Amid the Moonlight

They ran from the club hand in hand, her heels clicking alongside the low thud of his loafers. They ran like fools on the empty road in the gloomy night. A few minutes later they were sitting on a brick boundary wall. Two pairs of legs hanging from the five foot tall wall, one figure clad in an Armani suit, the other in a silk dress. She swings her stiletto heels as she sits there humming while he stares in the middle distance glad to have her company but not knowing what to say.

Minutes later they both speak up, together. Then both look away a little red and embarrassed. After a few seconds she speaks, pulling her velvet shawl closer around her shoulders and saying as much as she can in one breath before she shudders at the cold and continues. She tells much more than allowed. She wants to be sincere. Lying is no use it just starts something wrong and it always ends at wrong. She knows; she’s been there and suffered, that’s why she wants this to work out because she knows it’s different. It’s real. It happened.

She quiets down after half an hour, not very sure now. Her eyes are filled with tears that threaten to brim over.

‘Stay strong’, she whispers to herself.

She hears him sigh loudly and a tear spills on her cheek but she wipes it off quickly.

‘It’s over. I was a fool to think it would work’, she wonders to herself again.

 

He sighs and she sighs too, loudly. Sad but then his fingers lace through hers, she lifts her chin to look into his eyes, still hesitant. They are wide and deep blue in the dark night, but she sees a smile. It’s true!

He jumps off the wall and holds out his hand for her to hold. She grins, jumps off the wall holding the hand for support.

They run away hand in hand, her heels clicking with the soft thud of his loafers. They ran like fools on the empty road in the dark night amid the moonlight.

Momina.