Short Story: Fifteen Steps - Part 2

Written by: Zainab Waqar

He had been following her for quite some time now. A beautiful girl was walking beside a man, her husband he supposed. He carefully kept his distance about fifteen footsteps as he followed. Suddenly they stepped, her husband got busy on the phone while she started walking around aimlessly. He stood still just looking at her, wondering if she noticed him, and just then her eyes stopped wandering. She was looking straight at him, her gaze fixed. 

He wanted her to run into his arms, to recognize him. As she approached him step by step, he got lost in the past. She was everything he had ever wished for, his first true love. Under all these layers of wool he remembered her every curve, he has touched her smooth skin, every inch of it. How she loved and caressed him, their first kiss and all the others after. Why didn’t he fight for her, how did he gave her up that easy? All these questions were running through his mind. It was six years ago but felt as if it happened yesterday.

As she got near, her familiar fragrance struck him. She was so close, if he wanted he could hold her and never let go. He looked in her eyes and knew she still loved him. He wanted to tell her how he’s been what he has been up to and know everything about her but that moment in itself was perfect. Nothing needed to be said, they were able to read every expression of one another. She looked even more beautiful than before and her eyes sparkled with his reflection in them.

“Aleyana!” she turned around to see her husband looking for her. She had to go he knew that, no matter how much he wanted her to stay. He could see tears filling up her eyes. “I have to be strong for her.” he thought. So he smiled to let her know everything was okay, and it was okay to get back in her life, it was okay to leave. She gave him a broken smile back, they both knew she never wanted to go, but she turned around and started walking. As he saw her moving away he had tears in his eyes. She didn’t look back; neither did he want her to. He wanted to keep her close and caressed her for the rest of their lives. She went on and he stood there looking at her as she started to disappear in the crowd.