If I were a betting man, my money would be stacked by heaps on the possibility that love happens on first sight. That moment when two clouds collide but in the fraction of a second before any sound or lighting is created, that is the moment when love happens.
But, as it turns out, love doesn't happen in that manner. At least that is the way it did not happen for me in that way. For me, it happened on a breezy summer day over a hot cup of coffee when I saw her swaying to the guitar riff of Guns and Roses' Sweet Child 'O Mine.
It was just another day for me at the office. Being a marketing consultant, I take immense pride in the fact that I do not have an office and mostly get to work out of cafes and restaurants and having the wait staff as friends is an added bonus. Being shy is another reason this situation helps me immensely. No interactions with people not only helps me focus more on my work but it grants me the benefit of avoiding aimless banter.
So, as I went about my work in one of my favourite open-roof cafe', I was distracted by the music playing in the background. Now I know what you might be thinking; most open-roof cafes have music playing non-stop. But on this particular occasion it was distracting to me. Maybe because the person playing the music was constantly shuffling between songs or it was the fact that that I had read and re-read the same slide of my presentation over and over again because some part of my brain was humming the songs that were playing.
Distracted from my work, I decided to take a break and ordered a cup of coffee for myself and decided to strongly rebuke the faux-DJ who seemed to be mercilessly intruding on my concentration.
That is when I saw her for the first time. Holding the music system hostage, holed in a corner, wearing a black sweater and blue jeans, trying futilely to zero down on a song of her choice that would best reflect her mood at the moment.
I quietly walked up to her with the intention of berating her for disturbing my much needed peace of mind. That is when she give a small squeak of victory, chose Sweet Child O' Mine and decided to jive to the song. I seated myself on the chair nearest to me decided to wait for the song to be over to begin my verbal assault on her. (Though, I have to admit, I am a classic rock buff myself so her taste in music earned her some brownie points in my book.)
And I have to admit, I all but lost all ability to speak when I saw the vision in front of me. She possibly had the most delicate features on a clueless albeit cute face that I had come across in 23 years of existence on earth.
But I was rudely awakened from my trance by a phone call from the client whose presentation I had been working on, who was audibly pissed because I had missed my call with him that was scheduled about fifteen minutes ago.
By the time I managed to calm his nerves over the phone and assure him that things were on track and he would receive the presentation as promised, I turned back to her and give her an earful before I headed back to my work.
Seeing her fiddling with the volume dials, I saw it as an opportune moment to make my move. So, taking long strides in her general direction, I reached out my hand and gently tapped her on her shoulder.
"Let me guess, you want the volume turned down so that you can get back to your oh-so-boring presentation?" She said to me before I could even get a word in.
"As a matter of fact, the volume is not quite bothering me. It is the rapid succession of songs that is disturbing me. I mean, if you would let a song finish, you might enjoy it just as much," I replied curtly.
"So, I guess you have never had a mood, have you?" She asked, without turning and continuing to shuffle songs on the iPod that was connected to the sound system.
"Who says I have not? I most certainly have had those. It is just that I need to get over with this presentation and if you would be kind enough to let the playlist take its logical progression rather than constantly messing with it, you would be doing me a huge favour," I said to her and turned to get back to my pending work.
"So what would you have me play for you, your highness?" She asked me, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Anything from The Beatles, the Foo Fighter or the Fleet Foxes would do, quite honestly," I said without turning, knowing that my simmering anger would disappear if I laid my eyes on her.
With that, I continued my walk back to my laptop and got into the zone. The cold cup of coffee by my laptop was now a reminder to me how much time had passed between my calling for a break and getting back to work.
