Mari was pleasantly exhausted, having finally put the finishing touches on her Hudson Valley, New York shopping spree, with a last minute excursion through the tantalizing offerings of the local Bath and Body Works. And, of course, a shorter - but no less rewarding - jaunt through Victoria's Secret. So delighted was she with her purchases at those fine establishments, that she simply couldn't wait until she got home to hold them in her hands again, read their wondrous promises and smell their heavenly scents.
For that reason more than any other, she found herself hurrying to the mall's food court, where she quickly purchased a thirst-quenching bottle of water and just about jogged to a table to dive into her bags of divinely selfish indulgences. She squirmed happily in her seat, browsing through her new acquisitions and getting tingly all over just thinking about the hours of luxuriant self-pampering - with all things frilly and feminine - that were to come, thanks to those most excellent retail chains. In her personal estimation, those incredible stores should be PERSONALLY blessed by the Pope, and possibly even designated as holy shrines!
Remarkably, even after she'd purchased her evening supply of liquid replenishment, she didn't begin fondling her stash of goodies right off, even though it had originally been her number one priority to do so. Instead, she sipped her water slowly, savoring it's soothing coolness, looking out the far glass-paneled wall and admiring the beauty of the Hudson Valley.
As she watched the sun slowly setting, relishing the brilliance of the descending orb as it slipped beneath multi-colored clouds to eventually take refuge behind tall, leafy trees - not a one of which had palm fronds on it - she realized she'd made an excellent decision to travel north at this particular time of year. She'd heard that the Hudson Valley was full of vibrant hues and spectacular scenery in the early fall, and she could not have agreed more. This one simple sunset alone took her breath away, and had her on the verge of tears from the power of its sheer, overwhelming beauty.
She stared at that resplendent sunset for quite some time, letting it bathe her in its magnificence. How long she watched that lazily dropping ball she had no idea. But, eventually, the bright hues dimmed, and the sky prepared to welcome its other regular visitor, the moon. And Mari could once again focus on her bag of body-pampering wonders. Sighing a deep sigh, taking a last glance out the glass wall, she took a sip of water and began rummaging through her bag, suddenly bubbling with schoolgirl giddiness.
A chill ran down her spine as she gazed at one delicious product after another. Body oils, powders and lotions to spoil her soft skin religiously. Perfumes to make her smell simply scrumptious. Bath oils and foaming bath flakes to pamper herself in the sensuous waters of a luxuriantly dreamy bath. Nail polish and other "prettying" things to make her feel beautiful. And a few more..."naughty" items. She'd found two intriguing massage oils, both of which had called out to her, beckoning her, pleading with her to take them home with her. She'd succumbed, lured by their sensual promises. You never know, was her reasoning. Who knows when a woman might meet some really sexy man who wanted nothing more than to massage her from head to toe for hours on end. Perhaps this handsome benefactor would prefer the lavender massage oil for its sensual fragrance, or maybe he'd prefer - Mari giggled and squirmed just thinking about it - the flavored massage oil, so that the lucky gentleman could partake of its delicate taste - and hers - after completing the massage proper. She grinned widely, envisioning it vividly, then sighed, realizing that such dreams rarely come true. But then, she told herself, stranger things have happened, and her string of lousy luck had to end sometime.
As if to give credence to that hope-filled sentiment, Mari suddenly noticed a man at another table looking at her. His table was just ahead of hers and to her left. And she was sure that he'd looked back at her a second time. Once he'd stolen a quick glance at her face, and another time his eyes darted from her neck down to her calves. Both times he smiled what appeared to be an approving smile, and then he'd quickly turned back around to resume sipping whatever beverage he held just out of view behind his body. Mari was most pleased that he'd felt compelled to check her out a second time. Once meant nothing. Curiosity, probably, or maybe just his reacting to some unconscious movement on her part that he'd caught out of the corner of his eye. Twice, however, meant possible interest, a follow-up glance to check out something that his eyes found appealing the first time around.
He WAS rather cute, she thought, though certainly not what she'd consider a heart throb by any stretch. His glances back at her, both rare and discreet - for several more did indeed follow -were within the bounds of good taste. He didn't stare or ogle, he simply glanced back, admired her briefly, and then withdrew his info-gathering eyes before they could become intrusive. But Mari was convinced he approved of her appearance, and it made her feel warm inside - almost as warm as that beautiful sunset had made her feel not more than a few moments ago. With a bagful of sensual miracles in her possession, and an attractive man showing interest in her for the first time in ages, she was beginning to fly higher than the clouds. She suddenly felt beautiful, desirable and oh, so feminine. She found herself wanting the man to look back again, hoping she could this time make eye contact...just to see where it might lead, or even just how he might react.
While waiting for the fellow to show his interest again, Mari took her turn at checking HIM out. He seemed of average height, perhaps a bit stocky - though it was difficult to tell seeing him only from behind. If he was stocky, he certainly didn't appear soft, by the looks of the muscles in his arms and the broadness of his shoulders. Physical attributes aside, the most obvious thing about him was his attire. He wore a complete set of denim hospital scrubs, with only white sneakers and socks breaking the overwhelming dominance of blue that covered him from his neck to his ankles. When he finally again turned to peer back at her, she immediately noticed still more blue, in the form of shining blue eyes that sparkled with a kind of mischievous good humor.
Tearing her eyes away from those hypnotic blue gems, she scanned the rest of his face in a heartbeat, before he again turned back to his drink. She'd seen a trim, dark brown mustache and beard that surrounded full, sensually attractive lips. The chin portion of his beard, along with the edges of his sideburns at the temples, was dappled with thin wisps of gray.
Unconsciously, her mind roamed back to those blue eyes. Difficult to see from this distance, they nonetheless easily gave away their owner's secrets. Not only did those twinkling eyes clearly show humor, but deeper still there was definite, though partially hidden, mischief. Incongruously, they also hinted at a shyness on their owner's part, probably the reason he only stole quick, discreet glances at her, and then instantly turned away so as not to make eye contact. Mari found herself intrigued by those blue eyes, and what lay behind them. They drew her in on several levels. She liked them very much, even more so than she cared to admit to herself.
Still thinking about those impish blue eyes, Mari sat back and crossed her legs, slowly sipping her water and waiting for "blue eyes" to look back once more. It took a while, but eventually he did indeed peek back again, but when he saw that she was looking directly at him, his head darted back around, as if he'd been embarrassed to be caught looking at her.
But, just as quickly as his head whipped forward, it whipped back around again, his eyes having apparently seen something this time that they appeared to want to spend more time looking at, regardless of the risk of getting caught doing so. Mari was surprised by the sudden double-clutch neck action, even more so when she saw a wistful smile cross the man's face. But the trajectory of his gaze was a puzzle. He wasn't looking at her face or even her legs as he had before. He appeared to be looking lower still.
Puzzled, Mari tried to follow the angle of his stare. She looked down at her calves, wondering if she'd spilled water on them. Seeing nothing, she looked lower still. The only thing she noted anywhere in the range of the man's interested angle of vision was that she had at some point begun rocking her top leg up and down - probably from sheer nervousness - and her navy blue, open toe pump was dangling from the tips of her toes. It swayed back and forth precariously, threatening to drop to the floor if she happened to rock her leg with even the tiniest bit more force or speed. Surely, THAT couldn't be what the man had been looking at! But then... what?!
