December 9th, 2000, Paris.
She was sitting at the table in a secluded corner of the Café de flore Paris, a famous cafe known for its long history and of course, it's coffee. She and the coffee shop shared a great deal of memories. Sipping her coffee from the cup in her delicate hands, she looked outside the glass window pane.
From where she sat, she could clearly see three of the four roads that met there.
' Great view ' She thought to herself looking at the daily traffic with people hustling everywhere, busy in their own lives.
Her eyes suddenly stopped at the pedestrian lights on the opposite side of the road. She sensed someone familiar standing at the end of the pedestrian crossing waiting for the light to turn green. With a bouquet full of black dahlias in one of his hand, a black hat in another, a black overcoat, a man was waiting with a heartfelt smile plastered over his face. It suddenly hit her, like a silent storm after a rainy night, that it was him.
Victor. The man for whom she has been waiting since forever. He was the man of her dreams. He was a soldier and she met him in a family dinner on a summer evening. There was an instant spark between them, something she never felt again with anyone. At the end of the summer, they were deeply in love. It was that pure kind of love-calm,cozy and warm. They were soulmates. Not even the Gods above could keep them apart. But when the war broke, he had to leave. On the day of his departure, they met in the same coffee shop. Giving her a black dahlia, he looked into her eyes and said,
" I promise you to come back and meet you at this coffee shop. As soon as the war is over, I'll get you a bouquet full of black dahlias and will kiss you right here."
She sniffled and hugged him tight, hoping that a tight hug would stop him from going. But she knew him better. There was nothing that could stop him. She planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled,
"Come back soon. I promise to wait for you right here. And remember, promises are not made to be broken." She said worried if he won't make it out of there alive
" Yes, Milady. Promises are not made to be broken. I'll come back soon. I love you. Take care, Allie." He said and left.
That was the last she saw of him.
Thinking about him,the feeling of being a blushy twenty year old came back to her. Tears formed in her eyes making the view blurry. Removing her glasses, she wiped them before they were heavy enough to flow down her cheeks.
The light turned green. And he walked down the crossing. He was still looking the same. Didn't age a bit. She got up and run-walked to the door.
He held the door open for her.She hugged him in the tightest embrace possible and cried her heart out on his shoulder. She was clearing her tears clogged up from the years of waiting.
In a muffled voice she said,
" I waited for you. No day went by without me thinking about you. You left even when I tried to stop you. You promised to come back. You promised to meet me here, at this coffee shop as soon as you come back. And here I am, waiting for you, ever since."
"I'm sorry," he said as his heart ached for the pain she had to endure.
" Well, you have to be."
" I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for this long," he said giving her, her favorite, a bouquet full of black Dahlias.
" You're fifty five years late. Don't think this bouquet of my favorites will make up for it." She smiled." And how come you didn't age a bit? You're still the same, the same twenty five year old man I saw in 1939."
Before he could answer, she turned back hearing the commotion in the cafe inside. She could see people crowded near a table, it looked like the table in the corner she just sat before.
When she tried to open the glass door, she looked at the reflection and gasped. She was awestruck for a minute. She couldn't speak a word. She stared at herself. Her wrinkles vanished. She looked like her twenty old self. She didn't understand a bit. The whole world was spinning.
He held her face in his hands and she looked at him in confusion. He smiled calmly.
" It's time for you, Allie. I'm a grim reaper. I came for your soul." He said.
She took a minute to understand what has happened. She opened the door of the cafe and walked inside. She saw her eighty year old lifeless self sitting on a chair, her head laid down on the table. It looked like she was sound asleep. She turned to him and held his hand and said,
" Yeah. I think it's time too. Let's go. And you didn't complete your promise yet."
She said sneakily reminding him about the kissing part of the promise. He smirked and went on to kiss her.He kissed her like never before. All those years of waiting, aching came to an end that day.
They both walked away hand in hand. That day a martyred soldier and his ladylove found their happily ever after, after life. At the end, They both kept their promises. Like I said, Not even the Gods above could keep them apart.
🖤