A Longed Meeting

The single door of the small coffee house let a young woman in. From the first moment she stepped in, she drew more than a few stares from the few customers and staff: Her foreign looks and uncommon beauty usually had that effect. Already being used to that, she ignored the gazes and looked with expectant eyes around, as if searching for something or someone. Having not found it, she sighed, both in disappointment and relief, and walked in. She noticed the eyes that had been placed upon her had turned away and she smiled for herself. Although used to draw attention wherever she went, she preferred to keep a low profile.

Her nonchalant expression belied the nervousness and excitement that had taken hold of her. She had waited long for this moment, and now that it drew so close it was hard to remain calm. Nevertheless, she managed to keep her cool as she walked towards a free table.

She sat down and waited. She had arrived early, as it was usual for her. The young woman gave a quick glance at her watch. Only ten minutes separated her from the moment she had longed for so long, and her anxiety ever increased.

She looked at the other tables and at the different persons that filled the small coffee place that afternoon. Though small, the coffee did not look cramped at all. A single waiter attended the customers, moving back and forth while taking orders, serving coffee, and doing everything else that was needed to keep the place running smoothly as it could.

She glanced once more at her watch: Five minutes. She took out her cell phone, toyed with it for a mere moment, and put it away almost immediately.

The waiter approached to her after a few seconds and asked her for her order. She replied with a sweet but not weak voice that she was waiting for someone, and that she would like to wait a bit longer. Though her foreign accent was quite notorious, her English was otherwise perfect.

The waiter smiled, nodded, and left to attend other customers. She watched him for a while and pondered about his labour and how hard it should be.

Her trivial thoughts were interrupted when the door of the coffee house opened. She raised her head eagerly, but turned it down almost as fast when she saw an old couple coming in. She looked away, almost as if she was mad with herself for being so eager, and looked back again at the door almost instinctively.

For a moment, her heart seemed to stop. There, next to the old couple, a young man was standing and looking around, just as she had done so ten minutes ago. She stood up and their eyes met. Both of them smiled, and the young man walked towards her. Nervousness in her increased even more, but so did an exuberant feeling of joy. For years she had dreamed with this same moment, but despite her immense imagination, such illusions were no match to that very moment.

The young man approached the table, still bearing the awkward smile. They both stayed still, waiting for the other to say or do something. But the nervousness in both of them was great, and thus the smiles remained to be the sole communication between them.

“Hey you,” he finally said.

She, unable to say anything at all yet, moved closer to him and hugged him. The young man was caught by surprise by such gesture, but finally returned the hug. A few tears dropped from her eyes as she replied: “hey you.”

Though hard and seemingly endless, their long wait had finally concluded. Years of letters, long distance calls and midnight chats had at last ended. Neither of them knew for sure what was to come, but in that moment it didn't matter: they were now together.