The greatest love story that could have been

What is it about these particular shoes that make us forget about the world at a simple glance? These bewitching pointed-toe marvels that make our hearts beat a little faster and our minds wonder: to splurge or not to splurge?

By Cynthia Jreige

The quest that is finding a pair of Amina Muaddi is a personality revealer; the type of patience and determination it takes could go under the soft skills line of a resume. No matter which one of these ladies you laid your eyes on: Gilda, Dua, Paloma; they clearly love to play hard to get. And you know the drill: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
 
It’s even become hard to tell if we’re after the shoe itself or the very insisting idea of getting said shoe. Because if we think about it, there might or might not be a closet in our house that currently serves as shelter for all the “too” pairs we ever bought: too high, too glittery, too uncomfortable, too much. Some even too high and too glittery (yes, I’m looking at you Sergio Rossi’s of dreams we got on sale and would prefer to be buried with than resell after having worn about 0 time.) Do we need to risk adding another?
 
Now don’t think that our slightly paranoiac minds haven’t brainstormed the practical questions. After so many months at home alternating between a pair of comfy sneakers and some warm woven socks, would it be very catholic to envision elevating ourselves in fashionable wonders more than 3 centimeters from the firm ground? Should we give in to the possibility of tripping with disgrace for the love of style? Is this a timid yes we’re hearing?
But if life isn’t about taking risks, is it even worth living for?  Thinking twice about it, tripping in Aminas would clearly be more elegant than just tripping for the sake of random instability. We’re still curious to know however, on our way to where exactly are we potentially breaking an ankle in our dream shoe? The supermarket? The PCR test center? But is there anything wrong about wanting to pimp ourselves for going nowhere?

The relationship we have with our imaginary pair that our heart and soul have already adopted could most probably be classified as toxic. We truly want it, we’re not sure it wants us…Wouldn’t they have called if they wanted to be with us?
We find them excuses, hoping to be right, yet the harsh truth keeps revealing itself before our eyes. They never wait for us. They never go on sale. They haven’t wanted us to make them ours yet. Ouch. No special occasion has passed without them being on top of our wish-lists. No Christmas, no birthdays, no Eid. They were always there, in pole position. They say everything happens for a reason. On this specific occasion, we can’t help but wonder (and hear Nicki Minaj’s aggressively asking) what was the reason?!
We are ready. Our shelves are ready. Our feet are pedicured.  
 
Armed with a pint of vegan cookie dough ice cream and what was left of our dignity, we once again made our way to the virtual malls last night, thinking that maybe, this time, luck would be on our side. But it simply wasn’t.
Unwilling to cut our toes to fit in the only remaining pairs in 35, we closed the laptop in despair, slightly mad for having believed that this time, things would be different.
 
Dream shoes 1 – sad us 0. Our day will come.