Heart-breaking shoes

She was so happy to see a new email message from him. She clicked open and quickly scan through his message. He said he would be visiting her in about 2 weeks time for 1 night before flying for his business trip. She was estatic. She always missed him, apart from him being her best friend, but it had been a small little secret that she loved him. She read the message one more time, taking down the date of his arrival and quickly jotted them down on her planner.

His plane arrived a little early than the schedule. Upon arriving to the arrival hall, he saw a pay phone and decided to give her a ring before he took a taxi to his hotel. He dialled her number that he had memorized, and waited. After 3 rings, he heard the voice that he was very familiar with, "Hello..". He smiled to himself, realizing how much he actually missed her voice and said "I've arrived."

She dashed through the station and quickly hurried herself to reach the shopping mall. They had made a dinner reservation at their favorite restaurant and she knew he would be on time waiting for her there. She checked her reflection one more time in her handheld mirror before going in to the restaurant. She smiled and tried to calm her heartbeats. She was wondering, was these heart beats from the running or from the thought of meeting him. She swung her heels into the eatery and screened the seats until she saw him waving at her and smiling, his usual, charming smile, she thought she heard a "thump" from her heart and she thought her heart just stopped there.

He waved at her, and tried to smile as naturally as possible. The thoughts of meeting her after 2 years with minimum contact actually scared him a little. But her voice when he called this morning actually calmed him down. His eyes traced her movement while she was taking her seat and then moved to her eyes. She always had that wide and calming eyes. He wondered how many times had his soul be calmed down just by looking at her eyes. Then came the awkward silent, they just sat there looking at each other for couple of seconds until, she smiled, and he had forgotten how sweet her smile was, He realized that he had been staring at her for quiet sometime now, but he just couldn't help it. He loved staring at her. She had changed, much more beautiful then he ever remembered. Until her soft voice broke the silence, "So, do we keep on staring at each other the whole night?" They both laughed at themselves and conversation started to roll out of them.

Their dinner had long finished, the small piece of Tiramisu left on the plate was laying there in between them while they talked and talked. She told him about her work, he told her about his journey. But both of them tried to put off talking about relationship. Several of times, the subject was nearing to be mentioned, but she tried so hard to control her tongue. He never wanted to cross that bounderies because whoever she was seeing, he had made a promise to support her. He would be there when she needed him to be there. She always hoped for something to happen everytime they were together, something small but enough to make her knew that he liked her, even a little.

They wanted to spend more time together so they decided to just stroll along the road, the night wind was nice that night, he enjoyed every minutes he spent with her and listening to the ring of her laughters. She wished the night would never end.

He walked her to the station and he was deciding whether or not to send her home. She was sad to leave and wished he would send her. She always had this silly idea that if someone liked a girl, he would walk her to the very front of her house. Then he opened his mouth, she held her breath. "It was wonderful to be able to spend my time with you tonight. I had a great time..." He let his words hung for a moment, then he raised his hand for a handshake. She felt her heart sank, it was silly of her to even think that he liked her, even a little. It as only her dream. She looked to his eyes, and pressed her lips for a forced-smile, "Yes, you should visit often. I really missed you, and tonight was great..." she took his hands, quickly pulled back. "So, have a safe trip tomorrow. Remember to email me if you're coming to town again. Promise?" She was saying the words so fast to conceal her dissapointment. He nodded, "I will. I promise. You take care ok?" He had a feeling he felt something. But decided not to pursue any further, after all, she was his best friend.

She boarded the train, waved her goodbyes to him and both of them watched as the train doors closed the gap between them. "...I love you...goodbye" she whispered between her smiles and waves. He felt something in his heart but said to himself, "This is not love. This is loneliness." He walked backwards, still waving and smiling to her, gasturing that he would call her from the hotel tonight. As the train departed the station. He turned to leave. She watched his back walking away until the train entered the tunnel. He turned around to catch a glimpse of her, but was too late. That night, he never called. She felt somehow she knew that he wouldn't call. She fell asleep still holding to her phone.
In the hotel, he looked at the phone. Pulled up the receiver and hesitated. With a sigh he put it down again. He wasn't sure. He had never been sure about his feelings. He fell asleep while watching a cheesy romantic movie from HBO.

The next day, she went to the shoe-store and bought the highest heels she could lay her eyes on. She wore that heels around town that day, went to grocery shopping, went to do laundry. Her feet were killing her but at least they made her forgot about her breaking heart. She received an email from him that night, telling her he was safe in his destination. She closed her email without replying him, she looked at her feet, now full of bandages, she smiled a little and said "Want to forget a breaking heart? try walking in a high heels while carrying a watermelon." She decided probably tomorrow she would send her reply, or probably when the wounds from her heart or her feet had dried a little.