Oops, I am late! Although it’s usual for me to be late, today I was unusually late-too late! I could miss important things if I didn’t make it in time today: my job, for example. So i am running to the bathroom, running from the bathroom, running out of the house, running into people, running to the car and running into other cars, phew! When I run into the car park, I start running from my car to the office building which is a good half mile from here (and this area is so busy, you’d walk faster than you’d drive!). Trying to balance the notebook, files, and everything else while you are at a half run is difficult enough, as are the irritated glances of women into whom you nearly bump. I am not a despo, ma’am, just late, I say, but who’s to believe that? Hell, I nearly trip a couple of times. And then, it happens. Don’t know why fate has to play such games with us mortals. As I turn and take a right into a shortcut lane, I see her. At the other end of the lane, the most beautiful face I have seen is walking towards me at a brisk pace. And suddenly, there is no rush, no traffic, and no haste. There is no sight except for her walking towards me; no sound except for my heart beating wildly. For that moment, I felt that time had expanded into what seemed like millennia. I couldn’t think, just felt. Felt my heart. Felt my faculties were all sharpened and trained on her: I could sense the warmth of her breath, the rustle of her clothes as she walked (romantic, eh?). Hell, I could even feel the itch in her head before she scratched! She had seen me too. I could tell that by the way her pristine blue eyes looked into mine. Try as she might, she could not suppress her inner turmoil, nor hide it from me. There was stormy emotion in her eyes, and a divine glow on her face. She looked away, trying to ignore my presence, then she lifted a beautifully carved hand to flick her silky hair-something she would always do when she want to divert her attention. She couldn’t, I knew. She couldn’t look away from me, for long. She tried to admire other things on the scene, like the street light, an old granny, porches, a beaten-up pick-up truck. And whilst she was doing this her face transformed in a bewildering array of expressions of such diversity that I was left amazed, like it always happened. She then tried to sneak a look at me without letting me know. She did it again, trying hard not to let me know. Little did she know that she couldn’t. She couldn’t hide herself from me, not in this life. Finally, she decided she couldn’t resist me. So she looked straight into my eyes with the intent to kill me. She nearly did, for I could’ve drowned in her gaze if I didn’t look away just once. When I looked back, there was both shock and surprise waiting for me…. In the form of a tear. A tear that was in her eye, a tear which stood for everything- for her desire, her constraints, her helplessness, and above all, her love. We crossed paths without as much as a greeting, but more was said than could be by mere dialogue. The heart never uses spoken language for what it wants to say, it uses something much superior; much more subtle, and much more refined. When the spell was finally broken, I ran back to the drudgery of my office, dazed. I had felt like a lot of time had been lost, while in fact, I would still reach on the same time I had earlier projected. However, now I wouldn’t mind my boss firing me for being late. I have been reminded of a loss much greater than a job.