"Why'd you ever have to say goodbye" she said just as she sat down on the bench, her eyes still looking out over the river.
I had been waiting, sitting at one end of the bench and hoping no one sat in "her place" before she arrived for our regular meeting. It was the first Friday of the month and, this time, it was a nice evening, the Spring air warmer and no rain, unlike last time when our meeting was brief due to the weather.
Lisa always said the same thing when she arrived, reminding and mocking me of my habit of saying 'goodbye' whenever we parted, even if I was just going to take the rubbish out. It hadn't always been like that, but as our relationship had matured, so doubts crept in and the 'cheerio', 'see you later' and simple 'bye' farewells turned to 'Goodbye'. "It sounds so final" she would say and part of me knew that it would be.
We had met on this bench, on the first Friday of a month, June. The weather had been good, the heat not yet stifling, helped by the breeze from the river. There was a nice view across the water, the pubs on the other side filling up and the chatter drifting across as I had sat quietly, just watching the tide start to ebb.
She had sat quietly that day, just the scrunch of her shoes on the gravel as she walked from behind, then stopped and turned to sit. I had glanced at her from the corner of my eye, but her stance made it clear she wanted the peace as much as I did. Some rowers went by, the 'shuck' noise of the sliding seat and the splash as the blades left the water providing a soothing rhythm.
"That seems like a waste of energy to me," She mumbled, after two had gone past, clearly racing. I laughed and agreed. It was then we turned and looked at each other and we both laughed for no reason, other than it seemed natural. We did the bashful hellos and said we were pleased to meet each other, then we turned and watched the water as it raced to the sea.
"Do you come here often?" I said, trying to think of something clever and failing. She laughed lightly, a warm sound that floated in the air like the scent of the trees and flowers strewn on the river from far upstream, the smell of fields washed down by rain and carried on the tide through the city. She turned to smile at me and I suddenly found it hard to breath.
"Not often enough." was her enigmatic reply as her eyes sparkled and a small smile formed at the corners of her lips, lips that were now making my pulse race as they then opened slightly as her smile widened.
Her face was odd, but in a way that made it stunning to look at. Wavy dark hair hung down to frame it, curling any way it liked and still looking stylish. Her eyes were dark, but didn't look brown, instead they shone with a hint of green, or grey, or just mystery, like the rest of her. The nose was slightly big, but not enough to really notice unless you stared at it, which was pretty much all I was doing now. It flattened as it went between her eyes and then it looked a bit crooked, but I couldn't tell if it went left or right, maybe it just curved. She had nice cheekbones and they made her dark eyes even harder to fathom. The chin was slightly squared off, but jutted out just enough so you couldn't really notice anything, unless you were staring. Her lips were perfect, just swelling nicely, a good shape and size and I shivered slightly as they parted a bit more. They were topped by the sharp lines of her philtrum. It was as if her whole face was leading to her mouth. She was smiling more now and I was wondering why until I realised I was really staring.
"Sorry." I mumbled and the warmth of exotic scents wafted past, bergamot, vetiver, lemons, lavender mixed in the air under the guise of her soft laughter.
A red flushed over her cheeks, matching mine and we both turned to look at the receding water.
The noise across the river got louder as the pubs filled. Laughter drifted over as did the clatter of glasses. It was the time of year when the evenings never ended, the daylight refused to go until the next day was close to starting. Overhead the swifts screamed as the twilight tried to take hold, flying up to feed and sleep as robins and blackbirds tried to sing the day to sleep.
"They sound as if they are having fun." She said quietly, not really mentioning who.
"Maybe they are." I replied, our voices quieter now as the stillness stilled, "But this is pretty good, to me anyway."
"Yes." She murmured, "I prefer this side of the river, you meet a better class of person." and there was a soft chuckle.
I wanted to leave, but I didn't want to leave her. We had barely spoken, but when we did it felt natural, not as if we had only met this evening. I didn't even know what time it was, I didn't care, but the night was creeping in and the tide long ebbed to almost nothing.
"Need to stretch my legs." I actually did as I had been sitting too long and I stepped closer to the edge of the path. There was a slipway where a rowing club would take to the water very close by and I moved to it and took a few steps down, out of the line of trees along the bank. I wanted to look at her, but didn't dare look back in case she had left. There was no sound, except from the revellers across the river and my mind swirling with thoughts too fast to catch.
There was the sound of feet moving on gravel, quiet, but I was listening for it. I fought to say something, to call to her, but I didn't know what to say. Anything, I decided, just say something. I turned and then jumped with surprise.
She laughed again, a deep real laugh from inside and bent back and then forward as my laughter encouraged more from her. She had moved, but to stand near me and I hadn't realised until I turned to try and talk to her as she left. We laughed together for a while and she giggled an apology for scaring me. Then we watched the sky turn orange in the west, the light turning the low stream to gold as it wiggled, resting ahead of the next surge from the sea to raise it up again.
"We should do this again." I laughed and she agreed. I was trying not to stare at her again and totally failing. Her smile was warmer and brighter than any summer day and I shivered under the heat. "Maybe tomorrow?" I muttered.
"What time?" She said quietly as my head imploded. I tried to act casual and my mind swam and then drowned in ideas. "Afternoons are nice here too, although there are a lot of dog walkers." I still couldn't think of anything to say, so nodded. She cocked her head to one side, waiting for my reply.
"Well." I managed to say after much thinking, "If it is too busy we can walk and find somewhere quieter." I was screaming at myself inside for such a great suggestion, I really had no idea where it had come from.
"I like that idea." she said and smiled, her eyes shining, but still not giving away their colour. "Two is a great time, I hear." I could only nod in agreement.
We stood and watched the darkness begin to win the battle with the summer evening, deep reds now streaking the sky as the cobalt moved overhead.
"I should go." She whispered.
"I will go too." I said, trying not to sound too keen. "I will walk you back to civilisation" I laughed as we both looked around to see no one around and darkness creeping through the trees along the riverbank. She smiled and we walked up the slipway before turning to take one last look at the end of a day as it sank into the rising river.
We walked slowly, glancing across at each other as we crept through the shadows.
"I don't know your name." I whispered as the last of the blackbirds serenaded us along.
"Lisa." She laughed. "Yes, guess that would help!" She chuckled.
"John. Nice to meet you Lisa." I said, quite formally, but chuckling a little.
"Nice to meet you, John." She laughed and then turned and held out her hand to shake mine. Her skin was warm and soft, I knew it would be, but I still had a little shiver as we touched. She looked into my eyes, but the darkness made it hard to see the colour, just the shine. Our hands dropped and lightly knocked together for an instant as we walked through the wooded bank, the trees covering us from the lights across the river.
I let my hand drift down and Lisa stumbled a little on the uneven path and I felt her hand brush mine and my fingers reached out. There was a small laugh from her as she stopped to steady herself and I felt her fingers close around my hand. "You ok?" I whispered and she giggled a 'yes' and we continued to amble along, our hands squeezing together now.
The light from the streets was harsh as we climbed up the path from the river next to the bridge. It was still quiet on this side, the party action in full swing across the river and drifting over. We walked together, my eyes drawn to the shadow of us, hands together as we moved slowly. "You can walk me to the bus stop, if that's ok?" She said quietly as the world retreated into night. I mumbled something, wanting the bus stop to be much further away.
"Which bus do you get?" I asked as our hands parted and she turned to look at me. She blushed a little and laughed.
"Erm. none, I just couldn't think where we could walk to." She laughed. "I live a few streets away." and her head nodded in the opposite direction to my flat.
"I could walk you home." I said, much too quickly.
Her eyes looked into mine, searching for something, slightly apprehensive. They were dark grey, or maybe dark green, the streetlights disguising them. "Where do you live then?" She said as her eyes shone again, obviously having found what she was looking for in mine.
I nodded my head in the opposite direction to hers had gone, "Just over there, a few streets back." I said, trying not to take my eyes off of hers.
She smiled and I struggled to stay standing. "I suppose you could walk me a bit closer, I mean, there are some crazy people around." She laughed and we both looked to see no one else on the street.
"Yeah, and some wild foxes." I added.
"Cats too, they can be quite aggressive, begging for scrunches." She laughed. "Come on, let's be brave." She said and nodded her head in the direction of travel. I followed and walked beside her, both of us glancing at each other and giggling, I felt something knock onto my hand and I moved it and hers slipped into it easily and naturally.
"Careful, there's a cat, it might mug us for strokes." I joked as we slowly moved through the darkening streets, the orange of the lamps bathing us.
"Yeah, be brave, walk unafraid." she laughed, "Don't give in, no matter how much it meows at us."
The cat looked at us and decided we were too wrapped up to bother with and lifted a paw to lick at before mooching down the street and vanishing into a driveway.
"Phew, that was close." Lisa laughed. "Talking of close, almost there." My heart sank a little.
"Are you sure, I thought it was around the block you lived?" I chuckled, hoping she would get the joke.
"Oh yeah, my mistake, sorry." She said firmly and we walked to the next street and turned left, slowly moving in the cooler evening air, not talking, just holding hands. "Next left, then left and left again." Lisa said and our pace slowed the closer we got.
