Held open the door at the top of the east stairwell this showery morning for Kay. I was headed down. She was coming up. Not wearing the green overcoat she'd worn all winter. And wet enough. And clearly wondering about her appearance. Clok'cloking up the hollow steps. Leggy, and lovely really, in tights and matching charcoal skirt. Thin chocolatey sweater.
Tried not to stare. Tried to be a doorstop. Tried to think of some polite something to say in passing.
Caught her catching one of my careless glances. Beautiful eyes behind those rain-speckled glasses. Brown, I could've called them. Hazel, if I was daring.
I wanted to say...anything.
Then I did. Because it was right to do so. She had got caught in the rain, was worried about her appearance, and shouldn't be. Even under these buzzing stairwell fluorescents. Pearls gleamed in her hair.
It should've come out like that, instead of "You've got pearls in your hair", along with my smile.
But Kay did smile at that. At me. Said "Thanks" as she passed.
"Sure." I said, filling myself on her perfume. Soap. Warm hair. Flowery something, too, like the rose in Turkish delight.
I stole a long look at the backs of her legs as she clicked along the corridor between the offices. It was but a moment, really. A fantasy. Kay, you see, I knew wore a talisman of warding against such as me. Upon her left hand. A golden ring.
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Started as a quickjot. Got stuck when I went too enthusiastically into describing Kay. Plus half-hour.
Easter Monday in B.C. 2024!
3 weeks ago
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