A SHORT LOVE STORY

I sat there waiting for him to confess his undying love for me. I could see that he was at a loss for words and it scared the life out of me. I had no idea what to expect when he opened his mouth. He appeared to be calm, but I could tell that he was feeling anxious. I continued to wonder what he was about to say, but he just sat still.

Finally, he opened his mouth. I heard exactly what I wanted to hear and it set my mind at ease. He sipped his coffee, looked me in eyes, and said "I love you". He said it carefully and delicately, just to make sure I heard it the first time. After all, it took him so long to get the words out, he wouldn't want to have to repeat them.

I responded by resting my hand gently on his, leaning towards him, and whispering those same words softly into his ear. We spent the next few minutes finishing our lattes and gazing into each other's eyes.

After we had finished our coffees, we walked for what seemed like forever. We hadn't spoken a word to each other for 13 blocks. When we reached my East Village apartment, our eyes met again. We both had stupid looking grins on our faces, I suspected that they'd been there since we last spoke at the coffee shop.

I didn't know what else to do, so I told him to have a good night. He studied my face for a brief moment, leaned closer to me, and kissed me so passionately that I could have fainted. The tender touch of his lips made my whole body quiver. I could feel my heart pounding, as well as his. In an instant, my life was changed.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a garbage truck outside my bedroom window. This is the sound that I wake up to every Friday morning, but today it sounded different. In fact, as I looked around my apartment, a lot seemed different. I turned over to find a bright smiling face, with big blue eyes. He looked at me so lovingly. I felt like I was the only person on the planet. That's why everything felt so different.

We continued to lay there, wrapped in each others arms, for another ten minutes, until I suggested that we get dressed. He said, "We're already dressed. Aren't we?" I was puzzeled, but then I realized that we had both fallen asleep in the clothes we were wearing the night before.