Crescendo

 "You got me a big Boulder of a man to date Jennie, really? Do my standards look so low to you? Forget about my makeup instincts, girl, this is real shit." I eye her like the fuck she thinks I am. I haven't been able to get a boyfriend for over two years fresh out of college and into a flourishing job because I don't have time for this shit anyways. Pleasing any human skeleton out of their wits is as a piece of skunk as something I think the people who consider dating beneficial are.

"Come on Julie, you haven't had fun over ages since you broke up the last time with that asshole of a shitholed universe. Please. Consider this opportunity quietly for once. You don't need to prithee a guy if you don't like to. Someone who's real and not a walking rusted skeleton will realize your efforts which takes into talking an emotionally disabled person into appreciating someone soulfully. Just talk it out. I don't like you being like this forever devoid of all the fun that could be just out there and you not being able to grasp onto it that joy." Jennie holds my shoulders and makes me face her, a serious look on her face mixed with a haze of a concerned one. "Julie, I love you enough to let you feel loved like you deserve to. We can drop this option if you don't like and move on sometime later, just give me a five, right, when you feel like stepping out of this meet. I'll be right here."

I smile at her genuine care for me. Last time that I got my heart broken was my last straw in believing if even true love ever existed. I have had been in relationships before but my last one with Derek...got me into some depressing trance about this love shit I cannot get over. But Jennie's heartwarming stares and words, fuel me for anything as much it can for this one. I do this one time, just for her. A fixed date I know.

Checking my look one last time I step into the cafe, where my date's eyes light up when he recognizes me and my smile must have faltered a bit before lock in and smile a wider one.
"Hey Fred, how are you?" That's the thing I say as I slip into my seat before he does a cringe move of pulling it for me. First red sign. He thinks I can be dependent on him.

Jennie enters the cafe after a few minutes, and she sits across from me at one corner. I give her a subtle nod that 'yes, it's not that bad yes' but she knows my approaching words that 'I will drop out soon.' "Hi Julie, you look gorgeous." He says wide eyed and a smile plastered on his face, I can't tell if it's genuine or something he has planned to keep me hooked. His fair face and white teeth with a cartier watch and navy tuxedo is telling me much more that he's more about money that sweet nothings. Another red flag. I just can't seem to stop signing them.

"Thanks Fred. I appreciate it." I say as I straighten my Versace red mini dress. What's there to straighten about it? My back. "So tell me more about your work life Fred, how's it going?" I sip the champagne kept neatly on the table as a soft ballet starts playing at the back.

"My business is going good lately, gathered a lot of shares in the market already. Our team keeps thinking of growth and we're soon going to open new ventures in Ohio, Sydney...." Fred's words fade before me as my mind runs to comprehend the tune playing at the back. Honestly I can say that is more interesting than this bragged piece I am hearing from this broad shouldered man.

And ever so subtly it comes over like a small wave and I catch the water like a thirst. The tune is of Dandelions. Such an old nostalgic crepts up my skin as if I'm being watched by the person who's playing this song to let it crawl up my skin and make feel the jitters of the deep notes within. I look around to find who's playing it but his face is hidden behind the big grand piano.

"Are you listening Julie?" I am pulled back to the conversation I was meant for and I look back at Fred giving me this weird glance and a tint of hurt lining his brows as he realized his words might just be true.

"Um..um..I was just sucked in by the tune on the piano. I am sorry. Where were we?" But just before Fred could continue, someone got on the stage behind and the sound of the mic dampened Fred's words down the Niagra.

"Ladies and gentlemen, very welcome to our musical night. Here's our patron Steve on the grand piano you all, give an applause to his super performance in disguise." And this piano guy gets up from his place and I finally get to see his face, the person who played the tune my heartbreak is so familiar with. I meet his eyes as his land upon mine after scanning the room from praises to applause and we hold each other's gaze for a while longer than normal. I notice his ocean eyes and the muted green in them.

"Now that the song is done, let me see how much alive your hearts are with this dance section of our night. I might just be dying inside to swirl on this floor with my beloved mademoiselle. Let's give it up for the last night of January guys!" And suddenly the ones who have been excited for this one, get up from their seats and proceed towards the stage with their special ones. I might just feel too shy for it so I decide to stay seated before Fred has already decided against it. And few seconds later, I am on the staged patio, doing a ball dance with him.

Fred stands a good feet taller than me which makes me feel like I'm too enclosed in his embrace when he pulls me closer ever so slightly when our moves change from one to other. He knows how to dance well and that might be a plus point to his declining hill in my mind, but not positive enough for when he dips his head at times to meet my gaze as if I won't ever guess he's trying to kiss me. He's absolutely not the one and I'm feeling more uneasier as the moment passes like an eternity for seconds.

But we soon changed parterners quickly as part of the dance routine and I'm quickly pulled into a lavendered embrace of the melodious ace man, Steve. My eyes light up when I see his face this close and we changed steps so quick as if he's been standing close all this time. His face has been smiling at me since forever and I scan his face like a dragonfly enticed by a light.

"Hey." It comes out nonchalantly as a breathless whisper only meant for him. I didn't know where it came from but I loved the way I reacted to his presence. We move across the floor swiftly like two stars dancing in a constellation.

"Hey, may i know your name princess?" His deep voice blooms flowers in my skin as I radiate a happy energy around this aura we've created. I don't remember ever being so moved by an acknowledge.

"Julie." I smile. He repeats my name like a sweet secret as we revel in our quiet clinch. As the music flows, we subtly come to join our foreheads and when the tune shifts to a slow dancing one, I knew this was a moment which could either break my heart from a one glance infatuation or build a future starting on a nostalgic footnote.

"Do you wish to know me, Julie?" He asks in a sweet way as a summer breeze on my face. "I'd love to Steve." I look up at him and our eyes pull us into a world where we both know we're the only ones existing in it. I dwell in his ocean eyes while he searches the honey haven in mine. And before we knew it, we came close enough to his lips reaching mine and with a subtle brush of breath over my red asking if its okay.

Its so more than okay for this moment feels like a deja vu trapped in time till here where I finally feel something for someone. You've got me with your musical ability Steve and I cannot convince myself against it when this feels like hope and so much more. So without another hesitation i close the distance separating us and Fred can fuck himself with another one later, because this taste on my lips...I can die to feel it once again for the first time.