Five

She walked down a crowded street wearing a short white dress, finding her way through. She took every step in her heels with integrity and purpose up to the corner and the light flashed red. Wind blew her hair in her face, blocking the view of the street. It took just a moment for her to tame her hair and when she did that's when she saw him. He was wearing jeans and a button up shirt, just like the one he had on 5 years ago. If there was a moment she could remember clearly was the last look he gave her when she last saw him. Full of love and longing, just shy of enough to hold onto as they had said their goodbyes. And just as in that moment her breath left her body and she couldn’t think. He was staring off to the side, not yet taking notice of her. His hair was darker than she remembered, faded from the sun bleached hair he once had.

The first thought that came to her mind was to run, as fast as she could with as much strength she had. Then the pounding of her heart drowned out the city noise going busy around her. This was the moment her best friend told her about. She had heard he had moved down to LA with his new girlfriend. The news initially shocked her, she thought he would never move down there. Being aware of his presence, she anticipated seeing him despite it being one of the largest cities. The sight of him took her by surprise nonetheless, because if she was being honest with herself she forgot how it felt to be in love with him. The love she once shared felt like a lifetime ago, and it felt like someone else’s life.

He was walking on the street he always did, the same route to his work he started taking a month ago when he saw her. She was the beautiful girl with the long dark auburn hair that flowed over her shoulders. When he first saw her, his breath left him like it did the first day of high school when they first met. He sat in that first class with her and knew she was gonna be his one day. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he’d been watching over her when he should have been avoiding her at all cost. The girlfriend he currently had didn’t know this, that every day he walks an extra five minutes to get a chance to see his high school love again. Every time he saw her he was reminded as to why he fell in love with her in the first place. But the pain of that love kept him from approaching her every time he saw her crossing the street.

He was on the sidewalk looking across the way, he knew she would be on the other side walking to her own job and her own life. He didn’t want to disturb her peace or his for that matter, but seeing her was enough at least for now. He kept looking as he walked through the crowd wondering where she could be. He then stopped at the corner waiting for the light to turn green. He saw the side walk on the opposing side going through construction. Similar to the one that forced him to take his five minute detour in the first place, and what led him to her.

The light turned green, she didn’t leave the sidewalk and froze in place as the crowd walked past her. Did they know she was looking at a man she had let go 5 years ago. Did they know she wasn’t trying to be rude, but didn’t know what to do? He didn’t move either, too distracted by what he was looking at across the way. She saw someone brush past him and he finally looked straight at her.

He knew the light had changed, but his feet didn’t want to move. He felt compacted onto that sidewalk, unable to move forward without seeing her. It was as if she had been his air for the past month and now that he lost his chance to say something to her he didn’t know what to do. The crowd continued to move past him and someone brushed up against him forcing himself to snap out of it. He finally looked up and all he saw was her in a white dress.

Both gazed at one another, not quite sure if the other existed. Not quite sure what to do or what they should do. All they knew was the light was green and that meant “GO”.