What could be said of the girl who sits by the window on a cold, wet day. She watches the rain drops as they hit the windowpanes. "Plop, plop" was the sound it made. She was unlike others her age. Her peers who seem to have no problems or care in their lives . But she, she was different. She seemed to have the weight of the world on the back of her shoulders. A sad cloud seems to have passed by her. The expression on her face was a mix of both utter despair and regret.
What was going on in those deep, brown eyes? What was she thinking? If only I knew. If only I dared. If only I had the courage to approach her. But I couldn�t, me, a nerd, a geek as I recall all those tauntings that my peers throw at me. She was like an ethereal beauty, like those women in those Boticelli paintings in the Louvre museum. She didn�t seem real at all to me. Her flowing brown tresses were always pulled back into a chic French chignon. I wouldn�t even dare to speak to her. A part of me was curious and wanted to help in whatever way I could.
I watched her push wisps of hair off her face. "Ring, ring" her handphone started to make itself noticeable to her. Answering it, she answered in a soft whisper, "Hello". As she listened intently to the caller, I could see that her eyes started to glisten. Then her tears began streaming down. All this while she kept silent and said not a word other than the first greeting of hello. And all this time she continued to weep. When she finally place the telephone down she rummaged through her back, desperately seeking what I think was for a tissue.
I was overcome with a sudden heroic wave. And moved towards her and offered a tissue. "Are you alright?" I asked. Not knowing what her reaction would be, I was prepared to be screamed at or something else worse. But instead I was greeted with a sad smile from her. "Thanks" said she as she accepted the tissue that I held to her. "Yes, I guess so," she said so softly. I stood there not knowing what to do. "Have a seat if you want to," the girl said again.
"Hi, umm, I�m Derek," I said as I sat down on an empty seat opposite her. "I�m Rosa. I must look like a wreck right now huh ?" "Well, hmmmm, yeah a bit. Would you like another tissue?" I could have hit myself right there and then. Bad move, shouldn�t have said that at all. But instead of being angry, she smiled and said, "Thanks for being honest to me, �cause I know I�m an awful sight right now." I smiled a weak smile. "Its hard to meet someone who would say the truth instead of hiding behind a thick wall deceit." I asked her whether she wanted to talk about what was troubling her. At first she was a bit distant, but as she told her story she began to be able, what I felt, connect with me.
Mike was what you would say, the guy that every girl wanted to be her beau and what other guys wanted to be like. Before her, Melissa was his steady. Being the most popular guy in school and the most handsome, made other people wonder why he chose Rosa to be his girl. To Rosa she just couldn�t believe it when he asked her to go out on a date on St. Valentine�s Day. She was shocked. She had never had any boyfriend for she was not the usual type of girl guys look for. Firstly, she was not the right size� She was big, and have always been so. She kept her hair long and often pulled it back into a chignon. She had the sweetest face which her deep, brown eyes complimented. Her face was often more than not buried in a book. Mostly about mythical vampires who were described in ways that made them so mysterious, attractive and so magical.
She was excited, the date was like a dream he bought her a rose and said " A rose for my rose". What girl wouldn�t have melted? They had dinner in a popular and exclusive restaurant. He seemed to know everyone there, from the maitre �d to the waiters. She could see the reaction of disbelief on their faces when they saw me. She felt humiliated and angry, but kept her unhappiness inside. But what she couldn�t stand was the fact that he seemed to be scanning the room for someone. He stopped and stared and a particular couple, you guessed it. It was Melissa, his estranged girlfriend an her date. "Come Rosa my darling," said Mike as he pulled a chair out for her. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but the thought kept nagging a portion of her mind, was it?
Well, she was there to spend a romantic date with Mike and that was what she was going to have. They had an excellent dinner of fillet mignon followed by dessert which was her favourite "Peach Melba". Throughout dinner, although he was nice to her and touched her hands several times, she realized that his attention was elsewhere, at someone else. Melissa and her date to be exact. She couldn�t help being jealous, after all he was her date but she just kept quiet. After dinner they danced in the patio outside to the tunes of Maxi Priest. He held her close to him but all the while he kept looking away from her and at someone else.
At the end of the evening, he sent her home and said that he had a fabulous time together and really enjoyed her company. She couldn�t help but feel that he didn't really mean it and that he was just using her to make Melissa angry, but being the fool that she was she thought that no man would treat a girl as vicious as that. Certainly not Mike. But she was wrong.
Tetty Masniari
To be continued.....