Her

“Hey stranger”. She said as she walked towards the table. Late, as usual. One of the many quirks of hers he adored. He pushed his chair back and met her before she reached the chair. With a kiss on the cheek and a deep hug, he couldn’t but help notice the ever sweet smell of her skin. He took a deep breath and savoured it. She smelled amazing. He pulled the chair she was to sit on out from under the table and guided her into it, tucking her in as gentlemen do. He quickly returned to his seat and sat down before her. As one would sit before a queen, that was the way in which he saw her. She was his queen. Her beauty beyond comprehension. “What?” She asked, having noticed him staring. “Can’t a guy look?” He retorted. They laughed and he reached across the table and took her hands in his. They were minuscule in comparison but they seemed to fit perfectly. He looked down at her hands for a minute, in simple silence. Just admiring every aspect about her. The small knuckles, her well maintained finger nails. Her pail complexion. Everything about her seemed right. 

The waiter came to their table to take their orders. Both ordered cappuccinos. They sat in silence. Just looking at each other, like forlorn lovers. She was beautiful. He stared her deep in the eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes he had ever had the pleasure of making eye contact with. They drew him in. The eyes are the window to the soul and he sat across from her soul searching. His stare was intense and she broke the gaze, shyly looking at the table. “You’re beautiful.” He said simply. She didn’t reply him, but he could see a smile spread across her face and her cheeks turn red. This in turn made him smile and she looked up at him again. Once more he was mesmerized by her eyes. They say in silence yet again, absorbed in the mere presence of being together, neither of them having noticed their beverages now sat in front of them. He winked at her and she laughed. How her laugh echoed throughout his whole body, making him feel warm even though they sat outside the cafe on a cold, windy day. It was a small coffee shop. Not many people around. The odd old couple here and there, the computer nerd sitting and abusing the free wifi, and them. She looked down at her coffee and opened a sachet of sugar. Caught up in his thoughts his gaze drifted to the surroundings. He noticed the breeze blowing gently through the trees, seemingly the act of intimacy of nature before them. The sun hidden behind clouds, much like when she would shy away from his gaze. Strangely enough all he could see was her and the beauty of the nature around him. It was as though they were in a bubble. Just the two of them.   

He watched her as she poured her sugar. How gracefully she did it all. It seemed like art almost. He took in her looks. From her curly hair, glistening (perhaps only in the eye of his mind) to her nimble hands dispensing sugar. He sat, taken aback at her beauty and just watched her. Her eyes wandered up againand met his gaze. The grey skies made their unique colour all the more fascinating and he found himself smiling. They didn’t need to talk. They were comfortable in their silence. She smiled back at him and took a sip from her cup. He had forgotten his while sitting in admiration at the muse before him. He simply sat there. Admiring her beauty and comparing it to the beauty of nature around them. The gracefulness of the trees blowing in the wind. The shyness of the sun. The light touch of her hand, similar to that of the gentle breeze. She was one with nature. She was beauty defined.

~ Alex Hickey