An Ending
He sat quietly, twirling his teaspoon in the coffee cup. The spoon clanged rhythmically against the white porcelain sides of the cup.It was raining outside.
He stared at the colorful reflections of the pedestrians caught in the water rivulets running down the coffee club windows. A smudged red figure scurried past, with a yellow umbrella.
She took a short sip out of her cup, her lips only fleetingly kissing the cup rim, and set it down on the saucer with a gentle "ching".
She's just waiting for me to speak, he thought. Silently, he cursed himself for getting himself into this predicament. They had been friends for so long, they had almost fallen in love, they had been through thick and thin, but he had never felt so uncomfortable with her before.
"You... know what I want to say..." He tried weakly.
"Nope I don't. Say what you have to say." She interjected.
"What do you mean, you don't know? You're just...!" He said panickedly, stopping when he noticed the corners of her mouth tilting up ever so slightly. She knew. With her deep wisdom, cleverness, and her eye that sees the future, she was just was just waiting for him. For him to come to this decision on his own. Even though she had already seen it, and what lies beyond.
He suddenly felt shame wash over him. He had been hoping that she would give him a hint of what he would do, what he would decide. Push the responsibility of the decision to the 'him' in the future.
"We just thought we should let you know." He said, his resolve hardening. "We'd decided to go out after all."
"I see."
"Please give us your blessings."
"Just that?"
His new found resolve melted away like candlewax in a fire. Was that a hint? Would he ask her ? Was he going to? He admitted that he was very curious. They were so different. The circumstances in which they met were so strange. He wanted to know... and yet he did not want to know...
"Don't dwell so much on the future, when you have the luxury of the now."
It was also a rainy day, many years ago when she said that, in her low voice. The bitterness in her voice weighed down on his heart even now. That was the first and last time she ever said something like that, and it was also the first time he realized just how much of a burden her ability was to her. He noticed she always loved to see others struggle towards their goal, not out of sadistic pleasure, but because its something she admired from the very bottom of her heart.
He wondered why this incident had suddenly popped up in his mind. But he had come to a decision.
"Don't tell me where this would lead. I want to struggle through this on my own, fight every battle I have to fight, and try my best to keep her close to me. I don't want... to know the ending, be it good or bad."
"If we have your assurance that it will all work out fine, we wouldn't work through our arguments and take each other for granted. If we know it would never work out in the end, we wouldn't even try to understand each other, and blame its failure all on fate."
"I believe in us. I want to try my best, and see where this road will take me."
She smiled. "Well~ Its a noble decision. With such a strong conviction and spirit, I'm sure the two of you would be able to overcome anything that fate throws in your way. I wish you good luck."
"Thank you."
"You should leave now. The East road would be flooded by the rain soon, and traffic would get congested. Any later and you'll be late for your date."
"Oh! Oh! Thanks!" Picking up his jacket, he pushed the chair seat awkwardly under the table, and made a mad dash to the door. He froze in thought as he was passing the counter. "Oh yes, and..." shoving a note into the cashier's hand, he muttered a quick instruction, and turned to leave.
Looking out the window, she saw his blue-coated figure waving at an orange cab. As it pulled to a stop, he turned, and oddly enough, she could see very clearly, through the kaleidoscopic image in the window and the web of water running down the pane, him mouthing the words "Thank you" and smiling.
As the cab pulled away, she took one last sip from the cup. "I just couldn't help giving him a hint." she laughed to herself, as she set the cup down. "I'm just really bad at keeping happy endings to myself."
posted by Chrome @ 1:24 AM
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