"Oh! Excuse me!" She knelt to pick up the packages knocked from my arms by the force of our collision. "I'm so sorry! I'm in such a hurry, I forget to look where I'm going sometimes!" As I stooped beside her, I was overcome by the soft curve of her white neck as it disappeared into the cashmere sweater. The silky swoop of her hair as it fell to her shoulders. The scent of her body lotion. My heart raced.
Very beautiful women inspire these reactions in all men. But I'm not a man, and I'd never had feelings for a woman before.
"Oh, it's perfectly all right!" I said cheerfully, gathering the packages in my arms, smiling. She returned the smile. The deadening blue of the department store lighting didn't come close to killing the roses that bloomed in her cheeks. She looked so vivacious that everyone around her looked dead. With perfect grace, she rose and offered me her hand. I took it, and as I stood I was shocked that anyone's skin could be so smooth. "It's the holiday thing, you know. Run around like a crazy person, then spend all Christmas recovering!"
She laughed. "No kidding! Holidays are for fun for kids, but work for adults. I can take you right here."
My heart missed a beat, then I realized she meant she could check out my purchases. As she scanned the tags on the nightgown and spice rack (both gifts for my impossible aunt), she tilted her head, smiling inscrutably.
"You know, you have amazing hair," she smiled.
I touched my bangs self-consciously. "Thank you, but it's murder to try to fix in the morning. I blow it dry and pull it up and it still does whatever it feels like doing!"
"I'd kill to have hair like that!" she declared. "Wild hair - sexy hair... Mine's so fine that it's limp! It just lays on my head!"
"Oh no! Yours is absolutely lovely! In fact, I noticed it first thing!" Feeling I had said a little too much, I reached into my purse and pretended to fiddle with my wallet.
" Really? That's sweet. Total is $75.67. Will that be on your charge?"
"No, no. Cash," I replied, fishing out four twenties. Our hands touched as we exchanged the money. Something flickered across her face, and I wondered if she felt it, too. The click-clack of the register as it printed my receipt filled the silence as I tried to think of something to say, anything to keep me from walking away without ever seeing her again.
"And here's your receipt!" she smiled. I took it from her, thanked her, and walked away. Three steps away from the entrance to the rest of the mall, just as I gave up on the whole incident and tried to remember where I had parked my car, I heard a voice behind me. "Miss! Miss! Angela! Wait!" I turned to see her running crazily down the walkway, waving my credit card in one hand.
"Oh, thanks! You saved my life!!" I said as I took the plastic from her. "With everywhere I've been today, I never would've known where I lost that!" Thinking quickly, I added, "And for that, I owe you a lunch!"