On the memory of a song

The song

A few years ago, I used to listen to the song “Comme Moi” by Edit Piaf a lot. I had it playing on a loop. I was living in a rented apartment with a flatmate that I met by mere coincidence, but he became one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. I was committed to a healthy lifestyle then. I paid daily visits to a nearby gym. The coach was a very peculiar man. Short, bulky, and with a strange voice, he gave a fun aspect to gym visits. He had very sharp and strange opinions. Very fanatic about football, he used to yell in a funny way at the players on the TV while we exercised, making us all drop the weights and laugh deeply.

On my way to and back from the gym, I put on my earphones and listened to “Comme Moi” while walking in the dark old streets. And almost every day, I met the same girl on my way back.

The girl and the dog

A girl walking a dog. A normal scene that had something special about it. Elegance is the word that comes to mind. I only saw them from behind. A very elegant girl walking a beautiful dog. For 2 weeks, I saw them almost every day while listening to “Comme Moi”. She was also coming back from walking the dog. She often entered one of the old houses in that old street. Every day I saw them and kept walking home.

After almost two weeks, I finally saw her face. I was rather surprised to realize that I actually knew her. Both of us attend the same college. I see her almost every morning in college.

We started saying “hi” to each other when we met. I lived in that neighborhood for almost 2 years. I saw her almost every morning in college and I saw her at night while she walked the dog and I was getting back home from the gym. I wanted to talk to her every single time. All I could come up with was “hi”. I tried to think of a question to ask to spark a conversation, yet all I could come up with was “hi”.

I even remember now that once she stopped me on the street and asked how about how I did on the exam today. I replied with a shallow voice “Alhamdulillah”. And walked away. I didn’t even ask her how she did. What an idiot I was!

The memory comes to mind whenever I listen to “Comme Moi” now. It hits me that it was obvious. I should’ve talked to her about the dog! I could have said “Nice dog! What is it called?” and go from there.

But I was an idiot