Circles.

It was that point in the evening where the clouds began to cover the city. Staring at what stars you had to struggle to see, it starts to become easier to notice that something else was going on in the sky. The clouds begin their graceful dance to come together and envelop the city. As if they wanted to rock everyone to sleep in their embrace; to shield everyone from the fears of the night. And there she stood. Tonight wearing her silver sexy-yet-functional heels, her favorite and most versatile little black dress, the floating diamond necklace from her mother, and her hair perfectly straightened hanging just past her shoulder blades. She turned when she heard someone coming, and immediately put out her Marlboro light. It was Stephen.

“How many times to I have to tell you to quit that shit?” He was leaning in the doorway to the terrace with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his jacket at his side. “Damn he looks good tonight.” She thought quietly to herself. He wore his Gucci black pinstripe suit that night, with a sky blue dress shirt rather than the typical white, and the matching pinstripe tie he got for Christmas years ago. “Well you know the more you tell me not to, the more I’m gonna want to do something.” She said playfully as she put her pack of cigarettes back into her purse. “What the hell are you doing here so early anyway?” she asked. “Maybe I just thought I’d keep you company. Want a drink?” he then asked her. She turned back around to face out again and responded with a quick, “No.” And then he asked, “So what do you want to do?” “I just want to stand here for a while, if that’s okay.” “Yeah, okay.” So he stood by her leaning on the balcony as well. Without saying a word, with the both of them knowing that just being with each other was enough.

It had been years since they had seen each other. She left to travel the world and find her purpose, only to settle in New York City a year later. He stayed and did everything he set out to do: law school, the six figure salary to start, everything. But before that, they were in love. At one point they were even thinking about getting married. But as so-called cynics say, you can’t live off of love. So she left. And now here they were, standing side by side waiting for their best friends’ rehearsal dinner to start.

It’s quite strange seeing where life takes you, and even stranger how many times, it merely leads you back to where you started.