Romance in the Rain

“Er, are you free tomorrow?”

“Oh, what’s up?”

“Nothing. I just haven’t seen you for a long time. So can we meet tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is okay. Where shall we meet?” she answered after a moment.

“Well, how about meeting at the usual place at 10 tomorrow morning?” I waited for her reply, hoping she would agree without hesitation.

“Alright!” she answered promptly, “but where is that?”

“Ah…” I was somewhat startled by her response but soon added, “the café we used to go.”

A silence fell between us.

“Alright, I won’t take up your time. See you then.” I hung up the phone, heart twisted with pain.

Looking through the window at the rainy sky, I couldn’t help missing her. Tomorrow might be a rainy day again, I thought.

The following day was murky, and clouds drifted slowly across the sky, obscuring the entire city which was particularly bustling. Pedestrians came and went in a hurry as if there was nothing worthy of their attention. A dull sky, drifting clouds, and me sitting at a table, staring blankly, made it a sad and gloomy picture.   

The time dragged by. The clock on the red-brick wall said 10 am, but she hadn’t shown up yet. The sky was becoming darker as if it had been dyed many colors: red, black, blue, white and grey. Clouds were closing on the horizon, leaving only a slit space for clear sky. The sound of thunder echoed above the earth. It was about to rain.

All of a sudden, I remembered a familiar scene: an elegant café, parting lovers and the sobbing sky. The past flashed through my mind like falling stars with only one thing missing, something I desperately sought after.

The rain fell heavy on the window. It sounded like it was tearing someone’s heart and soul apart ruthlessly. I felt an ache at the bottom of my heart. An unspeakable sadness quietly crept over me as I realized what her answer must be. I took all my strength not to dissolve in tears. I walked out of the café into the street, leaving behind two cups of cold coffee and an umbrella as if they were waiting for the person who would likely never show up. My inner passion had turned cold with the coffee. I stood on the street, hesitant, wondering where I could hide until the ache of my heart subsided a little.

Suddenly I shivered and realized that it was over. I had no one to love, nothing to struggle for. She’s gone forever, lost from my life. The terrible meaning of these words suddenly hit me. I trudged aimlessly along the street, suffering as if my heart had been slashed savagely by a wild animal’s sharp claw.  

Suddenly there was a solemn light flashing in the darkness. It moved closer. It looked like candlelight that would never fade. It looked like a butterfly dancing in the rain. No, what I saw was the most beautiful white dress I had ever seen. Is it? Yes, it’s the figure I will never forget as long as I live. She was struggling to run but nothing could stop her, not the uneven road, not even the ruthless storm. Then suddenly she stopped, dumbstruck when she saw someone’s standing in front of her who looked as silly as she did.

“Sorry, I…” she said.

But I didn’t give her any chance to explain as I held her tightly in my arms. At the first touch of my lips on hers, I realized there was no need to say anything.

It's another rainy day, the same place, the same lovers, but everything is so different.

 浪漫雨中

“哦，明天有空吗？”

“噢，怎么？”

“没什么。只是好长时间没见你了。明天见个面怎么样？”

 “明天可以啊。在哪？”她想了一下回答道。

 “嗯，明天上午10点老地方见怎么样？”我等着她的回答，心里暗自希望她毫不犹豫地答应。

 “没问题！”她回答得很干脆，“不过那个地方到底是哪里？”

“呃……”她的回答使我稍稍有些吃惊，迟疑了一下，我很快说道，“就是那个我们以前常去的那家餐馆啊。”

 沉默。

“好吧，我就不打扰你了。到时见。”我放下电话，心痛如绞。

望着窗外的雨幕，情不自禁，想她。也许，明天还会是个雨天，我想着。

第二天，烟笼雾罩，厚重的云朵慢慢地在天空滑过，颇为喧嚣的城市完全笼罩在阴暗之中。行人，来来往往，行色匆匆，似乎没有什么值得他们驻足。灰暗的天空，移动的乌云，坐在桌边发呆的我，构成了一幅画面，黯淡，阴沉，忧伤。

时间慢吞吞地过去。挂在红砖墙上的表指向了上午10点，然而，她还没有出现。天空越来越黯了，像是染上了很多颜色：红色、黑色、白色还有灰色。乌云逐渐靠近天际，只留下一条狭长的蓝色天空。雷声在地面发出隆隆回响。要下雨了。

 突然间，我想起一幅熟悉的场景：一间雅致的餐馆，分别的恋人，呜咽的天空。往事如流星般闪过我的脑际，缺失的，只有一件事情，我使劲地在脑海里搜寻。

雨滴重重地敲落在窗户上，好像要把人的心和魂残忍地撕裂。我在内心深处感到一阵的疼痛。当我意识到她的回答意味着什么时what her answer must be？，一种莫可名状的悲伤顿时席卷全身。我尽力控制，不让自己流泪。咖啡已经凉了，同咖啡一起变凉的，还有我之前的热情。我走出餐馆来到街上，留下两杯咖啡和一把雨伞好像在等待一个人，这个人却可能永远不会出现。我伫立街头，徘徊，不知道躲到哪里能使我的心痛得到些许平复。

冷不防一个寒颤，我意识到已经结束了。我已经没有了我爱的人，没有了需要为之奋斗的事。她永远地离我而去了，不再出现在我的生活中，这些话突然使我感到恐惧。我漫无目的地沿街走着，步履蹒跚，好像心被野兽的利爪残酷地割伤一般，痛楚。

突然，黑暗中闪出一束庄严的光，越来越近。就像永不凋谢的烛光，又像一只蝴蝶，在雨中翩翩起舞。不，在眼前的是我所见过的最美的白裙子。是吗？没错，正是这个身影，只要我活着，就永远不会忘记。她使尽全力跑着过来，什么也不能阻挡，坎坷的路面，甚至无情的风暴，都不能阻挡。当她看到有人站在面前，看起来和自己一样呆的时候，她突然停下了，目惊口呆。

“对不起，我……”她支吾道。

我紧紧地把她搂在怀里，不给她解释的机会。在我们嘴唇接触的刹那，我意识到，什么都不需要说。

同样是一个雨天，同样的地方，同样的恋人，但是一切却是如此不同。