|
 Velvet boots, close-fitting black jeans suitable for a girl without a trace of fat, violet top, jacket coupled with the trousers. Sleek blond hair. Green eyes. A radiant smile. Beauty is a matter of choice.
Nice words, thought Serena, looking away from the advertising poster before her. She glanced down. Her look couldn’t be compared to that of a model. On the contrary...and not to mention her body...
Frayed trainers, faded jeans, sweater two sizes too big. Dark chestnut hair without shape, brown eyes. An anonymous face nobody ever noticed among a thousand anonymous faces.
Beautiful outfit, I’d like to buy one similar to it, thought Helena, looking at the well-tailored jeans and jacket, at the light but biting colour of the top. Surely, I will never be that beautiful, but it’s not beauty that interests me. Perfection doesn’t exist, but imperfection can be controlled!
Helena tidied her sandy hair. She applied some lipstick and looked around, waiting for the train to arrive. Two minutes yet.
It was rather cold, but the sweater she was wearing protected her from the worst of the elements. Despite the hours she'd taken to prepare herself, Helena was not satisfied. Her lack of self-confidence had led her to believe she was too thin, far too thin. Who would ever notice a skinny body like hers?
At last! thought Serena, getting on the train. Fortunately, at that time of day there were several free seats.
She sat and withdrew from her purse the book she had started reading some nights before. It told of love between a man and a woman who fate wanted to separate. She sighed, thinking of her sentimental situation, which was a disaster! She'd never even had a suitor!
"Stop it! Now you’re persecuting me! I can’t stand it any more! Leave me alone, otherwise I’ll call the police!"
Helena and the man who sat near to her looked at each other inquiringly. The young woman before them, who was talking on her cell phone, appeared really angry.
She angrily broke the connection, and tried to ignore the people around her, who were looking curiously at her.
Serena returned to her book. That woman had to be furious to react that way. She'd read once that people invariably raise their voices when they are very upset.
Here’s the first stop, so there are still five before mine, thought Alessio. He had an important job interview that day and he was becoming more and more nervous. He didn’t feel comfortable in a suit, but he had to get that job. Rent and fees for college needed to be paid. On top of that, his parents urged him to go out more, to find himself a girlfriend. "You’re only 23, Alessio. You should have more fun. When you’re older, you won’t have the freedom you have now," they persisted in saying, as if it were the simplest thing in the world to do.
A girl to love, and who can love you in return, it’s not something to take for granted, thought Alessio. A woman can be very beautiful, but if she doesn’t convey any emotion, how can I really consider her more than a friend?
Alessio considered the young woman next to him. Good looking, he thought. Excellent fashion sense, elegant, but nothing more.
Helena stood up. This was her stop. She smiled at the young man, who helped her with her shopping bags.
"Been shopping?" he asked playfully.
Helena returned the smile and alighted from the train. Handsome guy, he was more or less her same age, she thought. But she believed in love at first sight.
The train set off again.
The next one is mine, thought Serena, who was about to return the book to her purse when a sudden jerk from the train knocked it from her hand.
The train had stopped and it was suddenly dark.
A voice announced that they'd suffered a malfunction, and informed the passengers that it would be all right in a few minutes, and urged them to maintain a tight hold of their hand baggage because of pickpockets.
The emergency lights flickered on.
Serena was looking for her book when something captured her attention.
Alessio was taking the book which had fallen between his feet when his forehead was lightly touched by something feather-light.
"How beautiful," Serena murmured, trying to follow with her eyes the butterfly that had appeared so suddenly, but she couldn’t, for it had already disappeared.
She looked at the man before her, who held her book in his hands.
Alessio had been perplexed for a second, and flustered by that touch on his forehead. He took in the girl next to him who had her hand outstretched for the book.
The lights went on and the train began to move again.
"Is it yours?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Serena took the book from him, placed it in her purse, stood up and went towards the doors. She turned back to him for a second. He had wonderful eyes, ordinary, but wonderful.
The doors closed behind her.
Alessio watched her depart. A strange feeling overcame him. He was about to turn back when he caught a glimpse of the butterfly out of the window.
He lightly brushed his forehead with the tips of his fingers. I want to see that girl again, was the only thing in his mind just then.
Story Info
- Story written by Lara and translated from the Italian by Marta, 2000
|
LAST stories »