The sun appeared less severe than a couple of days before, when her hopes were high but extremely uncertain, stepping over unknown grounds that might have been made of anything but dense material. When she stepped over clouds - not grounds - that could have been easily made out of liquid gems, mixed with a relentless dose of dreams that seemed to hit the greater wall of insecurity and slap her right against her left pale cheek.
The sun was set to go down into its final destination that turned out to be a new horizon brought into a new beginning, all over again. So was she. Her eyes seemed a bit hurt, the sunglasses did help. She could walk down the hills while staring at the huge, round and orange ball of fire that slowly made its way down without any problem or obvious struggle.
She strolled by the streets she knew by heart. Each corner she went by knew her as well, they blinked at each other in a sign of mutual respect, they knew each others' secrets and stories, they all knew what she whispered to the cement as she walked by... There was nothing that felt more like home than those pillows made of gray, yellow and blue. It was Hollywood, it was all she knew.
On the same street she would always like to walk through, the strong winds called out for someone else's name she was awfully familiar with.
The light was on across the street, the green man said go, so in her regular rush to make it to the next sidewalk in one piece, she didn't notice a rather acquainted image of a car that had stopped by the light just before she made it to the next safe island. She also didn't recognize the two gentlemen that inside of the vehicle argued about her presence in that very spot. What in the world had they missed? Was it really... her?
As she struggled to fix her shirt that was terribly messy by consequence of the strong winds, the passenger in the car that remained there, waiting, decided to step out, awkwardly sure of himself and extremely pleased by the sight of her. Her shades clumsily fell down the tip of her nose, her hand bag was all twisted and seemed to be there to almost strangle her as she finally lifted her body up from the shirt mending. In a strange move, she brought her shades back up noticing the presence of that man she knew very well before her, big smile, oddly contracted facial muscles, the big arms and shy gentle hands, the silence. No, please, not the silence again...
She knew she had to say something before that light turned green, he knew it was her now and he was sure this time, that was it. It was that feeling all over again now turned golden because of the influence of the sunsetting in the not so far away distance. All the waiting and longing soon enough would turn into mouth watering cravings and they both recognized that the summit of their exceptional story was about to begin its upward spiral, at any moment now.
- Oh, I thought I had lost you there for a second.
Her smile seemed to reflect his feelings exactly.
- Oh no, I thought I had lost you forever.
- You couldn't have.
The man left in the car didn't understand it all very well but appeared to be enjoying the private screening. The light had turned green and the massive flow of cars behind that very particular one showed their signs of distress in the forms of resounding horns and excessive honking. He didn't mind - they didn't mind it either.
The gray eyes that now looked straight into her two dark windows seemed much better placed: right there, inside her thoughts. He finally asked:
- Where are you headed to? We can drop you off.
She didn't want to lose him again.
- Well, I will not insist otherwise...
Those final moments of sunshine were actually worth all the effort spent in keeping them around. The sunglasses were not useful any longer, but they remained still, resting on her now rosy cheeks hiding the wet eyes that had nothing to do with the lost opportunities from the past. Now, she knew better, but he knew best: the final hours didn't feel so fatal anymore and tomorrows were forgotten, at least while that ride lasted.
*picture by me
