Venice - Meeting

On a cool summer�s day,
A woman sits outside a caf�,
Located near a canal in Venice, Italy

Wearing a light lavender dress,
She sips her coffee,
While the sound of the calm water
Becomes overwhelmed by the echoes of people walking and conversing

After a while her ears begin to deafen to all but one sound,
Tak, tak, tak�
Resounds the nearing footsteps,
Getting louder and closer,
Until the noise fades back into the crowd 

She looks to her side to find a formally dressed man.
The man asks her ��May I join you�?�
But she does not clearly hear him, so he repeats,
�Pardon me, do you mind if I join you? Normally I wouldn�t interrupt, but there are no other seats open.�
She looks around and sees the caf� full of people,
And responds, �please, have a seat.�

Taking her offer, he sits across from her 
And stares at her before leaning forward to say,
�I�m surprised you let me join you, I though that a beauty like you might be waiting for someone.�
Taken aback she tilts her head until,
Their eyes meet,

Staring back at him, she finds
Gentle yet serious eyes gazing upon her
�Since you�re not waiting for someone, then may I ask what you are doing in Venice?�
Still enchanted by the gaze, 
She willingly and haphazardly answers, �To relax�

Breaking eye contact, for a moment,
He leans back and casually says,
�Ahh, how I envy your freedom.�
He regains eye contact, softly smiles and awaits for her response, but
Before she is able to speak,
A waiter comes by to take his order.

Once he�s done ordering,
He immediately faces her and says,
�I would tell why I am here, but that would reveal my whole life. Right now, though I�m here for the same reason as
you, which is to enjoy what little freedom I have.�
He happily smiles at her,
But his eyes betray him, showing his sadness.

The two continue talking,
Each time sharing a bit of themselves,
As the awkwardness disintegrates into interest.
Soon they start walking together 
And fade into the rumbling sounds of the crowd.

Hours later, almost sunset,
He suggests a gondola ride back to the caf�.
She sadly accepts, knowing that they will separate afterwards.

During the ride, 
They sit silently next to each other.
Embarrassed by the aura created by riding the gondola into the sunset,
The two keep their heads down waiting for the other to act.

With the caf� in sight,
The man finally musters up the courage to speak,
But is interrupted by her,
As her body tilts to his shoulder 
Uncertain of the situation he is in,
He looks to find her peacefully sleeping.
At a loss for words, he watches her sleeping,
While gently smiling.

By the time they reach the caf�,
The sun has set and the cool night breeze fills the air.
Feeling responsible for her fatigue,
He lets her sleep and uses his blazer to protect her from the cool air

Aware of the time of day, 
After checking his watch, he decides to leave,
But not before paying the gondolier in advance 
And asking him to continue riding until she wakes up

An hour after he leaves,
The woman is awoken by the noises of the night life.
She sits up, to find a blazer covering her.
Holding it close to her body,
She realizes that he had left her...

To be continued...