considerably over these last 14 years. His once-curly hair had straightened out and thinned a lot. Streaks of white around his sideburns had grown larger in full patches of white all over his head. His contacts had given way to dark thick-rimmed glasses. Crow nests around his eyes could still be seen despite the thick glasses. His penchant for denims and checks however had yet not gone. He still loved wearing them.

I never thought you’d call and that I’d pick up, she said, smiling that smile of hers. He felt a blood-rush all across his face even after all these years. He smiled back silently.

His green tea and her espresso remained untouched. Just like the cheese straws and pastries. They lay still on the table just like time seemed to stand still. It was a precious moment for both of them.

I would have called you earlier. But you were off to Germany and I didn’t have your number. My number hadn’t changed. You could’ve still called. His argument seemed futile even as the words came out of his lips.

After the way we ended I never expected any of us to get in touch with another, she said, picking up a cheese straw from the table, her gaze fixed on it.

I thought you would call once you’d cooled down. If nothing else at least to know the truth. Surely I owed you that much, he almost sounded pleading as he said this.

Forget it. Let’s not…her words were interrupted by the song that played from the jukebox. Of all the places they visited in their college days this cafe was the only pne which still had its original jukebox intact and working. Her eyes sparkled as Ben E King’s Stand By Me played from the vintage box.

It’s our song, her voice sounded like the old days, the excitement evident in her tone. She had half gotten up from her chair spontaneously and she settled down again. Slightly embarrassed at this unabashed show of emotion. His head was down as he silently smiled.

The cafe seemed transported back to a decade and a half ago. To happier times. When complications were absent and love was all around. As the two ex lovers reminisced their lost times, the entire universe around them seemed to move back a couple of steps to give them the space and privacy they needed. There was magic in the air. Again.

You know there’s a saying which says:

Nothing goes away forever

Something is always left behind

He smiled proudly at her as he said this.

Is it by the ‘famous’ Ed Jonson. She laughed loud as she said this.

Oh well yes he replied…slightly embarrassed at her memory. She had not forgotten how he ascribed every quote made by him to ‘Ed Jonson’. He looked at her sheepishly.

You know I always loved his quotes, but I loved him more, she said as she stretched her hands across the table to hold his for the first time that evening. He felt an electric current tingle down his entire body as her hands touched his.

Her phone beeped loudly, making her yank her hand off his almost instinctively. He was surprised by her action but controlled his thoughts and didn’t say anything.

I’m…I’m sorry…she said with a genuine apologetic look which he recognised well enough. That was usually her look when she’d disturb him from his reading or writing back in those days. She put her hands back on his.

I need to go, she finally said. He doesn’t like me being in touch with you after all that happened between us. He made me promise I’d never see you again. But I had to come back this once. I couldn’t tell you this on the phone when you called. Her hands pressed on his as her words came out.

He kept staring at her beautiful face as she spoke. He was hearing what she was saying but perhaps not listening. They were a dead story in any case and maybe this was the one final nail in the coffin. His mind juggled with a million memories of her as their hands remained entwined on the cafe table. He noticed her eyes fill up as she spoke. His own were holding up well enough surprisingly.

She said quite a bit more which he couldn’t hear properly. His mind was clouded as echoes of their memories played louder in his head than the music at the cafe. She got up to leave.

He looked at her, still sitting on the chair. She bent down slightly to give him a final hug. His in return, was an awkward one. He loved the familiarity of her perfume. He took a deep breath as they embraced.

He kept sitting on the chair staring blankly at the untouched espresso and snacks on the table. The jukebox was now playing Cat Steven’s Wild World. He remembered how they always fought over that song. He preferred this version whereas she liked the cover by Mr Big more. His lips broke into a wry smile which contrasted the dampness in his eyes which couldn’t be hidden by those thick-rimmed glasses.

As he was about to get up from his chair he noticed something left on her chair. It looked like a very tiny diary. A pocket sized one. He opened it to find the words “Ed Josnson’s Quotes” written in bold. He kept turning the pages to find each and every one of his “quotes” which he loved using on her. There were dates and time mentioned under every quote.

He kept looking at the tiny diary for God knows how long before he turned around to see if she had indeed gone. All he saw outside was the regular traffic of the city. A stream of endless people going about their daily routine.

He shut the diary and put it in his pocket. He knew there was to be a new entry made in it with the current date and time:

Nothing goes away forever

Something is always left behind

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