Sandals

↟Vivaan↡

As we met each day, we grew closer. I found myself thinking about Meera all the time. At work, I imagined her soft hair brushing my cheek, and remembered how warm she felt as she threw her arms around me that day in the café. No flowers could smell as fresh as this beautiful girl; no sunset could take my breath away as the look of adoration in her eyes.

If Meera wore her heart on her sleeve, so to speak, I held my own heart closely guarded. I wanted to open up more, but every time I started to take a step closer to that decision, I would think of the oceans I wanted to cross and the reasons why I wanted to escape. Freedom tempted me as much as the sweet girl in the café.

One evening, we met in the café. This time Meera arrived before I did and she turned around, flashing those deep dimples in her cheeks as soon as she saw me.

'Hi, partner,' Kabir called out a greeting as I walked in. By now the café knew his plans and it was no secret that he would be opening his own coffee shop.

'Hello, Kabir,' I greeted. 'Meera. How are you both today?'

As they responded, suddenly the press of customers became too much. Kabir turned to start preparing my coffee, but I stopped him.

'Another time, my friend,' I said. I saw the confusion in Meera's eyes as I broke away from our customary ritual.

I put some money on the counter for Meera's cappuccino and held out my hand to her in invitation.

'Are we going somewhere?' she asked. 'I don't understand.'

'Five days of rain, and it has finally stopped,' I said, gesturing to the windows. 'Let's go for a walk.'

Grinning, Meera stood up and gathered her coat and bag. 'That is a wonderful idea,' she said, excitement in her voice.

'The park is so close,' Kabir said helpfully. 'The benches will probably still be wet, but it would be a wonderful time for a walk.'

I looked at Meera. 'What do you think?' She nodded.

Kabir quickly poured the rest of Meera's cappuccino in a paper cup and snapped a lid on it. He handed me a steaming paper cup of my own. 'Enjoy, kids,' he said with sparkling eyes.

We stepped out into the air, clean and fresh-smelling. It was warm and a little humid. Meera had her long hair pulled back in a ponytail and I noticed the tendrils around her face curling softly in the humidity.

We turned and began walking in the direction of the park, careful to give way to the rushing pedestrians as we took a much more leisurely pace.

'Tell me about your day,' I invited, threading my fingers in hers. She looked surprised at the gesture, but didn't comment.

'It wasn't too bad,' she began. 'My boss is on vacation and even though I have more work, it is a relief that he is gone for a while.'

I chuckled. 'Does he make your life rough?' I asked.

Meera shrugged her shoulders. 'I don't think he means to be difficult,' she began. 'But he has a way of making everything seem like an emergency. Even the simplest tasks appear to be a crisis.'

'I've worked with people like that,' I responded. 'It does make your days longer when there seems to be a problem everywhere you look.'

'Imagine how miserable those people truly are on the inside,' she said. 'They must have ulcers from all the stress. Life is too short to worry about everything!'

We walked in silence, finally coming to the park. We waited for the lights to change to cross the street, and then darted across the busy roadway before the lights turned again.

At the edge of the park, Meera stopped suddenly. 'What's wrong?' I asked.

She looked down at her feet, and lifted a stylish high heel in explanation. 'I'm not exactly dressed for a walk,' she explained.

I slapped a hand to my forehead. 'Sorry, I didn't even think about that.'

She shook her head, dismissing my concerns. 'It's quite all right,' she said. 'I just need to make some adjustments.'

She reached out her hand, clamping it tightly on my arm, and reached to pull a sandal off. 'You're taking your sandals off?' I laughed.

She grinned and nodded. 'Can you hold it for a moment?'

I took the sandal and held out my arm while she teetered on her bare foot, pulling the other one off. Then, she placed both sandals in her large shoulder bag.

'Better?' I asked, amused.

She nodded firmly and we began walking again. I couldn't help it; she was even shorter than before and I gave in to the need to throw my arm around her shoulder. In response, she snuggled closer tome as she padded along on the sidewalk.

We walked through the park, enjoyed the evening as we chatted about some of our favourite childhood memories. I loved making her laugh; the sweet sound filled my soul with such happiness, I couldn't imagine how I had navigated through my days before I met her.

When we left the park and returned to the street, Meera pulled her sandals out of her bag and tried to slip her feet back into them. While she was balancing on her first sandal, she wobbled directly into me.

'I'm sorry,' she laughed as I caught her, holding her firmly until she was steady in her sandals once more.

'It's quite all right,' I responded, still holding her tightly. I didn't want to let go.

Meera looked up at me expectantly as I reached out and twirled one of the curls near her face around my finger. 'I've been waiting to do that,' I admitted, my voice deep with emotions.

'You have?' she asked, her eyes locking with mine.

I couldn't talk any more. I brushed her soft cheek with my hand, running my finger over one of her precious dimples before I leaned down and kissed her.