It was raining...

We gazed across a busy station to each other, and from that first moment I knew that I was hers. We did not speak that first time, nor second or third. We silently took sips of each other and savored them, not wanting to drink too much lest the intoxication cloud our judgement. We passed each other with a glance each day; a look that shook our souls and sounded out louder than an entire choir of lost souls. We looked and we waited and we knew. I didn't dare break the deafening silence lest I should dispel the charm we had woven over one another.

It was raining. We met in the morning, and met in the afternoon, coming and going on with our meaningless and tedious day to day existence. We met and we left and we knew. Then one day she walked up to me and grabbed me and led me towards the door I watched her depart through everyday. Still she did not speak but in her eyes was all I needed to know. Her eyes told a story of sadness and loneliness that at last had come to the ending. The happy ending. She spoke:

'You need a friend'?

I nodded, still too afraid to speak.

'As do I. You will be my friend'?

Her voice was soft and sweet, much as I imagined it would be, but it also had a faint metallic rasp, as though from disuse. I nodded again, and drank from her telling blue eyes. I knew I had to say something soon.

'Don't', she whispered, and covered her thin red lips with a single pale digit. We stopped and she looked back at me. 'Let it go for now'. She led me down the street, and soon the street narrowed to an alley, and soon the alley narrowed to a path. Along the path was a door.

Through the door was the first time I smelled smoked duck with her. She told me it was from the Chinese family that lived across the hall. She told me that they sometimes gave her smoked duck and dumplings. She told me she had nothing to give them but a smile, but that that was all they needed. The hall also smelled of pipe smoke and salt air and a thousand other odors amalgamated into one giant scent. It was not unpleasant. We came to her door and entered into each other's embrace.

'How did you know I needed a friend', I said at last.

'The same way you did', she squinted at me. 'I would rather you didn't talk, if you are only speaking to break the silence'.

I was only breaking the silence. I couldn't think of what to say so I asked a question that I knew the answer to. I couldn't stand this. My nervousness was palpable, and she was so cool. I thought of all the times I talked to her on my way home from work, and wondered why all those conversations went so brilliantly. All those brilliant imaginary conversations. I decided to relax, and then she smiled at me.

'There's one reason in particular that I love the rain, the humidity'.

'To help with loneliness', I answered. It was a statement, not a question.

'Umm-Hmm', she motioned me near. I was close enough to smell the perfume on her neck. She wore so little as to not be noticeable till then. 'Watch'. She inhaled deeply, then fogged up the window with her breath. 'Now, with your finger, write your trouble'. I leaned around her, noticing every detail, and fingered in: 'I A M A L O N E'.

'Good. Now we go to bed, and when tomorrow arrives your trouble is gone, do you understand'?

I nodded.

She mouthed to me silently: 'You are not alone'. I knew at that moment she was right. I stared out the window, right through my letters. It was raining. It smelled like smoked duck and pipe smoke. It felt like heaven. It smelled like salt air. When I turned around she was naked and beautiful. She didn't even know she was beautiful. A thousand men couldn't convince her of her fragile beauty. She didn't care. I stared at her skinny face and pale breasts until it was uncomfortable. She didn't care, so I stared some more. At last I came to her. She ran her finger along my chin, and traced my profile back and forth. I leaned in to her and sucked in as much as I could. With each inhale I felt my trouble dissolve. She broke away from me and circled me with an irrepressible gleam in her eye.

She was suddenly coy, and her coyness drove me mad. This didn't even register with her. She came forward and removed my shirt, and her hands moved up and down my chest. She pulled me forward and hid her face under my chin where she couldn't be seen. She giggled, and whispered in my ear: 'I want you to make love to me'.

She was on the bed and I followed, stepping towards the destiny we both knew from the start so many weeks ago. I choked on her pale beauty. It smelled like smoked duck and salt air and her perfume. It sounded like forever. It felt like for once in my life I was complete. Just for a moment, it's inside everything. Just for a moment I found myself reflected back in her pale beauty.

We awoke in the morning, satiated and hungry. It was raining and my trouble was gone.