The coffee shop door tinkled as she walked in. My eyes flickered up from the paper I was editing as they did every time the door opened, but this time I froze. My breath caught in my chest. She was beautiful. The kind of woman that makes your heart stop entirely, that convinces you that you are in the middle of a cardiac arrest. Her long blonde hair glittered in the sunlight, her blue eyes twinkling under those long dark lashes. Her smile made my legs go numb, and her laugh, oh her laugh. I could listen to it for hours on end. It was pure music to my ears, like Bach, or Mozart. She ordered her drink and flirted delicately with the bartender, her every word and move as fluid as the milk he was artistically pouring into her cup. And as she picked up her coffee with those elegant fingers, and walked on steady legs out the door, I continued to sit there, watching her leave my life, with her not even knowing she had entered it at all.
The coffee shop door tinkled as she walked in. My eyes flickered up from the paper I was editing as they did every time the door opened, but this time I froze. She was beautiful, yes, but even from where I sat, the staleness, the rot of vanity, permeated my nostrils. She walked right past the old man who was trying to raise himself out of his seat, his cane clattering to the floor. Her long blonde hair glittered in the sunlight, her empty blue eyes twinkling under those long dark lashes. Where a soul would shine through, there was nothingness. I felt sick. The old man cast her a sad look before leaving the cafe. Her dead smile made my legs go numb, and her laugh, oh her laugh. The sound of it was like hearing a sharp note when you expected a flat. It was jarring, disturbing. Wrong. As she ordered her drink and flirted with the bartender, batting her eye lashes profusely, he smiled awkwardly back, uncomfortable by her forwardness. He poured the milk quickly, the latte art rushed, and placed the cup right in front of her waiting hand, but not in it. She picked it up with long fingers, artfully polished, and walked on steady legs out the door. I continued to sit there, as I swore every one around me let out the breath they had been holding. She left my life, thinking she had changed it forever, when in fact, it was much better without her in it.
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