What a day.." I thought to myself as I entered the bookstore in search of a much needed respite from the day’s hectic activity.
Too many conference calls, emails to answer and status reports to prepare had put me in a foul mood by producing a gargantuan headache by day’s end. I looked forward to a quiet evening with a good book to take me away from the hustle and bustle of the day.
The crisp coffee scented air of the bookstore greeted me as I entered the lobby of the store, and my mood improved considerably. Heading into the store, I rounded a corner toward the "Non-Fiction" area.
A woman with a mission, I immediately eyed a book that looked interesting and reached upward to grab it without taking notice of anyone in my path.
That’s when another hand grabbed the same book. My hand instinctively flew up in the air, causing three other books to fly off of the shelf and hit a young man squarely on the head.
"Ouch" he mumbled.
"Oh my goodness….I’m SO sorry" I replied, reaching for the books as they now lay on the floor.
The handsome young man I’ve assaulted picked his head up, rubbed the top of it with his hand and smiled shyly.
"I think I’ll be okay" he said
"I really am sorry, I wasn’t paying enough attention to anyone around me" I gush, embarrassed.
‘Here" he said, as he handed me the book.
"You have great taste in books" he added.
"No, it’s okay, you can take it" I answered, looking down at my shoes.
"No, really, take it." He insisted.
"Thanks." I replied quietly, reaching for the book as he placed it in my hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked, as he looked down at my shoes as well.
"Now that’s funny. I hit YOU on the head with some books and you’re asking me if I’M ok", I laughed.
"Well" he says…It was either that, or I was about to ask you if there was something wrong with your shoes!" he laughed.
Somewhat relieved, I look up at him and laughed as well. I started to relax, the day’s earlier woes forgotten.
His smile was sincere, his eyes revealed a spark that lifted me out of my dull mood.
I studied his face, his frame. He was in is mid twenties, but seemed to possess an "old" soul.
We made an immediate connection.
"You know, if you like that book" he continued, "there’s another one in the same genre you may be interested in" he said as his fingers traced the edges of the books on the shelf in search of the new book, his animated manner revealing his enthusiasm in reading.
He perused the shelf looking first on the top shelves, then kneeled while searching the bottom.
"Ah, here it is" he announced as he pulled the book from the bottom shelf. We began chatting casually about the books as he pointed out sections and chapters of note and interest. He stopped for a minute, and looked at me.
"I’m sorry—how rude of me—I didn’t introduce myself" he said, with a serious look on his face.
"My name is Jake" he continued as he handed me his hand for a shake.
I took his hand and told him my name. As he held my hand, he winked at me.
I instantly turned ten shades of red.
I could not imagine why a handsome young man would want to flirt with me, a forty something career woman.
Jake led me to one book after another, his passion for reading apparent in the enthusiasm he demonstrated when pointing out the highlights of a particular book or author.
Soon we found ourselves in the bookstore café, sipping ice teas with scores of books scattered around and about the table between us.
He was interesting, funny and gave me all of his attention as we conversed about the literature before us and eventually other topics as well.
Jake informed me that he had just moved into town and knew few people.
I offered to show him around a bit and give him tips on how to survive our town, specifically how to deal with the traffic! I gave him my cell phone number and told him to call me if he needed help with anything at all, or if he simply needed someone to talk to.
We both left the store and headed to our respective homes. He phoned me regularly and we chatted for what seemed like hours on end.
Before long, we were friends.
One particular day, during a dreaded conference call at work, my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number right away, but I answered the call anyway, glad for the diversion in the middle of the boring meeting.
"Hi" came the voice on the other end. It was Jake.
"I don’t know how to ask you this" he went on.
"But I’m all alone tonight and thought it would be nice if we could chat. I have some new books I’d love to show with you"
I could hear a definite tone of loneliness in his voice.
"Poor guy" I thought to myself. "He’s all alone in a strange city".
"Sure" I replied cheerfully. "what time, and where?" I queried.
"How about around 7 pm, at my place---that is if you don’t mind the mess over here" he giggled.
"No problem" I replied. I took down the address with shaking hands.
Jake greeted me at the door, apologizing for the appearance of the apartment. To be sure, you could tell that a twenty-something male lived there. He had tried to tidy it up a bit, in the typical manner of a person his age. The remnants of last night’s pizza and empty soda cans an all too familiar reminder.
I spied the newest additions to his library as they lay on his sofa. Walking over to the sofa, I picked up a book and flipped through it casually.
Jake came up behind me and looked over my shoulder as I scanned the pages.
He was so close to me that I could feel his breath on my neck and smell his intoxicating cologne. I momentarily became lightheaded and closed my eyes to regain my composure.
His hand touched my elbow gently.
I tried to concentrate on the words in the book, but they were beginning to blur into blotches on the page.
He leaned up against me, playfully as I continued to "read" the book.
He sniffs my hair and says "mmmm….your hair smells good."
