When I got home, I had this sense of urgency overtaking me. I needed to read those diary entries and I needed to read them fast. The faster I read them, the closer I could get to Eleanor and God, did I want to be close to her. I wanted to get inside...
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I love my wife. Everything about her had me hooked from the moment I first laid eyes on her. It was like I was in a movie and in that moment we were the only two people that existed in the entire universe. How beautiful.
I was never someone to believe in moments like that. I thought they were silly and impracticable even, but something about my lover made it all different.
She was passing by the coffee shop I was sitting in and I happened to look up for just a moment from my phone, having been nose deep in an article about a woman who was stalked and murdered the week prior, found dead in an alley not far from here. Then, that's when I saw her. The suffocating, frightening article completely slipped my mind when I looked at her. Everything bad in the world disappeared when I laid my eyes on her.
Imagine I hadn't looked up? I would have never married her and that would have been tragic. I would have gone my whole life searching for someone like her, unable to fill the desire that I had inside.
She had short blonde hair, but not quite exactly blonde. Maybe a dark blonde perhaps? A light brown? I'm sure you can picture it. It ever so slightly brushed against the skin on the top of her shoulders. The glare on the window made it hard to see the colour of her eyes, but I thought blue. A deep blue, just like the ocean. I had managed to catch a quick glimpse at them as she bent over to pet one of the three dogs that were accompanying her while the other two did some sniffing on the tree just in front of the coffee shop. I was happy my vision was impeccable, otherwise I would have missed out on these details.
Were those her dogs? I was never one to be great with breeds but one was a golden retriever, that I knew for sure. Who doesn't know what a golden retriever looks like? The other was smaller, maybe a corgi? To this day I'm not sure and I don't really think I can ask my wife about it, but I'll get into why later - or perhaps you'll find out on your own.
The last dog was something I had never seen before, probably a mix of a dozen different breeds.
I watched her as she pulled out a little plastic baggie from a roll she had attached to her jeans, bending down and picking up the dog's waste. She even made picking up dog shit seem majestic. I couldn't believe it.
Her cheeks were rosy red, with a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek. It was particularly hot that day, I remember. She gracefully wiped it off with the back of her hand and I could tell that she let out a sigh, tossing the baggy into the garbage beside the shop.
I sipped my coffee and examined her while she pulled out her phone to check the time, before scurrying off down the sidewalk. I remember I couldn't think, I had no rational thoughts going through my head as I watched her disappear from my view. I just knew I wasn't ready for her to be gone so soon.
Before I knew it, I was standing up, shoving my phone in my pocket and I practically tripped over my own two feet hurrying out of the shop, turning my head to see where she was going.
After following this perfect creature for a couple minutes, my eyes locked in on her, I realized I must look strange to bystanders. Nobody was looking at me, but I didn't want it to look like I was following her in case someone was watching. I guess I was following her, but that's not how I like to think of it.
I was merely observing her, painting a mental picture of her in my head. The thought of her disappearing from my sight was a tragedy I didn't want to experience just yet.
I took my phone back out and placed it to my ear, having pretended to be on a very important phone call, deep in conversation, listening intently while I continued to follow her down the busy sidewalk, keeping a safe distance.
I didn't want to scare her, I just wanted to watch her for a little while longer.
Does that sound creepy? I don't mean for it to sound creepy. I just couldn't get enough of her.
Staring at her for those short two minutes in the shop wasn't enough for me. I didn't think anything would be truly enough when it came to her, if I'm being honest.
I hope this story I'm telling comes across as what it truly is, a love story. A love story where the guy gets the girl and they fall in love, get happily married and live out the rest of their days in true bliss.
Maybe once you keep reading, it won't seem like that kind of story to you, but please, remember what I just told you.
