C-2
Every day was the same.
Life was boring and complicated.
I led a tailor-made hectic dull life.
From wakeup alarm to bedtime meditation, it was all about work.
Every meal and coffee break was accompanied by dreary white papers.
There was no fun or sunshine.
Life was so drabbed that I even forgot to smile.
Sometimes I doubted my purpose in this frenzied world. Life had no meaning.
Until...
3 June 2016
I woke up as usual, washed up and dressed up.
I went to the Smith's Family Café for breakfast and of course, to start flirting with my tedious papers.
The café was busier than usual.
Every table was full except for a couple's table occupied solely by a lady.
I didn't have the luxury to waste any second to go to another café.
I went up to the table and politely asked the lady, "Mind if I sit here?"
"No," she replied meekly.
I took my seat, placed my bag on my lap planning to take out a bundle of papers,
"Surely you won't immerse yourself in your sombre papers while seating with a lady in a cafe Mr Drabby Workaholic!" exclaimed the damsel all her humbleness vanished into thin airs.
I froze.
'Is she a witch or a fortuneteller?' I panicked.
'How did she read my mind?' I wondered.
"That will be an insult for any woman not to mention a young lady like me."
"I don't want to make people muse that I'm much more uneventful than your soulless papers" she grumbled.
'At least these papers don't frighten me like you do,' I muttered. I withdrew my hands swiftly.
I perched awkwardly.
I was a diffident type.
I had never had a coffee with a lass forget about a date.
I didn't even know how to start a conversation with one, much less engaging in a talk other than works.
All the pickup lines I knew were, 'Have you completed your task?'
'When will you hand over your assignments? When is the deadline?'
Those pickup lines were not in tune with the situation.
It would be much more calamitous.
So I remained muted as things went out of my hand.
"What's with this cumbersome aura you are emitting? Have you ever dated?" she babbled.
"Don't tell me you had never talked to a woman!" she cried out.
"I do every day," I blurted out in self- defense.
"Excluding works," she countered and sipped a mouthful of coffee.
"I….I…I….," I stammered and blushed.
"I was on point!"
"You have never talked to a woman!" she shouted out in surprise spilling coffee all over my face.
Everyone in the room gazed at us in astonishment.
I didn't know whether they were astounded by the testimony or the commotion.
"I'm sorry I was too shocked to keep myself in check," she gleefully handed me her hanky with her bemused expression.
"I'm Irene, Mr Helen."
"Nice to meet you."
"Though it was like talking to a mirror I had fun."
"See you around."
I realized I had been doodled with.
I tried my best and hardly form a sentence,
"How did you know my name?" I was answered by a quietude.
Taken aback by the stillness, when I looked up, she was long gone.
'She is one cheerful lady. Quite a character,' I mumbled and smiled.
For the first time I smiled before work.
It was the first time I relaxed without caring for the wastage of time.
I hated to be interrupted during work and especially during breakfast.
'Wait…What??I smiled??'
'Has the world turned upside down?'
'I was cut in during breakfast.'
' I squandered a good ten minutes of my morning and yet I smiled,' I puzzled.
'I feel so refreshed and relaxed.'
'A true and an honest smile is really a nourishment to the soul.'
'I feel like I'll be much more effective and efficient today,' I mulled over.
'This one simple smile rejuvenated me…Maybe I should smile a little more,' I ruminated joyously.
After recalling all those, I began to ponder on my mysterious dream...