She sat alone on a park bench, a warm box of Chinese takeout in one hand, a pair of wooden chopsticks in the other. She ate absently. Her mind was on other things - like, the parking ticket she’d gotten earlier that day, how her boss had harped on her for nearly an hour about an upcoming deadline, and…
And there he was.
She had seen him around Central Park a few times, walking his dog. He was alone now, which seemed slightly odd to her. He was beautiful. Dark hair, dark eyes, a simple yet stunning smile. They had nodded hellos to one another before, but she hadn’t really talked to him.
Her chopsticks scraped the bottom of the cardboard container. She hadn’t even noticed that all her food was gone. She didn’t feel full.
And he was about to pass her by, again.
A deep breath. A beat.
“Hello.”
She had said it loud enough that he glanced backward to see if he was the one being greeted, and when his eyes met hers, her heart leapt into her throat.
“Hi there.”
She stood up. She wasn’t sure what was sending the impulses to move her limbs, because it surely wasn’t her brain.
“Would you mind if I walked with you?”
He smiled. “No, I wouldn’t mind some company.” A pause. “I’m Miles.” He extended his hand.
She returned the gesture. “I’m Jamie.”
It was a perfect night in the city.
(243 words, Ben Folds - Lullabye)
4 comments:
I found this absolutely lovely, very Hollywood meet-cute. I liked the little details about how her food was gone but she didn't feel full. I could see your poetic background in the sentence fragments, but they were realistic, thought-like, instead of choppy. There's a weird line in the dialogue, though, when Miles introduces himself. I thought someone else was speaking. Maybe keep it all in one paragraph?
The final line is FTW, though. Yay for your poetry.
P.S. Excellent song choice. Very indie-film meet-cute.
Thanks doll, fixed the paragraph-ing mishap. Old habits die hard.
Very nice. I liked the meeting. I know how she felt; saying hello just loud enough to be heard, but he could ignore it if he wanted. The slight hesitance to be noticed. Nicely done Chaos.
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