SteevAK

She was a beautiful woman. Her long dark hair swept past her shoulders in rich folds. She had a well formed visage. Her lips were full, not too thin not too thick. Her nose was a little on the larger side, but one could only notice this on close inspection. She had wonderfully shaped light brown eyes, the type of eyes in which men drown. She had a pale but healthy complexion. She was taller than most women I see. She had on a tan overcoat that stopped just above her knees. Her hands were hiding in her pockets from the cold. Her pants were denim.

I watched her as I sipped my tea. I forgot about my book, for she absorbed all my attention. I had been behind her in line to get my tea, and that is when I first noticed her. She got a smaller drink to go. Obviously she was in a hurry for she didn’t even wait for change. After getting her drink she stepped back outside. I found my usual seat facing the window a minute later. She was standing directly in front of me. Most of the time I had a profile view, but occasionally she would turn to the window –and me– to examine her reflection. She seemed nervous about her appearance. More than once she made a slight scowl, touched her face, and turned once again, facing to my right.

She must have been waiting for somebody. Probably her boyfriend, I thought. That saddened me. Only a jerk would let a beautiful girl like her wait on him and fret about her appearance. I imagined their relationship, surmising the guy rude and disrespectful to everybody. She was caught up with him because of dependency and the fear of separation. But she desperately wanted to be free of him. She deserved better and she knew it, but she lacked the strength to break off from him.

I must have been lost in my imagination for some time. She drained the last of her drink and stepped inside to dispose of the empty cup. As she walked past me to the garbage, our eyes met. Immediately a heat expanded on my neck and cheeks. I dropped my gaze back to my forgotten book. Had she noticed me staring at her? What was she thinking? About me? Was I transparent to her?

On her way out she stepped aside, closer to me, to let an elderly couple through the door. I caught a scent of her perfume. I took a deep breath of her smell as she walked back to her waiting spot. The odor of a beautiful woman is indescribable.

The woman was growing more impatient. She was glancing at her watch often and casting annoyed looks down the street. She turned again to her reflection again, but this time focused beyond it to me. Once again, our eyes met. I smiled and gave her a wave. She looked slightly embarrassed but smiled anyway. She had a beautiful smile. Naturally, I thought.

About a minute later, as she was gazing down the street, her face lit up with a big smile. She waved to somebody I could not see and ran off to the right. Well, there she goes to meet the jerk of a boyfriend, I thought. I turned to my neglected book with a sigh. But my attention was pulled up again by two walking figures. One was an older lady. She was holding onto the arm of my beautiful distraction, who turned her head towards me briefly. Once again, our eyes met, smiles were exchanged, and I felt much better.