Waiting

Leila was sitting with her chin in her hands. Her eyes tracked the progress of a bee as it flew

around a flower before finally settling inside it.

‘Who are you waiting for?’

Leila looked up suddenly, startled by the sudden voice. An old man was staring down at her, his

eyes crinkled by the sides and his face solemn.

‘Oh,’ Leila cleared her throat, sitting up. ‘I’m just waiting for my friend.’

The man nodded and sat down on the other bench.

Leila twisted her fingers in her lap, and from the corner of her eye, she peeked at him and saw

the man gathering up his items in his arms and laying them beside him. He was carrying a large

bag filled with fruits. Leila saw apples and oranges before the man caught her looking and she

turned her face away quickly.

An awkward silence filled the space, Leila fidgeted but the man was sitting perfectly fine, eyes staring

ahead at the bustling road.

‘So,’ Leila broke the silence, unable to take it any longer. ‘Who are you waiting for?’

The man sighed. ‘My wife,’ he said. ‘She’d be here any moment now.’

Leila turned towards him, puzzled.

‘Your wife?’ she repeated. ‘She comes to pick you up? Like in a car-?’

The man chuckled and shook his head. ‘Oh no no. She works in a college and we plan to meet

here everyday before going back home.’

Leila nodded, turning her face ahead again. A smile tugged at her lips, at the thought that this

man and his wife would coordinate their departures like this but more questions were rising

inside her. Didn’t he have children to help him? Where did he work? Was his wife a professor?

Leila looked up as a woman walked their way. She wore a dark blue darb and her head was

covered with a long shawl that trailed behind her like a banner. She reached the man who stood up to meet her. The woman greeted him before beginning to talk rapidly in a foreign language. 

The man raised his eyebrows every once in a while as the woman talked and turned his head

sideways to smile at Leila.

This time Leila smiled back.

She watched the two walk through the walk way, the woman chatting all the way.

Leila sighed deeply.

What a funny thing, love, she thought with a smile.