Set Fire To The Rain

Soundtrack--"Set Fire To the Rain"/"Turning Tables" by Adele

A tall, young woman with light, brown hair and graceful eyes sat with impatience. Her fingers tapped on the cedar wood of the bar table. The lanterns glowed a soft gold on her face, and she pursed her lips in anticipation. She looked out the window and saw the gray clouds rolling in. Several visitors walked in the door. She stretched her neck, but her visitor had yet to arrive. Her name was Selene, and while she waited, she let others wait.

A young man, with dark hair and dark circles under his eyes, loosened his tie as he walked in the door. He sat on the piano bench and lightly touched the keys as he searched for something to play. He heard the rain begin to splash lightly on the window across from him. He remembered back to their first year and recalled when he embraced her on a park bridge while the autumn leaves fell. His name was Nathan, and he while he waited, he dreamed.

Selene glanced at her watch. Time went by, but the storm prevailed.

Nathan pulled out his phone to make a call.

Selene's phone began to ring. She glanced at his photo as it buzzed loudly on the table, interrupting her reverie. She glanced around her as if in guilt.

Nathan doesn't leave a message.

A lean, blond man, wearing a black coat and headphones in his ears, walked briskly across the cobblestone street, heading towards the bar. He hummed softly, with a smile seeping from his mouth. He was two blocks away when a raven-haired woman brushed his arm and gave him a smile. They began speaking in hushed tones and cheap laughter. His name was Alex, and while he dreamed, he let others wait.

Selene glanced at the time again, and swallowed her second drink. She rubbed her arm from the cold wafting in. She thought about their first meeting and how his blond hair and smile spoke to her immediately. They kissed by the end of the night. The next night, a storm of sheets and stolen promises.

Nathan thought of seeing her for the first time. Glowing in the light of his friend's bonfire, he made her laugh hysterically. He also made her spill her drink. He kissed her two days later. He made love to her a month after that. And as priceless pictures and overnight bags became abundant, she came with boxes and he gave her a ring.

Selene wells up with tears at the bar as she glances at her phone again. She ignores the missed call, and glances at the time. He was very late.

Alex softly tucked the woman's hair behind her ear, and as he pulled back, she placed a wrinkled paper note in his palm. His smile is contagious and she walks away enamored. As the rain began to fall, he folded his coat across his chest as she ran off in one direction, and he, his own.

The storm broke and the rain began to pour. Selene walked out and began running from the bar back to her home. She shaded her eyes from the incoming pelts.

Nathan began playing the piano again. There was a wedding photo on the mantle. The thunder boomed and lightning struck with a power of an orchestra.

Alex ran to the bar door and walked in the warmth of the crowd. He looked over the heads of people, but couldn't find her.

Selene felt the cold of the rain down her neck, as the sheets of rain came down like fire in front of her. The water on her face and tears were indistinguishable. She longed for the comfort of a man and his piano. The lightning struck, lighting up the sky like the beginning of the world. She stopped blind, unaware of her solitary location. Another flash abrupted, softer and quicker, this time from behind her.

Car lights.

The sounds of squealing tires, cracking glass, and several thuds atop metal and pavement.

Silence among ruin.

The puddles of rain begin forming in the interior of Selene's jacket amongst mangled, feminine limbs.

Alex leaves the bar; the collar of the jacket turned up from the bitterness, clutching the wrinkled piece of paper in his hand.

Nathan turned the cover on the piano, finishing his song in silence, with nothing but thunder beckoning for an encore. He tried her phone again.

Selene's phone began buzzing on the pavement, inches from her fingertips, glowing with Alex's smile, but slowly drowned from the rain and fused out like a whisper.