Whirlwind Romance Sale

Downtown was toxic with all these people, considering all the office folk were still at work. She had an internship interview at the Woolworth Building, and I was picking her up. Her session was done—thank god; I hated waiting—and we heading for the subway across the park.

She was bitching about how the lady she talked to was ridiculously formal. “Hello? Just hire me, okay?” she wanted to tell her. “You’ll just tell me to gofer this, gofer that, make you coffee and kiss your ass, so I’d pass my practicum.”

And then, she talked about this sale along Fifth Avenue. “It is awesome, honey. They’re cleaning out their footwear stock, so the prices are unbelievably cheap! We really have to go.”

Sure, it was a good deal—if you considered three hundred dollars for these things you’d just step on as cheap. Not to mention that whooping fifteen percent discount, of course.

I wasn’t so keen on Midtown, but about that particular sale—jesus give me a break! That lousy shop’s been on sale for three months! Clear out the inventory my ass! My girlfriend was as gullible with stupid sales stints, like some kid who believed in some heavyweight, red-suited geezer climbing down a chimney. If it weren’t for her pretty face, I would’ve left her.

That, and the sex, I mean.

So we were walking past the park when strong winds suddenly blew, making all the dirt fly into the air for several moments. When it died, I put an arm around her waist and thought to myself.

She straightened out her hair and looked at me. “What.”

I shrugged. “It’s interesting.”

“Interesting? You mean, getting dirt in your eyes? That is so not interesting, honey.”

“I meant the whirlwind.”

“What whirlwind?”

I rolled my eyes. “The one that just passed? All that crap flying all over the place? It got me thinking about a love story.”

“A love story? Like a whirlwind romance?”

“I’ve got my own interpretation.” I took a cigarette from my pocket. “You see, before you fall in love, you’re like scattered leaves around the park here, worlds apart and all. And then, love happens—the whirlwind—and you’re swept up from where you were.  You’re all caught-up in the moment, your thoughts and emotions spinning like mad! And when it ends, you settle back down to the real world. After that, you’ve got the memory of the whirlwind in your head. If you were a leaf along the sidewalk, you’ll remember that short span of time when you were, even for just a few seconds, closer to the skies.”

What I said was totally poetic.

“But honey, short love’s just a fling-thing.”

I frowned. “And what about Romeo and Juliet—you’d call what they had some kind of one night stand?”

She beamed. “You are so correct! They get married, and Romeo has sex with Juliet for one night. The next day, she dies on him. So Romeo kills himself. And then Juliet, like, you know, dies again—this time for real.” She shook her head. “That is so tragic, honey.”

The way her brain worked was tragic.

We reached the subway, descended the stairs, and waited by the platform. The 4 train rumbled in the distance.

“So, you and your dad pushing through with vacation plans?” she said.

“Yeah. Off to the Philippines this summer.” I glanced at her. “You know where that is?”

She thought to herself. “Asia, right?”

“No. Africa.”

“Really?”

I shook my head and chuckled to myself. The train roared across the tracks.

“Honey?” she shouted amidst the noise.

“What.”

“A sale’s like a love story, too.”

I looked at her and said nothing.

“Because it’s short and everything, and people like me get really caught up in it, right?”

The 4 came to a stop. The car doors opened.

I smiled. “Cher, just get on the damn train.”