Eavesdropping without listening

When recently having tea at Sun With Moon, which was delightfully empty - it was after all, a Monday (albeit a Monday before a public holiday which people should've pre-empted and booked their day off/leave) so we had a nice unobstructed view by the floor-to-ceiling window where we could gaze disdainfully on the people below at Borders Bistro and er, well, make up stories about them.

One couple in particular caught our eye.

The guy faced us, but we couldn't see what he looked like as his baseball cap was pulled down over his eyes. He slouched in the metal chair, cigarette in his right hand, casting his gaze at everything and everyone around, except for the girl seated opposite him, at the same table.

She was lighting her own cigarette, a half cup of coffee on the table in front of her. Her hair streaked brown and blonde. Messy and short. Looked like she was trying to grow it out - hopefully. Her back was to us, so couldn't tell if she was paying any attention to him not paying attention to her.

They sat like that for the duration we watched them, until we got bored with the lack of activity.

But were they friends? A couple in the midst of a quarrel?

If they were friends, how could they just sit there and seemingly ignore each other. They hardly acknowledged the other's presence. They did not seem to speak to each other, unless they had mastered the art of ventroquilism.

Maybe he was trying to figure out how to break up, we thought.
Maybe he was just waiting for that moment, or just to finish his cigarette.
Maybe he was trying to find the right words to say.

He finishes his cigarette. He seems to be saying something. But it's either he's a mumbler or we can't see from this height cos his lips hardly move.

Or maybe he's just trying to get that cigarette taste out of his mouth. Or maybe he just said, 'it's over!'

She looks around - for a waiter.

She pulls out a tenner from her purse.

We gasp - is he such an idiot that he's not going to offer to pay after breaking up with her?

She gets the check.

We take our eyes off them for a while.

But the next minute, he disappears.

I catch a glimpse of him rounding the corner, heading out of sight.

She's still at the table. Packing her cigarettes and purse into her bag.

Wait! we almost want to tell him. Wait for her! Don't leave her behind like that!

She gets up and heads off in the same direction. She doesn't seem to be in a hurry.

We ponder on the strange couple for a moment. We mourn their breakup, their loss, their misused friendship.

Then we turn our attention to the 20-something sitting by herself.
Blind date? We wonder...