The Man in the Violet Shirt

She walked down the lane. The sea on one side, her friends, some distance away, on the other. She was with the one she loved the most but she couldn't wrench her eyes or heart away from the sea to loot at him, to be with him, to be his. He was saying something but when she thought about it later, all she remembered was how the railing, separating her from the waves crashing on the rocks, felt to her fingertips.




They walked by the sea, together, but apart. He walked with her, but she, alone. Alone with her fantasies. Alone, yet not truly alone.



When she thought about that night now, there's one more thing she remembers. That man. The man in the violet shirt.



She wondered why he sat there, staring into the water. Maybe for the same reason she did. Maybe he too felt that unexplainable pull, that attraction towards the water. That attraction nobody else really understood.



Or maybe it was something else.



She remembered his aura. The deep sadness surrounding him. The lonely man in the violet shirt.



Maybe he lost someone close to him. Maybe he lost someone to the sea. He might feel the rippling water to be the one he loved. the rippling water looks like the arms of his love, calling him to join her, To take the easy way out.



Maybe he lost someone. The lashing waves, the destroyers, reminding him of his lost love, over and over again. They say you must remember to forget.



Why was she so fascinated? She didn't know, she probably never would either. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe not.



He still sat there, an hour later, the man in the violet shirt. Staring into the sea, just as she was. The only difference - she was not truly alone, and maybe, he wished he wasn't alone....



Across the water the city lived. Unaffected by the sorrow of the man in the violet shirt or the thoughts of the girl who wasn't truly alone. The streetlights cast a uniform reflection on the water. Making it look beautiful, inviting. Giving the water a comfortable glow.



For some reason she couldn't stop wondering what he was thinking, why he sat there alone. Maybe he liked the water separating him from the city and his problems. Maybe his problems felt small and insignificant in comparison to the part of the mighty oceans that lay ahead of him. The oceans which reached out to him. The oceans he wanted to join.



A voice. A voice broke the hypnotic trance of the waves. Wrenched her heart away from the ripples in the water which danced to her, only for her.



There was another thing she remembered when she thought of that night.



Soft brown eyes looking down at her anxiously. That voice calling her name. And then, she knew. She smiled at those eyes, at him. Let him put his arms around her waist, let herself be drawn into his protective, loving embrace. She stood on tiptoes and let her lips find his.



And then, they walked. Leaving her thoughts behind. Leaving him behind, the man in the violet shirt. He walked with her and she, with him.



Finally, truly together.



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