 |
|
|
|
| |
She
takes a sip from her cafe au lait, gripping the bowl tightly with
both hands. She gulps and feels the foam slowly sliding down her
throat. She lifts the novel in her coffee warmed hands. She mutes
all the sounds that surround her in the cafe, voices speaking of
gallery openings, kisses in the air. She returns to the world of
her book for one last time. As she reads, she barely remembers
to breathe. She lights a cigarette to make sure she remembers to
inhale occasionally. She loves the two characters in love. She
feels she knows them personally. She almost cries when the woman
leaves her lover and moves to America. She soaks up the words,
knowing they will soon end. As if she is eating the last bite of
a divine dessert, she tries to heighten her senses, prolong this
moment. She reaches the final paragraph. The lover visits America
many years later with his wife. He calls his beloved just to hear
her voice. She answers the phone and they exchange a few sweet
words. It is unclear if she is also married. The End. She reads
the last paragraph one more time, wishing that her relationship
with these lovers did not have to end so suddenly, so abruptly.
The End. She closes the book and rests it on the table. She looks
at the book, thinking of the new meaning its cover now holds. Such
a different meaning from the one it had four days ago when she
first picked up the novel from a Barnes and Nobles shelf. She finally
ashes her cigarette, then rests it in the ashtray and sips from
her coffee. All the foam has now turned to milk. She returns to
the scene of the cafe visually. She glances at the chattering crowd
dressed in black. She thinks of the lovers and tries to remember
them as they were when they were together in Sadec.
He watches
her. He tries to make his breathing rhythm identical to hers so he
can feel what she is feeling. He feels he is violating her, spying
on her. She is so consumed in her book. Such innocent prey for his
watching. He notices her long fingers holding a cigarette close to
her mouth. He notices her distinct collarbones exposing their shape
through her ribbed turtleneck. He imagines she must have some royal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
