Hennen's Observer

She was there again that night waiting for the bus with other ten or fifteen people. She was staring at the same direction of the street as all the other nights, without moving or giving signals of reaction. She was dressed the same; a canary-coloured t-shirt, tight jeans and black shoes.

He could not resist this time. I’ve got to talk to her, he thought.

He went up to her slowly and casually to avoid upsetting those thoughtful eyes which seemed lost in the night’s freezing cold. There was something inexplicable about this woman that attracted him.

Acting like a crocodile which eyes his prey, he was now next to her pretending nothing and behaving as if her stunning body had gone unnoticed. They were next to each other, but his presence was like the air for her; predictable and granted. He knew somehow that if he hadn’t talked to her, he could not see her again and he would have never forgiven himself.

He made a short list of possibilities in his mind but none of them seemed suitable. If they were in a club surely everything would have been different. The music, the alcohol, the crowd; all these things would have contributed to the success in winning that beautiful woman. There had never been a woman who refused his romance. Why should she?

He was an attractive young man with a strong body and blue eyes. He was tall and had tattoos spread all over his arms. There was nothing that that woman would not enjoy.

He had several relationships in the past but only one had been seriously important to him, the rest were pure fun. Nevertheless, he had never met such a mystical and dangerous woman as this lady at the bus stop. He was so attracted to danger and hard tasks that sometimes he was looking for complicated situations on purpose, and he was always successful. His ego and unconsciousness were stimulating by the challenge.

There wasn’t a particular reason for being like that; it was just the way he was born. On the contrary, his friends always told him it depended on his Spanish background. They were convinced that Latin men, such as Spanish, Italians or Brazilians, have a natural sex-appeal which makes them irresistible to women’s eyes. He had to believe in that as results had always been satisfactory. However, he attributed part of his success to the hundreds of hours he was spending at the gym. All women love muscles. It’s like a drug for them. When they eye a muscle man, they behave like a magnet reacting efficiently to the opposite pole. Sometimes he wondered, what’s so special in those muscles? As a matter of fact, all they do is touching skin whether you’re muscled or not.

All of a sudden, he dropped his bag on the floor in which he was carrying his work uniform; it made such a substantial bang that everybody looked at him offensively; everyone apart from her. First attempt to get her attention miserably failed.

What if she were deaf? It didn’t really matter to him. What really mattered was that the more she ignored him, the more excited he became. From that point onwards, he realised that that woman was not an easy prey at all. Bring it on, he thought. She likes to gamble, he likes to win it.

About twenty minutes or so had passed by; the sky was getting slowly darker at first but faster as soon as he intentionally missed yet another bus.

That was it; he had to talk to her without ifs or buts. He made a few steps closer and when he was standing right behind her, he began “Excuse me Miss, may I ask you what the time is now?” The lady said nothing. Therefore, he tried anew clearing his voice first “Excuse me miss, may I just ask what the time is now? You see, I don’t wear a watch and forgot my phone at work. I’m afraid I’ve missed my bus because I’m waiting for it in a while”.

The bitch didn’t answer him. Damn you! Not only you’re not answering me, but you don’t even look at me. This is getting embarrassing for me now. He said to himself.

Meanwhile, an old and laboured man approached him and said “Are you all right, son?” his voice was as kind as if he was talking to a five years old kid.

“Get lost grand-pa. I’m not talking to you, am I?”, he replied arrogantly.

The poor man stood in astonishment, then turned back to his bench and looked at him disgustingly as if he was almost scared.

He didn’t know why that girl was ignoring him, but he certainly knew he wasn’t going to give up that easily. It might have been a kind of tactics that woman was using.

He picked up his bag that was still reversed on the dirty floor and moved in front of her in defiance and even more curiosity.

Closely, her eyes were the colour of the ice; almost invisible and unreal. He had never seen in his whole life such beautiful eyes. He was hypnotized by the magnificent brightness that was released and crashed into his pupils. For a moment of second, he was left speechless and empty minded.

When he finally found the words, the only thing he managed to say was the one of repeating himself by asking what the time was. Not surprisingly, she disregarded his question again and kept looking beyond his shoulder. He, then, turned behind to see what she was staring at for such a long time. But there was nothing special really. He had to admit he began to feel uncomfortable. The situation was slipping out of his hands, and he definitely didn’t want that.

“All right, love. You win. I do have my phone with me and I don’t care about the time. Can you just tell me your name? If I’m not asking too much.” She stayed motionless and did not blink an eye.

“Damn it! Can you tell me something? Just tell me to fuck off, but say something.” He shouted.

Everyone at the bus stop looked at him as if he was mad or insane and left in a hurry. Some were laughing, especially the youngest, others were just disturbed or even scared by him. What was going on? What was that supposed to mean?

He looked back at the girl. She was still in the exact position.

“Have you got any fucking clue why everyone left?”. Was he talking to the wall or something?

His ego was getting defeated. For the first time, a woman managed to make him feel modest and unwanted.

It can’t be. This is not happening to me. He was repeating himself.

He then stepped backwards and sat on the bench, but held his look at her.

“Listen, I really like you. I think you are stunning. I didn’t mean to be rude before. I just wanted to know your name, that’s all.”

This was his plan B every time he was finding difficulties in approaching a girl: playing the sweet and sorry guy who understands all of a sudden how to behave nicely and gently with a woman. It was a tactic too, of course.

“Should we start all over again?” He made a pause and then said “My name is Richard, what’s yours?”

“Christina”. Her voice was finally revealed.

“Hi, Christina. You eventually decided to talk to me. Well, it is something. How old are you, Christina?” Maybe I went too far, he regretted immediately.

“Ok, I see I’m not allowed to know your age. Fair enough, may I ask at least where you’re from originally?”

He stood up and walked very slowly towards his prey. Frankly, he didn’t care if she wasn’t talking much. All he wanted was just a good shag and the satisfaction of winning on women once again.

“Christina, what a beautiful name! Did you know that Christina means follower of Christ?”

His voice was getting lower and lower, trying to be convincing and reassuring.

“In Christianity they say that Saint Christina had a near-death experience in which she claimed to have seen heaven and hell. Do you believe in hell, Christina?”

He was standing right behind her now with his mouth whispering in her ear. “Do you believe in saints, Christina?” He let a soft and a barely perceptible blow into her ear. She had no reaction but welcomed his breath and the touch of his hands across her hips.

“I know your game. You want me to sweat before I can have you, don’t you?”

The noise of the cars stopped and silence was the only sound feeding his brain. Then, with his lips skimming over her ear’s outlines, he whispered “Why are you staring constantly at the same direction, Christina?”

“I'm looking at the place where you ran over me with your car and killed me instantly, Richard!” she whispered back.