[do you imagine your future with me?]

...

If someone asked me,
"How do you imagine your future?"
I would answer,
"I imagined my future with you."

It's a wonderful Saturday night
and it's quiet in your car.
The only thing we hear is
the song we sang earlier in the church
playing from your car speaker;
it's a little bit louder than
the sound of the streets.

You are driving,
focused on the road,
I look outside from the side window.
None of us speaks,
but I enjoy your presence still.

I turn to you
when suddenly you ask,
"Where do you want to eat?"
I think for a second,
"I don't know.
What do you want to eat?"
You pause to think,
then recommend a restaurant.
"It's delicious," you say,
"and it's not expensive."
"What food do they serve?" I ask.
You answer, "Western."
I just nod, "Sounds great.
Okay then, we'll eat there."

Then it's quiet again,
until you suddenly sing
the chorus of the song loudly.
I turn to you,
smiling so wide,
trying so hard not to laugh.
But you don't care.
You keep singing.

I start to hum
because I don't remember
the verse of the song.
But when the chorus come,
we both sing aloud.
We don't care if we
hit the wrong note,
shout the wrong word,
or lately join the singer.
We just enjoy singing together.

We then arrive in said restaurant.
We sit near the window
as the waitress approach
with two menu boards.
I skim the menu,
wondering why you say
these foods are cheap.
But I just go along,
and we order two different foods,
because I want to try them
but I can't choose one.

We talk a lot
while we are waiting.
You share your experience
when you're away to study abroad.
I can't look away.
I'm locked in your shining eyes.
I can't stop smiling when you
wave your hands
or make cute expressions.

Then the waitress come
with our orders,
and I finally understand.
The serving is so generous,
I don't think I can finish it.
You laugh and say,
"I'll finish it for you
if I'm still hungry."

Then you ask me to
tell you about my stories.
I tell you about my day
or the other day when I
really had to do something but
the universe seemed to be
against me.

You can't look away either,
and you stop eating
to listen to my stories,
I have to constantly remind you
to finish your food
or we will be leaving at ten.
You say it's okay,
because all you want to do
is to listen to me all day.
I shake my head and say,
"We can continue in the car
on our way back home."

We finish eating,
and we try to split the bills
because I don't want you to
pay for every date we have.

Then we leave.
You take the longer route on purpose
because you want to be with me
all night long.

We sing together again,
and continue to discuss about music.
I give you one or two new songs,
You give me a list of songs
I have to listen to.

Then your car stops
in my driveway.
You turn the machine off,
but I don't want to leave just yet.
We end up talking randomly
about any topics we can think of
just to spend more time together,
even when it's just
fifteen more minutes.

But eventually I have to leave.
You unlock your car
and we joke about how
I can't leave because
you forget to unlock the door.
Still I don't move,
and we talk for another
five minutes,
planning for another date.

I finally get out,
but stay still in the front yard,
waiting for you to leave
until I can't see your car.

Then I go inside
and send you a text
asking you to tell me when you've
arrived safely at your place.

You reply twenty minutes later,
telling me you have arrived safely,
and you send a picture of you
already on your bed.
I send a similar picture of me
curling up under the blanket.

You say you are tired,
and I say I am sleepy.
You kiss me good night,
I wish you have a nice dream.

If someone asked me about
the future I had in my mind,
I would answer that
I imagined a future with you.

I imagine a future with you
when we don't even have a present.
All we have is a tragic past
that separates our paths.

I imagine my future with you.
How do you imagine your future?
Do you imagine your future with me?