This is from the first day of my writing quota. I spent some time waiting on
a park bench in Makati. I quietly fell in love with a woman running laps. It's
easier to write when I have experience to base it on. This one is a story, so
I'll for sure finish it later.
He sat patiently, pretending to wait for the same lunch date he
had for almost eight years. In a few minutes he'd get a pretend phone call that
would pull him away from the familiar park bench. Across from the bench just a
few meters away was a young woman stretching before a run. He'd grown rather
fond of her and hoped one day her hamstring was a little too tight to stretch
on her own. Though, he really just hoped she would talk and he would hear a voice
that he fell in love with probably before she was ever born. There was no shame
in his staring, because there was no emotion in him at all. He just sat as a
hollow shell pasted together with hope.
She started her quad stretch as he waited for his alarm to go
off and pretend it was a phone call. She silently mouthed her counts one...
two... three... four... five... She paused and waited for the alarm that
interrupted her counting for the last two months. There was nothing though, she
smiled at him and continued her count. He smiled back confused. Six... Seven...
my phone is in the office. Do I run out like I forgot my phone? Or
wait till she's gone? She switched legs and smiled again. Stop smiling
at me, damn it. He forced a smile.
She started her 10km run through the park, which takes a full
twelve laps. He counted from his office on the sixteenth floor in the nearby
Finance Tower. He soaked in the final view of her bright pink top and running
shoes as she turned the corner. He left with the feeling of being out of sync.
Like he grew dependent on their clockwork routine.
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