You’ll know

There is a sensation that overwhelms you the first time you lock eyes and you share a conversation. You know. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds – minutes top – but the feeling arrives. Or it doesn’t. You know.

With every person you meet, you can tell from the start if the continuation will be good, or at least worth pursuing. Be it out of simple curiosity, you might give it a chance. But the intuition is real and often it is much more aware of the situation you’re in than you yourself. If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

Be it with friends you’ve grown out of sync with, or with potential flirts that have nothing more to offer than a few interesting initial conversations, your psychosomatic signs will make you understand when it’s time to move on and find others who might be more of an intellectual stimulation as well as a pleasant company.

As we mature, as we make our way through life, we acknowledge that there’s always much more to living than simply scraping the surface. You quickly tire of people who cannot hold an intriguing or interesting conversation with depth that has nothing to do with gossip or daily routines, but rather something genuinely attention-grabbing: things you read, or simply thoughts you catch as they fleet instantaneously from your mind and may be interesting to share. From the slightest silliness to the most bizarre thing you heard, anything out of the ordinary can actually be a measure of how much there is to discuss with anyone after all has been said and done.

We tend to seek more out of the people around us. Because if we ourselves are active and in constant search of a higher level in everything we do, we want to surround ourselves with like-minded, goal-oriented, perceptive people. We help each other grow, evolve, be better. That’s how (healthy) relationships work.

We encounter so many people in our lives. Some for a while, others come and go, and few remain. But each time, if you think back to that first happenstance, you feel it. You sort of know how important or not they’ll be.

There are people whom you keep forever and hope to hold on to. Because that feeling is mutual.

But there is an even stronger emotional bond to those who entered your life, disappeared for a while, but searched their way back in. It’s as if there is an invisible thread uniting your lives and drawing you back together wherever you’ve been. It’s those people you feel most comfortable with. It’s people like that we need but rarely find. Who ignite that special feeling. And you just know.

Advertisement

Lucky disorientation

© Jan Marler Morrill

There is a reason she was told not to go out alone, even during daylight. She had no sense of orientation whatsoever, setting out for the beach and somehow reaching the mountains.

On that idyllic island, she realised what her horoscope had described as “luck or fate”.

On that white and blue deserted back alley is where she found him. Standing like a Greek statue under the scorching sun. As if he was waiting there for her to arrive. His eyes shimmering in the sun. She smiled, accentuating her dimples, and she could see him blush.

Her name was Aphrodite.

 

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

To love or pretend to live

You watch a movie and almost always it has a happy ending. Especially if it is a romantic comedy (rom-com), or like my brother likes to say, a “chick-flick”. But it does leave you with a fluffy feeling inside. One that brings a smile to your face, for no real reason. However, it makes you think: does this really happen?

How likely is it to find your soul-mate, the person you will spend the rest of your life with, in such a short time and live happily ever after with him/her? How feasible is something like that?

But who doesn’t want to fall in love? To feel the butterflies flutter inside your stomach at just the thought of this one person. To blush simply by their kiss, or their mention of your name in public?

Marcy always dreamed she would fall in love with an amazing guy. One who would sweep her off her feet, and make her foot pop up when he kissed her. She spent hours watching rom-coms, hoping that one day this would happen to her. With all the adventures, humor and romance they all encompassed. And she spent most of her life hoping. Because although she did date, they all, at one time or other, turned out to be jerks, who simply wanted to pass their time, who did not treat her right, or who just left.

But Marcy never lost hope. After all, she had her rom-coms for comfort.

One day, or night rather, she had gone out with her best friend. They decided to visit a new bar in town and have a drink to vent out their problems and concerns with each other. Marcy insisted she would buy the first round. As she turned around from the bar, two drinks in hand, she literally fell onto a person whose eyes seemed to light up the entire room. “I’m so sorry she said,” looking to see if she had spilled anything on what appeared to be an expensive shirt and designer jeans. “Not a problem at all,” he replied as they locked eyes and Marcy remained speechless. “I’m Shane,” he said, extending a hand. Marcy smiled nervously and lifted up the glasses she was holding in each hand. They both laughed. She already knew him. No, really. Shane was an actor. And a renowned one for that matter. He was a bit of a heartthrob and Marcy could now see exactly why. It was not just his looks. He had a certain charm about him. Something mesmerizing. “I have to go,” she said, “my friend is waiting”. He nodded, and as she moved, she heard him calling out “I’ll buy the next round”. She smiled and reached her friend clearly flustered. She recounted the whole story with her friend trying to control her excitement. By the time Marcy finished telling her tale, Shane and a friend of his were already asking if they could join the two girls. To the latter, it was an offer they simply could not refuse.

It did not take long for Shane to win over Marcy, head over heels. She was in love with him and the very idea of being in love. He courted and sought her and that made her feel special. He sent flowers for no apparent reason, showed up in surprise visits and prepared romantic outings. Everything a girl would want, according to Marcy.

But despite the dream she was living, Marcy could not shake off one thing that was spinning in the corner of her mind – he was an actor, how could she be sure he was not acting with her? She always fantasized herself dating one of those handsome young men who held the lead roles in the rom-coms she so loved. But she never actually considered the practicalities of dating one. Because now, how could she really know when he actually stopped acting and was speaking the truth?

One day she told him about her preoccupation. He smiled and told her that the only thing that could reassure her was what she truly felt by what he said and did, and the way he treated her. “The answer is found here,” he said pointing to her heart, “not here” in her head. Marcy immersed herself in Shane’s arms where she felt safe.

But even after years passed and they were still together, she could never shake off that feeling. How can you truly trust a person who pretends for a living? In the end, she thought, she too had learnt to pretend, because it was the only way to survive in a world where nothing appears to be ideal, or even remotely close to that.

Surprisingly weaved together

Harry would enter the ATM branch on the corner of the street with the best bagel-shop in the entire city center every Wednesday around midday. Silvie knew that. She had been watching him for the past couple of months. But he was not aware of it.

Silvie worked as a security guard and was responsible for monitoring all action in the ATM room from the cameras situated at every corner of it. There was rarely something suspicious going on, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. The last time something out of the ordinary occurred in that specific branch, the security guard had stepped out for a quick smoke and missed the masked man entering and dropping a smoke bomb which mystified the cameras and allowed him to blow up an ATM and run out with the cash. It took three weeks for the police to find him. And the security guard was re-assigned to another post. He still cannot forgive himself for the incident and like everyone is very thankful no-one got hurt. He now quit smoking.

Silvie, however, was much more diligent. And she didn’t smoke. On Wednesdays she would not even get up from her seat until Harry would appear. Of course she did not know his name. She didn’t know anything about him. Simple that he was elegant and charming and always came in wearing a freshly pressed suit. One time he looked up at the camera while he was waiting for an ATM to become available and Silvie blushed.

Her colleagues made fun of her. They even encouraged her to go ask him out herself. But she was more traditional. She preferred to charm him and get him to want to ask her out. So she persevered and continued to admire him through a screen.

One Wednesday though, Harry stood staring at the camera. He was looking straight at it and Silvie felt that he was looking right at her. She felt the need to fix her hair and began to feel on edge. What happened? Harry kept staring. He completed his weekly ATM ritual and before leaving the room, he once again looked back at the camera.

Silvie was baffled but simply forgot about the incident.

To Silvie’s surprise, however, just a few hours later Harry appeared right outside her glass door. Silvie almost fell off her chair and had to rub her eyes and even pinch herself to make sure she was still awake. She opened the door with a trembling hand.

“Hi, I’m Harry Woodstaff,” he said, extending a hand. Silvie shook it and in her bedazzlement managed to utter “Silvie Goldtie”.

She couldn’t help but stare into his chestnut eyes. He smiled. She blushed. She offered a drink. He politely refused. She was disappointed. She thought that would have done the trick to keep him there a bit longer.

He began to tell her that he goes to that specific ATM every Wednesday (Silvie was about to shout “I know!” but managed to suppress it). Harry continued that today as for the past two weeks he has noticed something strange about the camera that is facing the door. Silvie was alarmed. This could raise an alert. She jumped to her desk and took out a notepad and pen ready to record any irregular sign witnessed.

“You see,” said Harry, “it’s been there for quite a while now, and I didn’t pay any attention at first, but now it’s been growing and it’s actually hard to miss.”

Silvie’s eyes opened wide and her heart began to beat faster. Did someone plant something in there on purpose?

“It’s this gigantic spider,” said Harry in all naturalness. “I am not really afraid of them, but it is strange this one is there and to be honest it is a bit unnerving, so if someone could come clean it out, it would be great.”

Silvie smiled, noted down “spider” and reassured him that it would be taken care of. “Don’t worry,” she said, “it will be gone by next week when you return to the ATM”. Harry looked at her and smiled. She was either a really good and attentive listener, or a stalker. Either way though, her smile had won him over, and as he turned to leave, he said “would you like to go out for a coffee sometime?” Silvie was ecstatic. Mission accomplished. And to think she didn’t even like spiders.