by Noleen Wyatt-Jones

Created on: February 15, 2011

They met on Valentines Day as they had done for more years than either cared to remember. They were neither strangers nor lovers. Somewhere in between the two extremes was something that described them perfectly. Neither was tied to anyone else but somehow the idea of marriage had never arisen. They first met when they were young. It was during a war; a time when all the rules changed and friendships came out of the most unlikely beginnings. Neither was in their own country when they first met on that distant Valentines Day but both were equally lonely. They shared something that day, something that was to stay with them throughout their lives. They drank a coffee, dark and bitter but warming, and more than that they shared each other as they sat for hours just talking. When they parted it was as if they had known each other forever. They made a pact to meet the following year in the same place, and so it began the pattern repeating itself year after year. The location changed over time but never the day. He got in the habit of bringing her a flower and she bought him a chocolate; something sweet to detract from the bitterness of the coffee they always drank. They laughed once as they both admitted that neither of them liked coffee but still they drank it as if changing it would damage what they had. People would look at then curiously as they didn't seem to match but they were oblivious to all around them, just intent on those precious few hours together. They held hands across the table, fingers entwined, neither wanting to be the first to let go. He always paid the bill and she always left first, and neither would look back.These little rituals had become the mainstay of their relationship. Inevitably the year came when both had to admit that they were physically unable to meet again. Both were now reliant on walking sticks and their stoops were indicative of their advancing years. They decided to forgo their usual coffee and instead chose a glass of champagne and as they toasted each other they could see a whole lifetime reflected in each others eyes. Now would have been the time for a declaration of love but words were not necessary to convey the depth of feeling. They never met again.

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