Love Words

By Sarah Kartalia

I used to leave them for you in secret places or not so secret places. They were never planned or prepared in advance. You’d leave the room and quick quick I’d add something to your grocery list: Sugar, Kleenex, canned beans (kidney), uncanned love. Or I’d find a Post-It and stick it in your fridge “Yes, I’m even thinking of you in here” or next to your printer on a full sheet of your favorite paper because you were never one to scrimp on thickness or weight or design: “I’m wasting paper and I adore you” or in your glove compartment when you were pumping gas I’d draw a heart on the back of a business card, leaving it heart-side-up. Or I’d scribble on the backside of a used envelope and leave it on your bed “sleep well in our love bed”. Or I’d hide a note under your sofa cushion and tell you the next day where to find it. I finger-painted LOVE in the steamed bathroom mirror one time and some guest had found it before you. You said you had turned paprika when they mentioned it at breakfast. In an Airbnb, while you were showering, the only paper I could find was a coffee filter. I wrote that you were my grand amour and put it inside the pocket of those navy pants you had packed already. Often I’d stick something in your wallet or your bag never knowing when you’d find it. I loved imagining you blushing or smiling alone or surrounded by people. “You were something else this morning” or “Merci, my love” or “Wow. That kiss by the river.” or “How do you say smokin’ hot in Japanese?” Once, when I was looking for a place to hide one, I found a wooden box and inside, all the notes and Post-Its and index cards of love words in carefully stacked towers. 

A native of Maryland, Sarah Kartalia moved to France at 21 where a six-month contract turned into three decades and counting. Today, she coaches multicultural teams and teaches Leadership and Business Storytelling in companies and MBA programs. She was the Grand Prize winner for Short Fiction for INKWELL Magazine and her flash fiction appeared in Kerning, Toad Hall Editions literary magazine and in Sky Island Journal. She was shortlisted for the Fish Flash Fiction Prize.