Baby I've Got My Eye On You
One
I was pretty certain that if I sat out in the rain for much longer, I would turn the same shade of blue that I actually felt.
Blue, blue, blue.
It was a little after one in the morning, and though I had been sat on the old park bench for a good two hours, I would have been content to stay there until morning. It didn’t rain like this very often, maybe just the times when I felt like I could rip someone’s head off. Pathetic fallacy or what?
Either way it didn’t matter. I was back to square one, the drawing board: I’d have to go home when the weather subsided to find that nobody had even noticed I was gone; it would all happen again in a matter of days.
I felt the weight of the wood shift beneath me. A heavy sigh escape from a worked up yet exhausted voice as some one joined me in the dark.
“We have to stop meeting like this” the voice sighed in a way which was becoming increasingly familiar to me over the last few months.
I smiled.
“She kicked you out again then?” I laughed.
“Yep” he replied. After three months and regular run-ins on the very bench that held our weight, I still didn’t know his name. He didn’t know mine. It was nice in a way.
“And” he began, “I take it you’ve ran away again”
“Bingo”
“Your hiding place becomes more original each time,” He said sarcastically.
“I run” I laughed, “but I don’t hide”
“Oh I see” he laughed.
There was silence for a short while as we both sat listening to the comforting sound of each other’s breathing, and the raindrops hitting the ground. Him sat on one end of the bench, I on the other.
“You know sooner or later this all has to stop” I said to him.
“What does?”
“You, letting her kick you out of your own house. If you fight, she should leave. It’s your house”
He laughed a little, which I was thankful for, seeing as I quickly realised that what I said could be quite offensive.
“Maybe I’m too much of a gentleman then,” he said slouching down a bit.
“Yes. Too much so”
“Anyway, when are you going to tell me why every time my girlfriend kicks me out, you’re here. How come you run away all the time?”
I looked at him. Even in the dark and the terrible weather I could tell how incredibly good looking he was. I could tell he was older than I was, but that was kind of obvious anyway, given the fact that he had his own house and lived with his bitch of a girlfriend. Of course, I don’t know her, but she kicks him out that often that it’s hard not to assume she’s a bitch. So, his question, why was I always here? I was here a lot more often than he, trying to get away from my problems. The way I saw it, I practically lived on this bench, and every so often, he, the friendly stranger would come and visit, to share with each other our tales of self-pity. Pathetic, yes.
“…Maybe I’ve being lying to you and I actually live on this bench permanently, and that’s why when ever you come here when you’ve had a fight with your girlfriend, I’m here”
“Well that is a possibility” He said “But I’ve seen you before in the day time, and you weren’t sitting on this bench”
I didn’t understand how he’d seen me when I hadn’t seen him.
“Well I haven’t seen you…”
“Maybe you have and you haven’t recognised me”
“Oh I think I would recognise you”
“Why is that?”
I was quiet. I hadn’t meant to sound that way, or realised what I was even saying. The truth was that, sometimes, even if I’d been getting on with my family, I’d purposely sneak out of the house in the dead of night, in case he was there. Embarrassingly enough, I was infatuated with an older man I didn’t know the name of and knew nothing about. I liked our anonymous conversations when ever on the off chance we’d both had a night of shit, and even just talking about general stuff, music and TV. I liked that nobody I knew knew him, or knew that I knew him.
“I don’t…know,” I said finally answering his question, even if the answer was pathetic.
He looked at me for a moment and smiled, then looked away again.
“How long have you been sat here this time?” He asked
“Going on three hours now I think”
“Holy shit. In the rain? Are you crazy?”
“Very much so, I think”
“You don’t even have a jacket on. You might like… freeze to death”
“Oh I won’t don’t worry. I’m not that Lucky” I laughed.
He muttered something under his breath, which I couldn’t make out, but he soon stood up and brushed himself down. He was soaking wet.
“Well bench friend, I’ve had a night of pure fucking bitchy nagging and I’m gonna turn in” He said.
“Are you going to kick her out?”
“No” He laughed, “I’m going to crash at a friend’s house”
“Pussy”
“Yeah I know” He laughed, “Your not going to stay here are you?”
I nodded.
“It’s still raining though”
I nodded again.
He sighed, taking his thick, leather jacket off and passed it to me.
“Uhm…”
“If you freeze to death bench friend, I will have no one to whine about my problems to in the dead of night.”
I smiled and took the jacket
“Thank you…”
“Don’t stay out much longer kid”
I laughed
“I’m serious. It is kind of dangerous for a girl out here. Just watch your self”
I nodded, watching him walk off in to the darkness. His pace seemed to perfectly set to the rhythm of the falling rain, not to sentimentalise or anything. I watched him as he approached the park exit, but he stopped, stood still for a while and turned to face me.
It was then I realised how ridiculous I must have looked, staring at him freakishly, and quickly turned away.
When I looked back, he’d gone.
Blue, blue, blue.
It was a little after one in the morning, and though I had been sat on the old park bench for a good two hours, I would have been content to stay there until morning. It didn’t rain like this very often, maybe just the times when I felt like I could rip someone’s head off. Pathetic fallacy or what?
Either way it didn’t matter. I was back to square one, the drawing board: I’d have to go home when the weather subsided to find that nobody had even noticed I was gone; it would all happen again in a matter of days.
I felt the weight of the wood shift beneath me. A heavy sigh escape from a worked up yet exhausted voice as some one joined me in the dark.
“We have to stop meeting like this” the voice sighed in a way which was becoming increasingly familiar to me over the last few months.
I smiled.
“She kicked you out again then?” I laughed.
“Yep” he replied. After three months and regular run-ins on the very bench that held our weight, I still didn’t know his name. He didn’t know mine. It was nice in a way.
“And” he began, “I take it you’ve ran away again”
“Bingo”
“Your hiding place becomes more original each time,” He said sarcastically.
“I run” I laughed, “but I don’t hide”
“Oh I see” he laughed.
There was silence for a short while as we both sat listening to the comforting sound of each other’s breathing, and the raindrops hitting the ground. Him sat on one end of the bench, I on the other.
“You know sooner or later this all has to stop” I said to him.
“What does?”
“You, letting her kick you out of your own house. If you fight, she should leave. It’s your house”
He laughed a little, which I was thankful for, seeing as I quickly realised that what I said could be quite offensive.
“Maybe I’m too much of a gentleman then,” he said slouching down a bit.
“Yes. Too much so”
“Anyway, when are you going to tell me why every time my girlfriend kicks me out, you’re here. How come you run away all the time?”
I looked at him. Even in the dark and the terrible weather I could tell how incredibly good looking he was. I could tell he was older than I was, but that was kind of obvious anyway, given the fact that he had his own house and lived with his bitch of a girlfriend. Of course, I don’t know her, but she kicks him out that often that it’s hard not to assume she’s a bitch. So, his question, why was I always here? I was here a lot more often than he, trying to get away from my problems. The way I saw it, I practically lived on this bench, and every so often, he, the friendly stranger would come and visit, to share with each other our tales of self-pity. Pathetic, yes.
“…Maybe I’ve being lying to you and I actually live on this bench permanently, and that’s why when ever you come here when you’ve had a fight with your girlfriend, I’m here”
“Well that is a possibility” He said “But I’ve seen you before in the day time, and you weren’t sitting on this bench”
I didn’t understand how he’d seen me when I hadn’t seen him.
“Well I haven’t seen you…”
“Maybe you have and you haven’t recognised me”
“Oh I think I would recognise you”
“Why is that?”
I was quiet. I hadn’t meant to sound that way, or realised what I was even saying. The truth was that, sometimes, even if I’d been getting on with my family, I’d purposely sneak out of the house in the dead of night, in case he was there. Embarrassingly enough, I was infatuated with an older man I didn’t know the name of and knew nothing about. I liked our anonymous conversations when ever on the off chance we’d both had a night of shit, and even just talking about general stuff, music and TV. I liked that nobody I knew knew him, or knew that I knew him.
“I don’t…know,” I said finally answering his question, even if the answer was pathetic.
He looked at me for a moment and smiled, then looked away again.
“How long have you been sat here this time?” He asked
“Going on three hours now I think”
“Holy shit. In the rain? Are you crazy?”
“Very much so, I think”
“You don’t even have a jacket on. You might like… freeze to death”
“Oh I won’t don’t worry. I’m not that Lucky” I laughed.
He muttered something under his breath, which I couldn’t make out, but he soon stood up and brushed himself down. He was soaking wet.
“Well bench friend, I’ve had a night of pure fucking bitchy nagging and I’m gonna turn in” He said.
“Are you going to kick her out?”
“No” He laughed, “I’m going to crash at a friend’s house”
“Pussy”
“Yeah I know” He laughed, “Your not going to stay here are you?”
I nodded.
“It’s still raining though”
I nodded again.
He sighed, taking his thick, leather jacket off and passed it to me.
“Uhm…”
“If you freeze to death bench friend, I will have no one to whine about my problems to in the dead of night.”
I smiled and took the jacket
“Thank you…”
“Don’t stay out much longer kid”
I laughed
“I’m serious. It is kind of dangerous for a girl out here. Just watch your self”
I nodded, watching him walk off in to the darkness. His pace seemed to perfectly set to the rhythm of the falling rain, not to sentimentalise or anything. I watched him as he approached the park exit, but he stopped, stood still for a while and turned to face me.
It was then I realised how ridiculous I must have looked, staring at him freakishly, and quickly turned away.
When I looked back, he’d gone.