Once a Man

Ava was captivated by the beauty of Amstel River as she sipped on her much-needed dose of caffeine. The river flowed like a stream of glass, quietly and peacefully in the warm afternoon of July. Most tourists in Amsterdam refer to the Amstel River as just another canal, but it was much more than that. It was the river that caused Amsterdam to come into existence. The downstream portion now simply fed into the canal system of Amsterdam giving the impression that the Amstel just stopped.

Ava was quite fascinated when one of the old draw bridges across the canals needed to open to allow a vessel of a commercial barge to pass through. She didn't notice that Zane was already standing in front of her, ready to take a photo.

"Rot op vuile teringslijer!" Ava cursed under her breath as she realized that he took a photo of her.

Zane didn't mean to scare her. He was just mesmerized of her that he forgot that Ava didn't like to be on photos. "Sorry," he apologized as he tried to wipe the spilled coffee on Ava's shirt.

"No, just...don't," Ava tried to calm herself. Panic rose in her body. Her knees got weak, and she couldn't even stand even if she wanted to. Anxiety curled into her stomach and her clammy hands started to tremble.

Zane sat beside her, patting her back. "Baby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Ava gripped his hand. She was surprised that she managed to react like that.

"Don't call me baby." Zane cringed, her strength could be equal for a man. Is she PMS'ing? Zane thought.

"I'm going home," she distraughtly headed to the bus stop. She knew that she had been overreacting. Is it because of my menstruation and the lining of my uterus sheds and such...? She grimaced at her thoughts.

"Hey, honey bunny, Kitten? Sugar booger? Shmoopy poopy? My little smoochy-kin? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I won't do that again," Zane knelt in front of her and all the people around them were already staring and laughing.

He never felt this way to any woman before, not even to his ex, Amanita. Amanita broke up with him a year ago when Zane complained about her perfume and fifty shades of makeup.

Broken-hearted, or pretending to be, rather, he wandered around the Central Library. And that's where he met Ava. She was there reading books about curse and magic.

The librarian warned him not to approach her for she was a witch, but he didn't listen. If she was really a witch, she was probably the most beautiful witch he had ever seen, or maybe, she really was, for she enchanted him already.

"You just met your soulmate!" his dad said. "You should never let her go."

And he didn't.

He visited the Central Library until he gathered all his strength to talk to her. When her Jade-green met his sea-farer blue eyes, he knew that his dad was telling the truth and he was really lucky. No, lucky was an understatement, he was blessed.

With the echoing voice of his dad in his head... "Never let her go."

He uttered words he never even said to Amanita before. "Marry me."

Ava just stared at him that time and smiled. "Calm down dude."

***

"Stop that," Ava scowled. Why am I so emotional? Is it hormones? I hate being a woman! I hate this body! she buried her face in her hands in shame and distress.

All she wanted right now was to go home and hide. She was not really mad with Zane. She was the one who was being unreasonable.

"Boo-Bah-Bear? My Fiber-Optic-Cable of Desire? Snuggle Wuggle Woogie Pumpkin? My Ava, purest of them all?" Zane looked at Ava like an abandoned puppy in the middle of Mars and she couldn't resist him anymore.