sea24

“So, where was I?” Leyla asked, smiling embarrassingly.

“You met him, and…” leyla’s friend chuckled, waiting for leyla to continue with her story.

“Yeah, I met him. That handsome youngman, who stood in the corner of the room, and we looked at eachother, comforting the other with our eyes, and smiling lik a fool.” Leyla smiled, thinking about it in her head.

The story that leyla shared, was of her, and her lover, that she had met at a party, following an argument with her parents, regarding her marriage, to a stranger she didn’t like. The stranger was wealthy, and her parents were greedy, forcing her union with someone whom even they didn’t know. Leyla had been upset the whole week, trying to find ways to escape, and she had met ‘him’.

That beautiful young man, who was leyla’s age, but stood in the dark. Nobody seemed to be seeing his presence in the room, while leyla, felt only his presence in the entire room of people, who were sometimes confused for hypocrites.

The piano in the far ,played the tone that could make one fall in love instantly, even if it was with a tree. And that piano played its rhythm, and the player had a mask on playing the keys so smoothly, just like a writer typing in on her computer. His hands, were gentle before, and then as the music intensified, his hands began to work its pressure, hitting the keys, and yet so gently, and calmly. Even with a mask on, his energy felt full of passion and calmness, and also somewhere full of energy, which made Leyla’s feet dance to the unconscious rhythm that she was feeling. It had been felt and the stranger and leyla, still looked at each other from the corners of their room.

She decided to approach him, as she had waited long enough, and he had just stood there. Nobody approached him, on the other side many people had approached Leyla, asking for a dance, which she had declined, as she made her way to that dark man through the crowd, with her heavy gown, making her steps, slower and tripping herself a few times.

She moved towards him and he stood there in the same postion. His gaze following Leyla, across the room, and she only looked at him too.

The more she walked towards him, the further he went. It felt like he simply stood there, but the room seemed to have expanded.

Leyla, ignored the subtle coincidence, and kept on moving towards him, with the piano keys playing in the background, giving a rhythm to her every step that followed, making it seem like she was gently dancing her way throught the crowd towards him.

The dark man who was still gazing at her, finally raised his hand towards her, as if assisting her to come towards him, which Leyla was already doing. His gaze intensified, as Leyla started getting closer, and the crowd towards his side of the hall, was gettin less and less crowded, with every step that passed by. Leyla lifted her gown a little to walk faster towards him, as the dark man, smiled at her and moved a few steps towards her.

Both seemed to have met, but it had felt like the hall had only grown much bigger, as the piano that had played across the room, had turned into a hazy tone of calmness.

Leyla, reached towards the stranger smiling and huffing from the run she had made, as she put her hand in his, and both looked at eachother. When Leyla realised that she had stopped hearing the crowd. She looked behind her, and there was only darkness. No person in view, and the hall was now a big old shattered room, with spider webs and shattered and tattered tables and already melted candle sticks. She was in a strange plae, but she did not feel the fear, instead she felt more of a calm energy.

She looked at him, throwing a confused look, that made him smile with more warmth, as he placed his other hand on her waist, and started dancing to the piano music, that could still be heard in the far distance.

“And we danced our way through the whole time. And after that we ate instant noodles and he dropped me home” Leyla finished teling her story, chucling at the part where she mentioned the instant noodles.

“But, what was that man’s name?” Leyla’s friend asked intrigued, as the story seemed pretty real.

“Did you already forget his name? I introduced you guys, remember?” Leyla looked at her friend like she was not liking this joke that she was making.

“What? When? You never introduced anybody to me.” Leyla’s friend looked confused.

“Yes, I did, right here. I told you that I was in love with him, and you even jokingly blessed us.” Leyla smiled, but her smile disappeared as she realised that her friend wasn’t joking with her.

Leyla’s friend looked at her confused, ” i don’t think, the man you just described, exists.”

“He does. I meet him every day. He is always with me.” Leyla’s eyes filled to the brim with tears that were about to fall, as she got up to leave.

“I need to go to sleep.” Leyla headed towards her room, and took some pills and went off to sleep.

Leyla’s friend just sat there thinking about what Leyla had just spoken about. Leyla had never spoked to her before ever since she had moved here. Leyla had started sleeping alot after the party that she had gone to, and ever since then she had only mentioned some dark man, but when asked what his name was, she acted like she remembered his name. But she didn’t.

After, Leyla’s parents had forced her into an arranged marriage with a stranger, Leyla, had claimed that she was already married to the darkman, and had started sleeping for more hours than usual.

Thearranged marriage had therefore been cancelled.

Leyla crouched up on her bed, closing her eyes and trying to remember his name.

“This time, when I see him, I am going to ask him his name.” With that she looked at her ceiling took a deep breathe and closed her eyes again. The blackness, turned into a garden and there sitting on the bench was her man, and she moved towards him with smile.

The happiness in her heart could not be contained in from her overflowing joy.