One rainy night, two strangers and coffee ... Part 5

One rainy night, two strangers and coffee …

o o o Part 5 o o o

After placing her order the mysterious helmet girl turned on her heels once more scanning the room for a free seat her eyes pausing on the empty seat opposite the lonely man she casted her eyes on when she first walked into the coffee house, his sad eyes were watching over her as if searching for an answer. Although the evening skies were relentless in their downpour ... in fact the rain was torrid in its nature, but the number of free seats were more than sufficient, indeed a total of 5 seats were empty and so it was that the mysterious helmet girl decided to take the seat that she desired the greatest in that moment. This seat was the sentimental and delightfully haunting spectacle that troubled and poisoned her slumber for as long as she could remember.

She sauntered with her silent feet towards his table, her eyes were big and innocent and questioning however Asad could not see through the darkness of her helmet, it obscured his view of her angelic face. Each step towards the table was timid muddled with sadness, as she watched over the lonely man at the table ... each step was hesitant, her pace showed signs of nervousness and restraint, each step questioning and mocking her for her concern for such a man. She was beguiled and captivated evermore by his aura although he was sullen there were still hints of his former self within him. 

He looked on at her in awe and mystery trying to comprehend what it was about her that reminded him of the Lonely Girl, as if this were a dream ... reliving the events of the rainy night of last year's monsoon but he focused his mind on the mysterious helmet girl trying his best to see her face through the darkness of her helmet. The door of the coffee house opened once more as a couple charged in shielding themselves from the rain and a ghastly chilly breeze followed them which flowed intensely against his table, the breeze blustering against his skin and also her delicate form, making him remember how the Lonely Girl first walked into the coffee house last year, in a similar attire to the helmet girl as she too sauntered cautiously towards his table akin to the Lonely Girl and the coldness of the breeze enveloped him with nostalgia.

The chair moved and the mysterious helmet girl sat down opposite Asad, her actions baffling Asad but inciting curiosity within him. He wanted to reject this mysterious girl's attention but at the same time he was restless to know whether she was indeed the Lonely Girl.

"I'm sorry, the place is crowded and this is the only seat that gives me the perfect view of the rain so I thought why not. I hope you don't mind or I could go and sit elsewhere if this seat is reserved for another? Are you waiting for someone?" the mysterious helmet girl questioned a dazed Asad, her voice smooth with a hint of nervousness shining through.

Asad looked on in mystery at this mysterious helmet girl, her voice was gentle and it had a familiar sound to it but Asad could not recall where he heard her voice before. It could never be her; he pacified his troubled and pining heart.

"No, I was waiting but I know that they will never come," Asad responded vaguely to the mysterious helmet girl, his sentence short, his voice was sullen, laced with sadness and longing and his eyes looked towards the window, treasuring each drop of rain that drizzled miserably against the windowpanes of the coffee house recalling the Lonely Girl's sad and searching eyes from that rainy night.

His reverie was cut short as a smartly dressed waitress arrived at the table with the mysterious helmet girl's coffee, "Here you go ma'am, a hot and steaming black coffee. Is there anything else I can get for you?" the waitress posed a question to the young mysterious lady.

"No but thank you for asking. However I think that the gentleman opposite me needs a refill. It looks like his hazelnut cafe latte is down to its last quota. In fact bring him another one but this time add an extra shot of espresso and it's my treat," the mysterious girl requested the waitress while Asad looked on baffled by her actions and her choice of beverage, black coffee which was once his favourite now seemed unpleasant ... and her decision for an extra shot of espresso for him baffled him even more. He did not need a massive dose of reality because nothing could be worse than having a reality like his, living without the one his heart desired. Ironically hazelnut cafe latte with an extra shot of espresso was what the Lonely Girl had ordered for herself that rainy night.

He sighed brushing off the interest this mysterious girl paid him, he only cared for the Lonely Girl and he didn't need this stranger to complicate things. He rejected her concern and decided to place the memories of that night, the piece of paper containing Zoya's words and the 2000 rupee note back into his wallet for he did not want this stranger to pry into his personal life. He opened his laptop and decided to concentrate on work until the stranger disappeared but without much luck, the stranger started a conversation.

"I see ... you like hazelnut cafe latte, it's one of my favourites too but lately I've been drinking a lot of black coffee, the bitterness befits my views on life and consoles my aching heart," the mysterious girl in the helmet spoke to Asad, her voice low with despair. Her words stung Asad.

"Iss meherbaani ki wajah jaan sakta hoon? What's with the extra shot of espresso? Thank you for your concern but I can manage on my own" Asad questioned baffled by the mysterious girl's politeness.

But the mysterious helmet girl sat silent for a few seconds before she decided to think of a way to answer his questions. After a pause she took out a piece of paper and a pen from her shoulder bag, and quite oddly it was a pink pen, a pink pen that looked familiar to Asad as it rekindled memories of that rainy night. The mysterious helmet girl began to doodle away to her hearts content while Asad paid utmost heed to her actions; it revived his spirit with memories of the Lonely Girl. He averted his gaze from his laptop screen, his eyes fixed on the mysterious girl and not the emails he had received from various detective agencies, all confirming they could not locate Zoya anywhere.

She pushed the paper towards Asad's side of the table, drumming on the table with her pink pen to get his attention and hopefully to look at the note too. Asad looked up at the mysterious helmet girl opposite him, trying to see if he could make out her face but the tainted glass of her helmet was impenetrable. His heart skipped a beat on seeing the note, it definitely caught his attention. Her writing was messy, the strokes and flicks of the letters had a familiar look to them that his yearning eyes recognised, causing a small and timid smile to appear on his lips. The note was innocent in its format almost cryptic and he didn't know why but it made him smile, albeit reservedly for fate was something he felt was not on his side. However the note also caused him to feel senseless anxiety and a pining unlike the grieving he felt all year, he needed to decipher it and quick.

It read:

Asad took out a pen and hastily began joining the dots to make sense of her note, his eyes could not believe the words that joined together forming a series of a few short sentences that made his heart glow with joy.

It read:

Asad looked up at the mysterious helmet girl opposite him, his eyes now eager to see the face behind the helmet, as his heart throbbed after reading the note she had written. A flicker of hope traced his face in succession and his eyes pooled with tears, threatening to spill. He nodded his head agreeing to her question in desperation as he wanted to hear her story and her sweet voice. He wanted to believe she was really there.

The mysterious helmet girl sighed heavily from behind the helmet and then tentatively and with hesitation removed her helmet.

On seeing her angelic face, Asad slumped back in his seat, astonished by the sight of this rare beauty in front him. His eyes blinked repetitively in order to inspect the girl in front of him for he felt his eyes were deceiving him yet he knew it was real. She was really there. Her brown doe-like eyes were expressive as ever, blue with sadness, innocent, and a spark of longing and desire ran through her deep orbs on seeing his face, searching for answers. Her lips quivered and showed signs of nervousness and uncertainty, and yet her smile was so sweet and genuine that Asad's numb heart kick started in his chest, beating ruthlessly, pounding at his rib cage with reaffirmed desire and a longing for her. He forgot about his sorrows for one moment, he forgot about his laptop in front of him, in fact he couldn't care about work right now and it was as though they were suspended in time but the world around them stirred and continued moving.

She lifted her hands motioning him not to speak a word, as she pushed a paper in his direction. The words on the paper echoed of memories of that rainy night.

It read:

"Uddas hoon ... 

Pareshaan hoon ... 

Aur Naraaz hoon ... 

And it's all because of you.  

Your words stirred in my slumber every night since I met you, it was your cute manners and gentleness on that rainy night that has brought me back here and after everything that has happened I really should not be here ... but I am here because I needed some answers.

I need you to listen to me and not say one word until I finish, please nod your head if you agree to this," Zoya posed her question to Asad, hoping he was ready to listen to her. 

Asad smiled on seeing the smileys on the paper, smileys that echoed of the distinctive and bittersweet interaction between them last year. He tentatively gave her a hesitant complying smile, urging her to narrate her story to him. She sighed heavily, closing her eyes for strength because she feared how he might react to what she was about to say. She didn't know what compelled her to meet him but she was restless and her heart was heavy and somewhere in the depths of her heart there was the smallest bit of hope and faith that maybe, just maybe her fairy-tale might have a happy ending after all.

She pulled her hair backwards and looked up to meet Asad's gaze across the table trying to gauge his reaction on seeing her here, after a year, on the anniversary of their first meeting. She hoped she did not appear creepy, she was not stalking him, but one thing she was sure of was that he wasn't scared and he looked happy although his eyes were sad but there was a fire in his eyes; and she wanted to drown in his intense brown eyes. She cleared her throat and began her narration.

o o o o

 "Last year ... I remember it was raining ... I was soaked and this was the nearest coffee house where I could dry off, and warm myself with a hot coffee and just sit and think things through. I was having a rough day.  But then I met a man that night, he was very formal at first, very shy because he only communicated using a piece of paper and a pen.  I found this mannerism of his utterly cute that I was compelled to answer all of his questions and I have to say he made me feel very happy that night. 

He had a smile that made my world light up so brightly. And then I parted ... I had to leave. But I left a part of me behind that night, here ... with him. Mr Coffee Man," Zoya sniffled before continuing.

"I spent most of last year thinking about him. And I still think of him. Maybe not as much as I should do ... because I found out he was the same man I was supposed to meet the day after ... but back then I didn't know that and I never met the guy I was supposed to marry ... well " he " didn't want to meet me anyway. 

And " he "   certainly didn't think of me but I wished that at least the man I met here, in the coffee house on that rainy night, Mr Coffee Man did ...  I hope that Coffee Man thought of me as I have been doing all this time as the seasons passed ...

Somehow Coffee Man seemed like a different person to the one I was supposed to meet, yet the irony is that they are one and the same. And I found that out when I came across    " his " photo in one  of my Jeeju's old files that I was clearing out. Of course I smiled at first ... my first thought was that my Jeeju knew Coffee Man but much to my dismay my Jeeju cleared that confusion for me and told me it was the man I was supposed to marry... "Zoya sighed before continuing.

"How ironic. On one side there is a man that I met and came to like ... a lot. He was sincere. And on the other side there was " him " ... someone who thinks people are dispensable, that I was nothing but just another frivolous life not worth his heartbeat.

But still my heart isn't at rest ... I thought I could put everything behind me but I could not forget the insolence " he " had caused and this came from the man that I came to like as Mr Coffee Man. I wanted to move on but there are those days when the air is still and beads of sweat form above my upper lip in fear of never seeing him again. The atmosphere becomes saturated with humidity and a longing and the bright sun becomes covered shyly with clouds, clouds which deny me the right to feel, for Coffee Man, here in my heart.

Like they say the calm before the storm ... that is how I feel when I remember him. He ... as the man I was supposed to meet - he was the storm that wreaked havoc in my world  and as the Coffee Man, he was like the soothing rain that I so love, providing me all the solace and comfort I could ever want in the world. He soothed the burning in my heart, soul and mind with his gentle words. 

When I think of Coffee Man, I think of the rain, and then I feel like everything in the world could never be wrong. And when I think of " him " everything just seems wrong. There are times that I felt life would be better for the both of us if I never met Coffee Man and he could go back to whatever he was doing before I came along and complicated my existence and possibly his too.

I remember how he smiled, how white his teeth were ... how we first met and that first meeting was our last meeting, our parting. It was the shortest I had ever known someone but in that short time I fell in love with him ... and those few hours felt like a lifetime

I know ... ironic, he was the same man I was running from that night, and my fate brought me to him ... in this very coffee house. 

As I grew to love Mr Coffee Man more and more ... we already grew further and further apart. I realised I'm not waiting for my Prince Charming; I'm waiting for someone who thinks I'm his Princess.

I never knew my life was about to change, drastically ... forever. I didn't see him coming into my life that night although my instincts warned me beforehand ... the very first time I met him that fateful night, amidst the storm of the monsoon.

I think part of me knew when I first saw Mr Coffee Man that this would happen, that I would fall in love with his brooding nature, he was mysterious and cute. He didn't say much or do much but I had a crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach which screamed from inside telling me that I was never going to feel this way again for anyone.

The thing is I don't really know if he likes me or if he has ever liked me, I know he didn't like me before that first meeting as " him " but I could hope that just maybe ... he too felt the same way as I did that night after our coffee encounter. That somewhere deep in my heart there is this flicker of hope that Mr Coffee Man feels the same way about me too.

All I know is that I liked the man I was supposed to marry when I first decided that I could make a relationship with him work but it wasn't until that night I actually ... truly, deeply and devotionally fell in love with him, as Coffee Man, and that is when I first met both of them and all in one person.

And every night at 1am since then I miss him, he crosses my mind stirring my sleep, and in my dreams ... and my stomach gets tied all in knots but I kept hushing my heart to sleep, saying that eventually I would forget him but I couldn't. And it is not just a 1am thing, I miss him every second of the day. I miss you so much and I can't even find a logical explanation for that.

I spent months disputing with my own thoughts and reasoning with my heart, arguing reasons for forgetting you.  I often questioned if I was ever right for you because I couldn't see how this misfit would ever fit into your perfect life. 

I was a burden that you already did not want to carry. You were rude, unkind, and dismissive to my feelings as " him " but I recalled asking God that rainy night when I met Coffee Man ... that I wish my reluctant " him " would find his match. Sadly it was me who had found my perfect match in both of them and I came to understand the both sides of him, one that longed for love but rejected it with his insolence and one that showed tenderness without any fear.

So Lonely Girl flew over with a heart full of love and hope that I might just find Mr Coffee Man ... here where we first met. Looks like God answered my prayers ... at least partly but yet I don't know if I did the right thing" Zoya narrated her story to Asad, her voice gentle and calm yet she quivered with nervousness, anxious of his assessment of her being there.

  

                                                        o o o o o o

Asad was already in a state of astonishment at the words Lonely Girl narrated about their first meeting and her feelings, his heart pounded mercilessly in his chest, his breathing was heavy and shallow, and the yearlong yearning to see her was now fulfilled yet somewhat incomplete.

She was really there, his eyes were jubilant and ecstatic on seeing her face, hearing her sweet voice once more and seeing her innocent smile even though she had a few tears welling up in her affectionate eyes. Yet one question remained unanswered inside the smooth honey of her eyes. And so Mr Coffee Man decided that he would do what he does best and that was pen his feelings for her because he had yet to find a voice that would be appropriate to express these to her.

He took out a pen from his pocket and turned the paper on which she had her join-the-dots sentences and began scribbling away, taking intervals to look at her beautiful face, thinking of a way to lighten her mood and take some of her pain away.

He pushed the paper towards the Lonely Girl's side of the table, drumming on the table with his pen for old times' sake, smiling tentatively savouring the familiarity of the atmosphere between them.

She looked at him and saw his beautiful face, the face that she had come to love so dearly, she felt warm on seeing his enchanting smile spreading across his face, the smile that she longed to see for over a year. His smile was magnetic more than before, that she forgot the soreness that resided in her heart, waiting for his response and reaction. Was he ready to accept her as his Princess?

She gave him a vague smile and began reading the note. Asad had scribbled one too many smileys across the paper, each more emotional and tender than the first as she read them, each sentence tugging at her heart strings.

It read:

Zoya giggled at his cute note, as her unshed tears glistened in her eyes under the luminosity of the fluorescent lights that decked the intricate and bespoke interiors of the Daily Grind Coffee House. Asad looked at Zoya, his eyes soft and his heart mellow on seeing the glistening of the unshed tears waiting to spill from her beautiful eyes, smitten by her sweet giggle that had a hint of innocence and a trace of mischief laced through it. Her giggle was melodious and bewitching as it enveloped Asad with its warming jingle.

Asad reached into his pockets and took out the note from that rainy night and showed it to Zoya, his fingers trailed on the part where she had penned her feelings about the man she was supposed to meet, the words where she wrote how she wished that someday he would find what he was looking for. The Lonely Girl scanned her eyes over the paper and read it aloud, her voice soft laced with love and sincerity ... "But I wish that he gets what he is looking for, that all his dreams come true and hopefully one day his perfect match will enter his life and make him the happiest man in the world." 

She looked up to meet Asad's affectionate gaze, his eyes were soft and affectionate, his smile was captivating and complete, that she wanted to drown in his eyes and perish on his lips in that instant.

"You're right God answered your prayer as He did mines, and I can't tell you how happy I am, words cannot express how I feel. So I wrote a poem for you," Asad finally spoke in a husky low whisper, saturated with longing and love, his words audible only for her ears.

"...  and it goes something like this, please don't laugh at my poem because I am not as good as you at writing poems," Asad quickly scribbled his poem on a piece of paper and pushed it to her side, chewing on his bottom lip in apprehension, a sparkle of desire flickered in his eyes.

It read:

"Last night I wanted to write a poem  

But all I could write was ... n   ss!w  

... and it didn't make sense until I read it upside down" Asad smiled at Zoya who giggled at his poem. Could he be any cuter, she thought inwardly.

Asad pulled out the 2000 rupee note from his pocket on which he had written something. She could not believe he hung on to it all this time. She raised her tender eyes to meet his, his eyes lingered and held her gaze affectionately, and he held her hands clutching them tenderly, his fingers traced the softness of her hands, her delicate fingers were a work of art, each touch was soft and delicate as his hands explored her hands timidly, igniting a passion in her heart, making her blush as he placed the 2000 rupee note into her hands. 

She looked at him baffled by his weirdness once more, she hadn't expected someone as formal and business minded as him to pull such an action. This time he was definitely flirting, and she was sure of it and it wasn't creepy but whatever it was she could not help but smile inwardly at his earnest and his devotion towards her, that he held onto the 2000 rupee note and that piece of paper all this time. She felt a flame of passion coursed through her in response to his gentle touch. His touch was innocent yet extremely passionate, it was like the rain she so loved the feel of against her smooth skin, comforting and full of love.

She looked at the 2000 rupee note and saw he had written something on it with such finesse and so she tentatively clutched the note in her hand, while delving into the depths of his smoky and affectionate eyes savouring in the glow his gesture incited within her. A sense of belonging flooded her heart, mind and soul.

"It has always been yours and I couldn't let anyone take it away from you and by that I mean both the 2000 rupee note and my heart. Please turn it over Zoya, please ... you'll find the answers to your questions," Asad requested Zoya to have look at the words he had written on the note.

She tentatively turned the 2000 rupee note over, she was afraid it might not be what she wanted to read but his elegant writing took her by surprise for what she found were the following words:

"I am sorry ... I really am ... ... please ... ... Say YES ... to forever with me?"

o o o o o o

In that moment of sheer bliss, Mr Coffee Man and Asad felt as one functioning unit, as he recalled the yearlong yearning of wanting to see her, to be with her. He felt the throbbing of his pain as Asad who had loss the woman that kindled love in his mundane heart and he felt the happiness of the Coffee Man recalling the sweet memories of that rainy night, simultaneously.

He looked to the rain outside and smiled sincerely, as he felt the rain now provided him some sort of pleasure and comfort maybe not to the extent that she felt when she saw the rain but he was thankful to the drops of water that forever fell from the skies, and today he felt that the dreary clouds had finally cleared and in that clearing he found the voice and the words he needed to declare his love to her and to express the mass of emotions she incited in him with all that she was, ... pure beauty, innocence and his perfect match, his soulmate and his Princess.

"I know ... it's a little premature ... me asking you to marry me ... but ... I didn't expect to connect with you the way that I did that night. For me relationships were a waste of time and love was a treacherous feeling. But that night things changed ... my heart started to beat to a rhythm I had never felt before and ever since then I feel connected to you ... the Lonely Girl of the most beautiful night of my life. 

I couldn't forget you, and truth be told I'm never going to forget you. And I don't want to even try because that would be pointless ... because for that I would have to rip a part of my heart and my soul away from myself ... that would be the death of me ...

I remember your sweet and gentle voice when you requested for coffee that night after I alerted the waitress, I remember your answers to my questions on that piece of paper and the smile on your face. I cherish the time I've spent here with you, and I'm grateful ... I have no words to voice my sincerity to you.

I remember reading a quote someplace which says that ... You must give up a life you have planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you. Well I thought I knew what that quote meant, but I understood it for its true meaning when I met you. I planned all that I wanted in life but I could not stop my heart from falling for you. My plans failed there and I'm grateful that they did, otherwise my life would have been unbearable. 

Yes ... I Love You Zoya, the Lonely Girl of my dreams and I know it probably sounds crazy but Mr Coffee Man has just the one request ... Say YES to forever with me?" Asad questioned Zoya, his voice confident.

Zoya held her breath; shock was a word that could not be used to describe what she felt. This was her fairy tale moment and she felt as if she was suspended in time, she did not stir until the words registered in her mind, and the words provided solace and enveloped her with infinite love. She raised her tearful eyes tentatively as though this might have been a dream, a rare dream from which she didn't want to wake up. She pinched her hands to check if everything was real, her pinching action made Asad giggle at her innocence.

"Well Zoya, please don't leave me hanging here, your fairy tale is waiting and I may not be the Prince Charming you were expecting but I want you to be my Princess," Asad teased his words broken in anticipation for her answer.

Zoya looked at Asad with a half lidded stare before she grasped his hands  and entwined her fingers between his, raising her eyes to meet his lingering gaze, and she replied in a loving whisper, "Yes."

Asad smiled through his tears as he watched his Lonely Girl in awe, he felt complete. His mother was right; Zoya was the right girl for him. He felt his heart racing, soaring in his chest akin to the relentless and charitable rain. She disturbed every molecule within his ascetic core. Unlike the unstirred and pristine nature of his life he spent years planning, building and nurturing with a robust disposition, his ascetic core no longer withstood the beautiful storm that Zoya was and is; his walls were broken down that fateful rainy night of last year's monsoon when the Lonely Girl enchanted him with her uniqueness. 

He wanted to be spoiled by her. She wreaked havoc on his heart. She stirred the very fibres that strung together to hold his austere core together. She broke the shackles that once guarded the walls of his hesitant and caged heart. She wounded his heart, his mind, his soul and his body marking him in all her hues, her love and she was the sole comforter who had the authority, the capacity and the power to heal his heart, mind, body and soul ... so much like the rain, he thought.

"Ahem, Mr Coffee Man, since you've agreed to marry me, I have a few conditions that my Prince Charming has to fulfil," Zoya interrupted his reverie, her eyes although numb from the tears were glistening with joy and her smile was breath-taking. 

"And what might those conditions be, my Lonely Girl?" Asad questioned, ecstatic at how she referred to him as her Prince Charming.

"Well ... you know I love the rain right? So ... you have to promise to hug me and dance with me in the rain ... now and ... every time it rains ... for the rest of your life. Boliye naa, manzoor hai?" Zoya questioned suppressing her smile on seeing him cringe at the mention of rain.

Asad smiled back at her question, his eyes lingered on her passionately as he freed his hands from hers and got up from his seat, his actions were smooth and delicate as he walked over to her seat. He lowered himself to the ground and knelt before her, and for him this was a first because he had never bowed before anyone but for the woman who had captivated his heart, kneeling was not much of a problem, anything for her he thought.

He lifted his right hand towards her right hand, entangling his right hand with hers, as if two pieces of one puzzle were combined. He took the union of their hands and placed it on his chest from where his erratic heart pulsated against her hand. He delved into the perfect contours of her affectionate eyes and said: "Every whole has two halves, and we are whole, we are one. I didn't get to this  one ' this  whole ' all alone Zoya because you're the half that made this whole," Asad whispered with his husky and affectionate voice, lingering his gaze over her tearful eyes.

"Rain ... I know you love the rain, much to my dismay but for you I will endure just about anything and everything as long as you're with me, nothing can ever be wrong. What rain is for you, you are for me ... heavenly ... so what are we waiting for," Asad smiled as he requested Zoya for their first dance and their first hug in the beautiful rains of this year's monsoon.

And so Mr Coffee Man and the Lonely Girl walked out of the Daily Grind Coffee House hand in hand, smiling as their eyes exchanged sweet musings of their love, to savour their first dance ... their first hug in the beautiful rains of this year's monsoon. This year's monsoon definitely had taken on a different hue, a hue drenched in love and devotion as the beautiful drops of rain enveloped them as they stood in the rain, in a fulfilling embrace listening to the peaceful music the rain played for them ... enveloping them with love on the completion of their dreams. Asad lowered his face resting his lips over Zoya's lip completing their joining with a solemn and a tender kiss under the rain.

Asad's heart pounded in his chest as if it was not big enough to contain all the joy that it held. He opened his eyes as he kissed Zoya, not in a creepy way of course. Her brown eyes stared back into his, and in her eyes he could see no parting from her as he had found his love. They closed their eyes as the kiss deepened; smiling through their first kiss under the heavenly showers of the rain, both admiring each other's flawless features in awe. 

How could he be so brutally manly and angelic at the same time, puzzled Zoya. This man had it in him to pull at her heart strings, fasten and slow her heartbeat at the same time and with his kiss he completed her childhood dream of kissing her Prince Charming under the beautiful showers of the melodious rain. Her skin blazed on his touch. Her dream was now a revived reality and one which was strong as ever. 

They relished in the memory of that one rainy night and coffee, memories that brought sadness and delight at the same time and they promised each other to make new memories. They decided to fulfil their dreams as they travelled home to tell their loved ones of their union.

The date was set for their wedding although it took hours to explain their decision to marry each other following the dismal attempt their family had planned for them last year, and while they asserted their love, their loved ones all stood baffled by the entire story; however their revelation was a comfort and a joy to all. 

The Lonely Girl realised that maybe, in real life, her Prince Charming may not be perfect and she was just as flawed as he was and Mr Coffee Man realised that love was not a treacherous feeling, it was the feeling that made everything it touched worth his heartbeat. Zoya was worth his heartbeat.

Love is stronger than anything in the world and Asad and Zoya had the kind of love that only dreams were made of. 

There are so many places we visit on a daily basis, these places become a part of our routine without us ever realising how significant their role becomes in our destinies. Something as ordinary as a bookshop or a coffee house could be the beginning to an extraordinary lifelong relationship for some fortunate few and so it was that the Daily Grind Coffee House became that special place that blessed the Coffee Man and the Lonely Girl with love they both craved for, and it was through this medium that both met their perfect match under the intricate and fluorescent roof of the coffee house. It presented them with the first step in their long journey of love and life as ONE. Asad was the happiest man in the world for had it not been for Zoya that day, had she not taken the first step, her first step towards him, his life would not have been as beautiful as it is now. And in the great words of Martin Luther King: Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

o o o  The End  o o o

© Fatima B Lunat 2013

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