It’s the first rain of the season. Most people sitting in the coffeehouse were wet, some less, some more. The rain hasn’t stopped completely yet, but it's still going on. The minds of people enjoying the fragrance of wet soil. The waiters in the coffeehouse, with plates of breakfast and coffee in their hands, were running around serving the customers. There's a middle-aged man sitting on the counter, repeatedly ringing the bell and collecting bills from customers.
A young man and the wet young girl, the heroine of this story, sit opposite each other, with their coffee mugs in front of them. Here, on the tables of the coffee house, were many lovers, unaware of each other, lost in each other, as if they were busy getting to know each other. It can be said that they reach such a deserted world of love for a moment, where there is no one except their lover and the very next moment, they return to the noise of the coffee house. Some youths are sitting and staring at the lovers.
Now you must be feeling that I was going to tell you a love story, but the truth is, there will be love, dreams, and ideals in every story of life, so I will not tell you about a common love story. I agree some stories are based only on love, but this is not a pure love story. It is a glimpse into the life of a girl living in the duality of our times.
The hero and heroine of this story both work in the same office, and because of their common nature, they are more than each other’s friends. It would not be right to call them friends, but both of them often sit in this coffee house and look for a future life in the coffee mugs. They bring their own coffee mugs to the coffeehouse and drink coffee in their own cups. Being their regular customers, the coffee house has no objection to this.
They say that these mugs will be witnesses to their love, words, and friendship. The girl was wet and her clothes sticking to her body as she had to walk in the rain from the parking lot to the coffeehouse.
If you get fascinated by grudges, just look inside yourself! Some such gentlemen were sitting right there, enjoying the girl’s body with their eyes. They were sitting in the coffeehouse, but their minds had gone out with the girl somewhere taking care of her body. Their eyes piercing the girl’s body inside out. The girl knew this, but she smiled and asked the young man, “Tell me, does every man look at women in the same way or is there any lens that sees through clothes?”
She smiled and said, “Do these people forget that we all have mothers and sisters who also move out?” Is everyone living hoping to fulfill themselves by connecting with somebody else’s body in such a weird way? I don’t understand why people treat women like this?"
The young man didn’t give an answer to the girl, but the words of the girl touched him deeply. She continued, “I agree that rape results from mental disorders, but I think it fills them with some void that they want to at any cost. Without thinking that, the person in front is also a human being."
Well, let me tell you that the young man has been in love with the girl since the day he saw her for the first time. He had told this to all his friends. Everyone in the office also understood his love. The girl also knew about his love, but she remained neutral. She never let him feel she loved him. The young man always thought the girl loved him too, or maybe not, but she never said a word.
Overall, he wanted to be with her every moment, regardless of what people thought. To change the subject, he said, “Hey, you said that you were going to say something special today.”
The girl came out of her thoughts, but she became more serious. She was staring at the coffee mug, as if asking him for permission to talk or not. The girl’s calmness was putting the young man in a kind of anxiety. Here, the young woman seemed to be lost somewhere in the past. She wanted to grab some edge where to start, but could not reach the exact point.
Both sat in a long silence. In the end, the young man spoke, “Would you say anything?”
The girl raised her head from the coffee mug and, as if she had just found out that she was sitting next to the young man and she was about to tell him something, “Today is my birthday“, said the girl.
The young man smiled and said, “No, I know it’s July 15th”
“No, you know nothing. We girls have many birthdates.” One when we come out of our mother’s womb, then when we live with someone in their house, like our own, another when we ourselves become mothers, and there are other birthdays as well.
The young man smiled and said, “Well then, madam, tell me which one of these you’re celebrating today?”
“I am not in the mood for jokes. Please listen seriously.”
“I am absolutely serious and curious about what I should know.”
"You know, I decided about my marriage on this day."
“Marriage?” The young man was speechless, unable to understand what to say. He felt as if he had reached another world outside of this coffeehouse. The girl was saying something, but the sound was not reaching his ears. Then something fell from the hand of a waiter and there was a loud sound. Maybe something broken, falling from the hand of someone and also inside the young man.
He returned to this world, ‘So today is your birthday?’ He could not meet the girl’s eyes. His uneasiness was clearly visible. Many questions came into his mind, but he was unable to ask anything. He felt that if he sat here any longer, he would suffocate, but he remained seated, looking at his coffee mug.
The girl was comfortable as if she knew in advance that the young man would feel this way. She said, “Today is not my anniversary. Today was the day, I got divorce.”
Hearing this, the young man raised his eyes and looked into the girl’s eyes, as if he wanted to see what was going on in the girl’s mind while saying this. He thought that perhaps his eyes might ask for sympathy by telling the story of his loneliness, asking for friendship or love, but there he found nothing. There was only desolation. Those eyes were saying that I do not want anything from you. I am just telling you what I am. For a few moments, both of them sat in front of each other saying nothing, as if they were not aware of each other’s existence.
Then the girl said, ‘You can say why didn’t I tell you earlier? Why keep you in confusion, etcetera! But why and how do I tell? Would you understand my mind? You may have understood, but I felt scared of everyone, everything. I could not believe anyone.
The young man remained stunned. The young man hurt by the behavior of the girl said, ‘Then why are you telling me today?’
The girl looked into the young man’s eyes and said, “Because you should know.”
For a moment, the young man felt that he was sitting with some unknown girl, whom he did not know at all. Her eyes looked completely innocent, though.
The girl started speaking again, “I don’t know what you think after knowing all the things, but whatever you think, I will not complain about it. At an age when my dreams were about to take off, just when I was learning to smile, I was suddenly married to someone who was not a match.”
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The young man now seemed completely restrained. He said, ‘I don’t know why you made such a decision, but I know no one wants to harm their future.”
The girl looked at the young man and said coldly, “Yes, to be honest, they raped my desires all the time, and people thought they were making me happy by doing so. To be honest, I could not connect with him. Every night he would come and find out what was in my body, knowing where he wanted to reach.”
After a little silence, she said again, “Whenever a lustful man looks at me, I shudder to the core... and you know how common it is for men to become erotic at the sight of a female body.”
The girl asked for two more coffees. After taking a light sip of coffee, she said, ‘I returned home and refused to go there again. In the beginning, everyone thought it was temporary, but I focused all my attention on my studies. Then, three years passed, I got a job and studied further, and today I am sitting with you. A year ago, I bought a flat.
He used to ask me to meet him again. One day, I met him in this coffeehouse. I told him about my thoughts. When I reminded him of what he did to me. He asked, “Why did you marry me if you were not ready for physical relations?” But, finally, he agreed to get a divorce. Now I am single, but not ready to... not for any coercive relationship”.
The girl took a deep breath and said, ‘Thank you, friend, for supporting me even without any questions or answers." She finished her coffee, took her mug in her hand as if saying goodbye. Both of them came out of the coffeehouse. The girl sat in her car.
"Wait", said the young man and ran back to the coffeehouse
"Story over... Girl silent... Young man silent... No dialogue," you'd think, but wait...
Then the young man paid the bill and reached for his coffee mug. The girl kept looking at the young man and the coffee mug in his hand. He came back and said, with full emotion in his voice, "How can we leave them here?"
"These mugs are the witnesses of our lives... Look! I brought mine too... Can you give me a place in your heart?"