Jerry and Lisa
When weary eyes cry
pouring tears like rain,
the trees dance in the wind,
nature’s way of balancing pain.
The sky finished shedding its last tears, and the rain finally stopped pouring down.
The patrons have long gone from the Molten Cafe Shop, making the place feel like a deserted island. Only Lisa and Jerry still remained, as the nightfall is pacing to arrive.
A minute before Jerry sat down uninvited at her table, Lisa was searching on her Smartphone, trying to find anything for a distraction. While mascara was running over her red soft face, and she looked up, her hazel brown eyes locked on a tall handsome man, in a moment when she only wanted nothing but silence and being left alone. Yet, she didn’t mind Jerry pulling a chair and sitting down with his own accord.
Her coffee was still steaming hot like lava.
“I am sorry to bother you, but you don’t sound okay,” Jerry says, handing her a napkin.
She takes the napkin and blows her nose; and feels a bit embarrassed, but doesn’t answer him, yet only nods.
He smiles and says, “It’s okay; whatever it is, I am sure we’ve all been there, one way or another.”
She nods again and gives him a faint smile, a bit drawn into his persistence.
He then begins his wild goose chases of inquiring about why Lisa is still crying. He tells her that she lost a cat she loves. She shakes her head (but her smile creeps on her face). He went on and on, to a point he almost gave up and walked away. Finally, he says, “ You spilled coffee on your feet.“
As if he cracked opened a Pandora box, she bursts out laughing. She feels a bit better. Her eyes now more focused on him.
“You see, that wasn’t that bad after all. Was it?” as he gets fully situated, like her smile was a missing key to open a black box in his heart.
She agrees, nodding her head and wiping off her tears.
He notices a philosophy book on the table. A while later, he says, “I don’t know why we are here, but I’m pretty sure it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.”
She frowns, retracting her vibrant glows, surprised by the complete shift of his conversation.
After seeing her sudden shock and dark reaction, he says, ”Ludwig Wittgenstein,” the Austrian-British philosopher said that. “I bet he’d be mentioned in this book you’re reading,” Jerry says, pointing to the large book on the table. A vast collection of notable philosophical quotes you must know.
She laughs out loud again. She grins happily, getting warmer. She seems interested in him more.
He says, ”What, did you think I was hitting on you? “
She smiles with a bit shameful tease. And, she says, “No, I was just surprised, because the compass suddenly changed 360 degrees, that’s all.”
They discuss everything under the sun, fighting and arguing over ideas and philosophy, politics, music,current issues. While she focuses on his sweet talks, she forgets about her problems completely, and her tears are dry like Sahara Desert.
“I think my job is really done here. I hope for at least a time being, I made you forget your problem.” He smirks with confidence.
She smiles at his smugness and is more relaxed now. She sees what he was trying to do, and she appreciated it.
Jerry looks at his Apple Watch and says, ”Oh shoot, I should’ve been to my office a long time ago!”
Lisa feels bad and very surprised.
“What? did you have to go to work?” She is a bit worried about his job.
“That’s okay. I couldn’t help seeing you sobbing like that. My mommy always said that a gentleman never leaves a woman crying on a road, especially a beautiful woman.”
“She’s such a wise woman,” she exclaims, running her long gentle fingers through her long dark golden hair.
“That, she was,” he says with smugness.
“What do you do, if you don’t mind me keeping you more?” She laughed at her own question.
She is eager to know and worries at the same time, if he might lose his job over her silly tears.
“I own a coffee shop.” He smirks, giggling like a child.
“What? This coffee shop?”
“No, that one, across the street.” He points at the busiest place that’s shimmered with light. There are people sitting outside, having coffee and pastries.
She gets surprised, more like intrigued why he came here, when he has a business to run, especially the same kind of business, especially what seems a busy hour at his Cafe. She laughs warmly and says, “Are you serious?”
He says, “Yes.”
“So, why did you come here then?” “This can’t be real.”
“A bad habit I suppose,” he says because he’s been coming to this place for as long as he can remember. He even had worked here before he started his own business.
For a moment, a ghostly shadow of silence stood between them, as she looks at him, wondering is this guy real?
He shifts the conversation and asks her why she was sad.
She hesitates. Then, “A long story,” she replies.
He pulls the chair even closer to her, almost breathing under her nose like two lovebirds do and says, “ I think I can spare few minutes.”
Lisa sips her steaming coffee, from the sealed brown foam cup. She relaxes, leaning in closer to him, too, then begins. “Well, I arrived way too late for an important job interview today, because I missed my train. I had waited for that opportunity for many weeks. Now, I basically fucked up my entire future.” She looks away.
He saw that some tiny drops of tears making their way down her red cheeks.
“Where at?” he says, wiping off her tears with his soft fingers.
She felt the warmth of his hands, sending jolt feelings in her spine unexpectedly.
“The New York Times,” she replies, with shameful regrets. “For a senior foreign reporter position.”
He seems surprised, and she notices his surprise. Then, she asks him, “What? what’s wrong? You don’t think I can be a journalist?” Her eyes widened, glowing like a firecracker, ready to burst out her raging offense.
He notices her disappointment, “My apologies,” he says, putting his hands on warm hands.
She didn’t resist his touches, and she waited a second and says, “Then why were you so surprised?”
He responds quickly, capturing this moment, as if he’s in a confession room, wanting to mend his sins to God. He needs not to think of his full responses, for he’s a smooth talker, a man who dances with words. Then, he continues,” Well, no offense to you, but, most beautiful people like yourself only want being a movie star or a model, wanting to never put a foot outside this country, or their hands in the dirt, let alone travel across the continent to report news.” He pauses for a second and continues. “I was just surprised that you want to be a foreign reporter, which is really admirable, in a time where nobody cares much about true journalism or the craft of writing anymore.” He continues, “People have stopped reading today! All they do is staying glued on their handheld devices, and don’t even know what’s going around them.” He stops for few seconds, gasping for some fresh air into his lungs, waiting for her reaction. Seconds later, he sees her warm response from her blushing face, as she nods with an agreement.
“I guess most of this generation is a product of technology,” she says, ” a generation who’s over-fed information with a silver spoon platter.”
He nods in excitement as she moves her soft mouth gently. He’s exhausted making his points about the generational gap.
She listens to him carefully, intrigued by his words, his maturity, as he spoke eloquently, articulating his moral defense for condemning today’s youth. His intellect is like gravity, a magnetic force, for it is pulling her heart closer to his. She reaches for his hands, unintentionally and she smiles, yet keeps listening to him.
“Am I boring you,” he says in mischief. He knows he got her full attention.
“A little bit,” she replies jokingly with a glittering tease. And she giggles and says, “God no,” looking deep into his bright brown eyes.
As the night gets closer, they seem to get closer and closer like two lovers. She has warm hands, his is colder. The combination made them feel comfortable and heavily. He blushes and gives her a warm smile.
Later he tells her, ” I used to be an inspiring writer.”
She lifts her eyebrows. This man is getting more and more interesting. She studies his features. She watches the way his mouth moves, those moist lips, especially his genuine laughter which makes any room look brighter. She stares at him, her eyes not leaving his like they’re in sync.
The Cafe is about to close, as they forget about the world around them, diving into each other’s eyes, and sharing the perfect moment. She fixes her long golden brown hair and keeps staring at him like she likes being in his company as if they knew each other for years.
It starts to get darker; she hears his stomach grumble. They laughed. He looks at her. She noticed his stare was of a mystery, very powerful and irresistible force. She dreams of getting lost in those eyes. They talk about their adventures and embarrassing moments. She burst into laughter after hearing his stories. Their chemistry collides.
She looks away and down and bites her lips. He likes that. He is drawing to her without even knowing it. She is so interested in him too. She puts her hands on his hands and traces his palms like a psychic reader. Her touches send vibrant electricity to his heart.
He excuses himself for a second and dials a phone to his shop. She lifts an eyebrow, wondering who he was calling. Moments later, she hears him saying, ” Close the shop and go home.” She feels relieved. Nobody important he called. She’s happy that he wants to stay with her. So they just sit there, two strangers, perfectly at ease in their own company, harmoniously intertwined.
“We should eat something,” Jerry says.
“I think so, before somebody faints on my hands,” Lisa says, making fun of him, of his growling stomach that had roared liked a Lion earlier.
He likes her sense of humor.
Soon after that, they left Molten Cafe Shop, and begin walking in the streets of New York City, with their hand entwined, basking in the cooler night weather.
The night moon is out. The sky is clear as if it hadn’t poured down all day long. He wraps his arm around her vast shoulders. She tells him that now she’s hungry. He says that he knows a good place, so she lets him take her there. She wants this moment to last forever, somehow, she trusts him, she wants him around her.
When they reached at Fifty-Third and Sixth Avenue, she was mystified they’ve just walked from East Village to West Side for miles. It didn’t even feel like they walked for a block.
There’s no restaurant but a huge line, almost half a block waiting for a food track. The aroma makes you bite your fingers. It made her stomach growl like a hungry bear.
“What’s this place,” Lisa asks, with astonishment, and shyness.
“This place my dear is the famous New York City’s outdoor restaurant!” He pauses for a second and continues. “Don’t tell me that you’ve never eaten at famous place?” He stares deep into her soul, and sees her shameful eyes, as she nods disappointingly. He then says” Well, tonight, you’ll have the best street food the city’s known for. It‘ll be an epic experience. I promise!”
She feels even hungrier now.
When their turn came around, he placed two bowls order of lamb over rice, with lettuce and tomato, and ranch dressing and hot sauce; two bottles of water for their drinks.
She couldn’t believe that she’s never tasted such kind of food before. She feasted on the delicious meal as fast as she could handle, leaving the take-out plate empty in a second. When she looked at his plate, he was still half way, chewing his food like an older person without teeth.
She jokingly says,” Are you watching your diet?” She knows he’s so fit and is in perfect health.
He smiles, watching her finish her water.
After they finished eating, they walk to Times Square, both wanting to watch a movie. As they were walking, he was massaging her neck and hair, as she puts her head on his shoulders. In every lingering stroke his fingers lay on her gentle soft body, she relaxes even more, getting closer to him.
Once they enter the movie theater, and take a sit, they forget the about the lights and sounds emitted from the big screen, when Lisa leaned in and gave Jerry a soft juicy kiss on his lips. He pulled her closer and returned the favor. Instantly, the world around them vanished, and their New York City romance and love affair begins to blossom.