Please don't be him!

By: Ivy Daily

(Ivy Daily has an original style of writing. This is her first story she wrote for an assignment in creating writing class in Winter 2008.)

The first time Christina heard "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters, she had just landed at Shripol airport in Amsterdam. He had texted her and told her he would be a few minutes late meeting her, so she took to the time to familiarize herself with her surroundings and to “people watch”. She enjoyed taking in the view of the diverse culture: people oblivious to the fact that they should dislike each other because had different colored skin. She was enjoying being out of America just for this little piece of heaven.

She had only seen one little photo of him in the six years they had known each other online. Would she recognize him when he did get there? She looked around the airport: that could be him over there….or maybe that’s him? Suddenly she noticed the fair-haired tall stranger searching the airport with his eyes obviously looking for someone. He was an incredibly beautiful human being. She thought to herself: “Please don’t be him” as thoughts of self-doubt and negative body image entered her head. Sure enough, his eyes met hers and he smiled. She fell instantly in love with him.

It seems that it is customary to have coffee in Amsterdam so before they even left the airport; he suggested they have a cup. Her heart beat so loud, she could barely make out the words from his wonderful mouth. They sat, they talked but her eyes never met his, even when he lowered his head and ducked down to force her to look at him. It got so bad that she once even turned away so she could talk without being nervous. She felt like a school girl again.

Over the course of the next week, they spent every waking moment together. She did not want to go to sleep for fear she’d miss something. She felt “Plain Jane” but the Dutchman made her feel “Grace Kelly”. He treated her like a queen: opening doors for her, ordering meals for her, cooking for her, serenading her by guitar. He spent his money freely on her lavishing her with her heart’s content and beautiful hotel rooms. As each day passed, it became easier to look into those eyes and she lost herself in the still blue lake beyond them. She found herself missing him already even though she was still in his presence.

She had never in her life met a man like him. He was intelligent, spiritual, sensual and the best part was he laughed at her jokes. And when he smiled, she could see the joy in his eyes. He was as great a listener as he was a speaker. He held on to her every word. This was something very new and exciting to her as most of the men in her life had relegated her to be seen and not heard. Their last night together, they stayed up all night talking. He tried to convince her to extend her trip one more day. Tears filled their eyes as they knew, in a matter of hours, they would have to say goodbye.

As they said goodbye at the airport, it was apparent he had fallen in love with her as well.