I saw a man in a restaurant today. He reminded me of a neighbor I had while living in a different city.
My apartment looked out into a courtyard and the backs of other apartment buildings, like a European block building. One of my neighbors had a small balcony on which he used to smoke cigarettes and lean on the black wrought-iron railing.
Often, barely lit by the faint light spilling out of the apartment, a petite blonde would join him. She wouldn't smoke, but hug him from the side. He occasionally turned towards her, and they bent over slightly in laughter.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they seemed happy.
Some weeks later, I had changed jobs into one that had a clean four hour chunk in the middle of the day. I started going back home to cook lunch and sometimes lie down for a small nap.
One day, staring out the window, I noticed the man was out on the balcony, smoking, leaning against the black railing. He turned and suddenly locked eyes on me. I froze. I didn't think he could see me, as I was standing behind highly reflective glass windows, but he was staring straight at me. He must have been seeing me. I felt that compelling force of prolonged eye-contact.
I thought I should pull away from the window, but couldn't.
Something broke his attention. A woman came out unto the balcony. She was wearing blue jeans and dark brown hair. She kissed him playfully and pressed against his chest. She pulled him by the shirt. He resisted lightly, turning to in my direction before giving in to the pull.
I later ran into him in the grocery store. In the following weeks, I deliberately went to the one by his building, even though there was a closer one next to mine. Once, he was with his wife, and pretended not to have seen me, didn't even acknowledge me, like I was just another cabinet or dried fruit rack.
The second time, he was alone in the dairy section, holding a half-pint carton of milk. It was small and green, a brand I didn't immediately recognize.
I walked into the aisle and froze. He looked up and held eye contact for a few seconds. His expression shifted. It made me uncomfortable. He let the refrigerator door slam next to him. I ducked into an aisle--the bathroom products aisle.
I left my shopping basket on the floor there, next to the row of treatment products for fungus or some other similar condition, and walked out of the store.
Clouds were beginning to take hold of the sky, white, shapeless, and bright. I a taxi for work later, afraid to walk around the neighborhood, and largely avoided walking around the north side of my block for a few days afterwards.
In the restaurant, the man smiled at me. I must have been staring. I smiled back. He got up to greet me, still smiling though I could see the confusion very clearly behind it, thinking we must know each other from somewhere but unable to recall from where.
We shook hands. I could feel sweat pooling behind my knees and beading on my forehead. I stretched my arm and shook it stiff, with unnatural force, thinking at any second he would pull me closer and say something threatening. But he was not the same man, after all, no matter how afraid I was.
"Enjoy your lunch," he said. "Good to see you."
"You too," I said, and walked away.
Submitted September 24, 2016 at 02:37AM by riflifli http://ift.tt/2d6S1zI PointlessStories
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