Meeting Her

The anticipation to see her, finally, was too much. I stood with the bouquet of red, thorny foliage by my side, waiting for her to take its place. 

The train station in Glasgow had been busier, but still was bustling with excitement. People meeting friends, colleagues and loved ones everywhere; I was one of the latter. I had seen so many people run and hug and kiss their partners. I wondered if they were first meets or regular meets. I wondered if any were married, how long they'd been together and if they had been doing this a lot. 

This wasn't our first meeting; it wasn't even our tenth. But it certainly felt like it. In the nearly five years we had been together, this was the longest we hadn't seen each other for.

I looked up at the board to see if her train was arriving soon and felt a sudden flutter in my chest. The excitement started to grow and I could feel my heart beat faster. My palms grew sweaty from holding the roses in my left hand, making the wrapping texture feel damp. Five minutes.

The woman in the flower shop had wrapped them in tissue paper, then clear plastic and then a more paper-type wrap in a dark grey, so they brightness of the red roses stood out. The scent was intoxicating, so I kept breathing it in to ensure the smell didn't go away and they were fresh for her. 

An announcement distracted me from my thoughts, but made my temperature rise: her train was pulling in at platform five. 

I stood from my seat in the rows in front of the platform gates, looking the length of the arriving train to spot her. Her infectious, permanent smile was hard to miss. The almond shape of her eyes made her face that much more memorable, too. But her hair! It was a mixture of auburn and brown, depending on how the light hit it. She always looked spectacular in a setting sun; the reds exaggerated and made everything prettier. 

She was pulling her illuminatingly white suitcase behind her on two wheels instead of the usual four because two of them had cracked. As she came through the ticket gate, her face changed from her usual resting look to the most incredibly gorgeous smiling image I had ever seen as she spotted me standing here with the bouquet of roses for her. She started running, closing the gap between us, and when she was just a metre in front of me, she jumped into my arms finally. I held her waist as she wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around mine. Her perfumed scent filled my nose - apples. Her hair felt so comforting in my stubbled cheeks as we stood there, embracing each other for what felt like eternity. Hell, I would stand here with her for eternity. Always.

As she let her legs drop to the floor, I felt a small hint of sadness; until she kissed me. Her arms still wrapped around my neck, mine found their way to her face as we carried on our greeting. I felt the eyes of passers-by gazing, but I didn't care. She was here, again. Finally.

It had been months since last we saw each other. Months since our last embrace. Sure, we messaged every day and video-called every night. It just wasn't the same as holding her in my arms and breathing in the smell of her skin. She still made me feel like I had five years ago, when we first met.

I had been walking through Manchester on a business trip and left the office for lunch. I walked along Deansgate Mews deciding where to go, looking up and not actually paying attention to my footing. I guess I must've put a foot down wrong because I ended up in a tangled mess with this head of brown hair. But, when the top of this head eventually looked up at me, I was dumbstruck. I tried to fumble back up to my feet, helping the goddess before me, while attempting to let the words "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention" leave my lips.

When she smiled at me, with that half smile that showed her dimple in her left cheek, I fell in love. When she spoke I was intoxicated with every word she said. I knew I had to know her.

These last five years have been the greatest of my thirty. Her love has made me the happiest man on earth, and if she says yes, that will continue.