Check this out…
The restaurant will be busy, filled with hurried corporate diners. Waiters and waitresses will zoom past our table in fast forward.
But, time will move slowly at our table. In the air, charged with electricity and magnetism, that hovers above our stemmed water glasses and cloth napkins, words will spread smoothly between us like butter on bread.
We will lose track of time and linger over coffee as the lunch rush subsides. As the restaurant quietens, our feelings will grow louder – filling the void in our ears. We’ll season our time with laughter and quiet smiles. We’ll soothe hurt feelings and catch up on half a lifetime. Each of us, never wanting to forget this day, will privately memorize each other’s face. We may never meet again.
As the sunlight matures, turning the white tablecloth to a golden yellow, we’ll pay our tab and slowly emerge from our quiet niche.
The world will be abrupt and coarse compared to us as we make our way to the lobby. There, we will outlive the remainder of the day and continue into the night, without tiring. The sounds around us will fade from the busy hubbub of weeknight sounds. From cell phones, travelers checking in, and valets fetching cars to the hush of the night staff’s whispered voices. All we will hear, though, is ourselves. Our tears as we speak of loneliness and wounds, both new and old. Our joy as we share memories of less burdensome times. Our thoughts and wonders as we reflect on the world around us. We will entertain our hearts and our minds with each other’s company and conversation.
And, when the last darkness of night fades and morning emerges, we will recede. Like a crab, we will retract into the safe privacy of our shell. For the first time in what feels to be decades, we will not feel alone.
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