Encounter on Saturday mornings.

It’s Saturday morning again. My only time for peace. 

Since starting this awful job months ago, I couldn’t paint as much as I wanted to. Stressful work and overtime took every ounce of my energy during the week. The thought of holding a brush had become exhausting. I couldn’t paint for weeks, before I managed to force myself to grab my art supplies, went to the park, and painted on one Saturday morning. Now, it has become a routine.

You have no idea how relieving it is when the weekdays are over. I can take my time waking up, open my windows, and enjoy breathing the fresh air of this lovely city. It gives me a burst of energy to get prepared, grab my supplies and take my time walking to the park. 

I currently live in a lovely neighbourhood. I picked this street because of how lovely this part of the city is. I wish you can see it for yourself. When I’m out of my apartment, every morning, a lovely scent of freshly baked pastries and bread just fills the air. There are many bakeries around this area. I count five just on my street. My favourite is John Baker’s Bakeries.The baker, John, is around 60 years old now. I think. For some reason, he has the typical baker look. Chubby tummy with a moustache. Is it typical? I don’t know. Anyways, my point is he makes the fluffiest buns. Ever. He’s been doing it since he was 10. Imagine that.

“Good morning, John!”

“Good morning, Leah! To the park as usual?”

“Yup. As always, every Saturday morning. Can’t miss a day. Otherwise I can’t wake up on Monday.”

“You know, dear. Perhaps give it some thought to find another job one of these days. You’ve done great so far I’m sure. But you know, for how long? 

I just smiled and went silent for a moment.

“And here is also your usual. Five freshly-baked cream-filled buns.”

“Okay…that’s 7 dollars and…”

“You know what? Just take the buns. My treat.”

“Wait, What? Are you sure?” 

“Yeah! You’ve been coming here regularly ever since you moved. Take it as a thank you for giving me good business. And you could use some goodness once in a while, dear.”

“You know what, John? I guess you’re right. I’ll give your advice some thought. I’ll see what I can do. Thanks a lot for the buns, John. You’re the best.”

“Great! See you around.”

On my street alone, you can find flower shops, pretty bookstores and cute clothing boutiques. The whole street is full of delightful shops and surprisingly, it’s not as crowded as I thought it would. You can still have enough space to breathe. And that’s what makes it lovely.

A good 15-minutes walk from my apartment and here we are. The very reason why I picked this city. A huge park, full of lush trees on both sides and well-maintained grass field for us to just sit and let the time pass. I, myself, prefer to sit somewhere near the opposite end of the park. There is a wooden bench there with a view like no other. You can see the entire park and the tall buildings at the City Centre in the background. A perfect view for a hobbyist painter like me. 

As I was walking towards the bench, I saw him again. The same guy, every Saturday morning, sitting on the same bench. I believe it started a month ago. 

*****

It’s Saturday morning again. I hate weekends.

I love to work, you see. I’m one of those people you call “workaholic”. AND! I love my job. Period.

The work I do is highly technical, systematic, organised, just as I always wanted. The best part? This new company is fantastic. They offer the best perks in the city, a very nice schedule, and the money they send to my bank account every month, speaks for itself about how they take care of their employees. The weekdays start early at 8 am and finish at 8 pm. Wonderful, isn’t it? Well, at least for me. There is only one problem. When I moved to this city, there was no place to rent in the City Centre. The only place that was good enough was in this weird part of the city. 

There are bakeries everywhere for some reason and a lot of shops. In fact, a bakery is just several feet away from the apartment building entrance. The air is just filled with baked-goods scent. The street is quite dead too, which I find weird considering how many shops there are. It’s boring. That’s why I decided some months ago to go out early on Saturday morning ever since. Not too far, just to the park. It’s about a 20-minute walk according to my distance-tracker. At least this park is nice, you can see a lot of people going about. It feels lively and makes the weekends bearable.

So, off we go to the park. As I walked and passed a bakery called John Baker’s Bakery,

“Good morning to you, sir. Some cream-filled buns?”

“My name…is…Liam. I told you many times already. And no… Thank you. For goodness sake, I told you I don’t like cream-filled buns. Stop offering me that.”

“ Yeah, alright. Jeez.”

It just doesn’t stop there. People greet me as if they know me. They don’t even get my name right. What? I don’t tell them my name? Oh rest assured, my friend, I always make sure they know my name. It’s LIAM!! Why can’t people just leave me alone?

I picked up the pace and arrived at the park. Finally, I felt alive again. 

The park is always full of people. People playing with their pets, people playing with their children, having a picnic or whatever. Just alive. I usually sit on the grass field but after sometime I found a nice spot and changed where I sit. There’s a wooden bench at the opposite end of the park. Really comfortable to enjoy the moment.

I walked to the bench and just sat there. I closed my eyes, tilted my head up and took all this wonderful feeling in. As I opened my eyes, I saw her again, walking towards this bench. It was 2 weeks ago when I first met her. Here.  

*****

Leah

I sat down at the bench and just started munching my buns. They were still warm. It’s always a nice feeling. 

I get anxious whenever I eat here ever since this guy sits 3 feet away from me every weekend. Am I bothering him? He always looks annoyed. But at the same time, there is an air of calmness surrounding him. I have to say he does look attractive.

I packed my buns and my paper bag was making noises. I could feel it’s bothering him. Again. 

Oh, how do I know? Because HE KEEPS “AHEM”-ING ME. Oh my god, this is so awkward.

And to that I always say,

“I’m sorry.” Then proceed to paint in silence till we walk our separate ways.

I’m hoping today will end differently.

Liam

There she is. Munching her buns. The sound she’s making is so annoying but I guess, still bearable, considering I’m at the park and other things are around to distract me. I always make her know that it disturbs me though. Ahem ahem. Yup. That’s what I do. She annoys me but it’s not a reason to be rude.

I never really paid attention before. Today is the first time I noticed her paintings. They are…beautiful. I’m no art enthusiast or trained in any kind of trade to appreciate these works but, I can tell they are very high quality. And you know, I never actually looked at her. She is actually pretty. Really pretty. Dressed nicely too. Unique but nice. But really, why does she have to munch that way?? Anyway, whatever. I think I’ll spend more time watching her painting from now on. How she can just sit still and paint. It turns out to be quite heartwarming.

Leah

I did hope today would be different but really, now I’m nervous because he keeps watching me. Maybe I should do the “Ahem” thing like him? Let’s try. 

“Ahem.”

Nope. NOTHING. It didn’t work. Oh no. Just keep calm, Leah. Just paint.

Liam

Am I bothering her? I hope I’m not… Should I say something? I never said anything to her before. Why the hell are you overthinking this, Liam?? And why do you feel giddy all of a sudden??? Say something! Okay. Here goes…

Nope. Bad idea. Clap your hands, Liam. Great job. NO! Why are you clapping for real??? I’m so screwed. This is awkward. Look away. LOOK AWAY!

Leah

Uhm…why was he clapping all of a sudden…? And why is he trying so hard to look away? He might hurt his head!

Should I say something? Ugh… I’m not good with guys. I guess I’ll say “Hi” at least.

Liam

For goodness sake! You can handle bigger problems than this. Ugh…Alright. Just turn around and say “Hi”.

Leah and Liam

“Hi”

Wait…Did we just…?

Leah

I can’t help but laugh. That was really cute. He is cute…

Liam

That was really funny, yeah. Can’t help but laugh. And her laugh, it just feels warm. 

*****

“I’m sorry. I thought I was disturbing you. I wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what to say and all. It was just awkward.”

“Oh yeah, I noticed that. Haha. It’s fine. Well, I’m a bit nervous because this is the first time you actually interact with me. But it’s okay.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Never been good at interacting with ladies.”

“Oh! Nice to know we have something in common.”

“You have problems interacting with fellow ladies?”

“No, silly. I meant with guys.”

“Ah right! Silly me. Haha. Well, anyways, I’m sorry if I take your precious time. You can continue your painting. I’ll just sit here and watch you work if you don’t mind.”

“Well…you know what. I think I could use a bit of change. We can talk more…if you think that’s a good idea…”

“OH! YES! Oops, sorry. I mean yeah sure. I would love to” 

*****

Those two have been talking for sometime. It’s good that they can be happy starting from now on. At least, that’s what I think will happen. Who am I? Oh. I’m just a fellow visitor of the park. Every Saturday morning, I walk and play with my dogs. I watched these two people for sometime now. 

The guy always looked stressed out but trying so hard to relax. How do I know? Well, he was upset about something and kinda screaming behind that tree several times. 

The girl seemed to put a lot of effort just to pretend to be cheerful. How do I know? Well, she was crying a couple of times behind the other tree.

I really hope they can live happier.

How about this? Let’s play a game, you and me.

Would you like to bet if they will work out in the end? 

*****

“Oh would you look at that? We’ve been talking for hours.”

“Oh, you’re right. I guess we’re just having a great time. Didn’t even realise it.”

“I really need to go now. I have something I need to take care of.”

“Me too. It was really nice talking to you, Liam.”

“Likewise, Leah.”

“Okay. I’ll see you again?”

“Like always.”

“Saturday morning. Right.” 

*****

The following week's conversation got really interesting when they found out they live in the same building. Since that day, I have seen them both laughing and just being happy. I’m happy for them. I mean, if fate does exist, this could be one. Must be. Just like the one I had years ago.

5 years later

There’s those two again. For the last 5 years, they have always come here every Saturday morning. What’s interesting is nowadays they are pushing a baby stroller with them.

I guess I won the bet, eh?

“Darling, what are you looking at?”

“It’s those two youngsters I’ve told you before.”

“Oh right. They have a baby now. That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah. I guess that bench really works wonders.”

“Just like how we met 20 years ago.”

“Yeah. Every Saturday morning.”

*****