It happened in a split second, and I am surprised that I even saw it, much less actually played a role in it. I was standing in the crowd, and I say crowd and not a line, waiting to place an order for a Coke and a hot dog when she turned around in front of me with her hands full of two large drinks. She looked up and our eyes locked for about two seconds, long enough for some college-age kid to run into her. I watched as her drinks went up while she started down. I knew I was about to witness a small disaster, so I did what any man would do -- I rescued the drinks. I reached out and somehow, I don't know how, I grabbed her two drinks from her. She finished her short journey to the concrete floor and the kid disappeared.
"Are you okay?" She didn't answer for a few seconds as she scrambled to her feet. Then she smiled at me, a wide and warm smile that positively warmed me to my toes.
She was beautiful! She was close to my age and I was a month short of thirty-five. She wore her dark brown hair long, halfway down her back. There was a gentle wave to her hair; I don't know any other way to describe it. There were curls in her hair but it was not curly. Her eyes were the deepest brown I had ever seen and they seemed to sparkle as she surveyed me. She was tall. I mean, actually tall. She was about my height and I come in around six feet three inches. She wore a loose-fitting long-sleeve sweater that didn't seem to hide her full figure as much as I suspect it was intended to. I saw the hint of large and hard nipples in spite of the bulky sweater material. She wore tight cotton slacks and she was slender with full hips and a round ass.
Like I said, she was beautiful.
When we finished our quick review of each other, she broke the silence.
"Uh, I believe those are mine." I glanced down at the drinks in my hands and became excited enough to squeeze the plastic cups hard enough for the lids to pop off. She seemed to forgive the dumbest man in the building because she smiled again and pointed to the two large drinks still in my hands. I returned her lidless drinks, feeling terribly stupid because I couldn't think of anything smart to say. So I said something really stupid.
"So, do you come here often?" She held my gaze for about a second, and then she burst out laughing. It was a loud, full-bodied laugh that came from somewhere deep inside her and I loved it. No suppressed twitter, no girlish giggle, just a deep and loud laughter that lasted several seconds. Finally, her laughter died down, but the sparkle remained in her eyes.
"Yes, actually. Nearly every day. How about you?" That sparkle caused a tingle that danced up and down my spine for a couple of seconds, totally killing my brain's speech center. After another couple of seconds, I discovered that I could speak after all. This time I tried to sound reasonably intelligent.
"This is my first time. I am here with an old Army buddy so he could watch his daughter play volleyball. I used to play back when I was in high school and then in college. Not part of the college team, just intramural teams. And then I refereed for a year. And then I helped coach the girl's volleyball team. The official college team. And I have always watched volleyball when there was a game on TV. Plus..." I realized that just because I had discovered the ability to speak didn't mean I should perform the activity for long periods of time, so I just shut up. We gazed into each other's eyes for several seconds and then she spoke.
"Well, I have to get back. I don't want the game to end when I am not there." So she smiled again, said goodbye, and quickly walked off. In seconds she disappeared in the mass of student bodies and I didn't see her any more.
I stood there for at least ten seconds, feeling like I had just lost a bid for a mint-condition 1973 Jaguar XKE in emerald green. I was really disappointed. I mean, seriously, there was a spark there. It wasn't just the tingle of lust that coursed through my body, it was a genuine spark. Somehow I knew we could have developed a serious relationship had we met under different circumstances. And now we wouldn't. I had been so tongue-tied that I had lost the opportunity. No name, no phone number, no address -- just a memory.
Suddenly, the man standing next to me nudged me and pointed to the snack bar.
"You are next, man." I turned and placed my order, trying to forget her.
I paid for my order and then took it off the counter and turned to walk back into the arena, and almost bumped into her. She was smiling widely, and it was warm and wonderful. I paused, so surprised that I was unable to speak or even move. She broke the silence with words that really turned me on.
"I thought we had a connection in those few seconds, so I decided I wanted to get your name." She paused and I found my voice again.
"My name is Mike Kelly. What is yours?"" I paused, waiting for her response.
