All The Things I Thought You Knew — Part 2

I didn’t expect to see you there. I hadn’t come looking, but then again, maybe I’m always subconsciously searching for pieces of you wherever I go. It was just another café, just another ordinary morning where I walked in thinking about nothing in particular, but within seconds, my entire world narrowed to one table — your table.

You were sitting alone, book open in front of you, coffee half-empty and forgotten. I recognized the way your hair fell, the careful tilt of your head as you read, and the calm I used to envy about you. My heart stopped beating for a second, and then started again, faster than I remembered it could.

Before I had a chance to look away, you glanced up and saw me. Your eyes widened slightly. Not with surprise, exactly, but something heavier — maybe discomfort, maybe sadness, maybe both. You didn’t smile, didn’t nod, didn’t pretend we were strangers politely passing through each other’s worlds. You just quickly shut your book, pushed your chair back, and gathered your things.

In less than two minutes, you were gone.

I stood there, frozen, as I watched you disappear. It was strange, how easily you could still unsettle me, how quickly your leaving still felt like a loss, even when you aren’t mine to lose anymore.

I wanted to follow you and ask if you were okay. But how could I? It was obvious you weren’t, and I was part of the reason. Instead, I ordered my coffee, took a seat as far from where you had been as possible, and stared at the empty space you’d left behind. I wondered what you’d been reading, if the words on the page made more sense to you than our story ever had.

I wish we had spoken, even briefly. I wish you had stayed long enough for me to apologize — not for what went wrong, but for not understanding sooner. I wish I could’ve said something, anything, to make you stay in that chair just a little longer. But I didn’t say anything, and you didn’t wait.

I drank my coffee alone, quietly realizing once again how many things between us remained unfinished. How many feelings are left unresolved? How many questions do I still hold onto, too afraid to ask and too broken to forget?

All these things I thought you knew, but maybe you never did. And now, seeing you leave so quickly, I wonder if you ever will.

Note: This happened on 1st April 2025 at Galleria, Gurgaon.

Day 77/100

Third Wave, Platina

~ A

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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