He watched her from the doorway, sitting on a table, her legs swinging back and forth as she absent-mindedly looked around the room. He watched as her red hair bounced when she looked this way or that and the way her eyes glinted bright green in the incandescent lighting. At 17, he may not have known a lot about life, but what he did now was that she was the most stunning girl he had ever seen. After three weeks of watching, he decided tonight was the night. So, taking a deep breath, he walked toward her.
“Hello.” He croaked, his voice getting stuck in his throat. She looked at him, a smile crossing her face as she laughed a bit at his misfortune. His face flushed red as he cleared his throat and tried desperately to hide his embarrassment. “I mean, hi.” he said more confidently.
“Hi.” she said back, her voice sounding like rose petals on the wind. He could feel his heart beat faster and his hands start to shake.
“Um…” he stalled as he tried to remember what to say next. Nervously, he looked around the room, wanting to just crawl away and hide.
“My name is Valerie. What’s yours?” He saw the life line for what it was and grabbed on to it for dear life.
“My name is Robert. I saw you sitting here and just wanted to say hi.” He felt his brain internally kicking himself in the pants.
“Didn’t you just do that?” That smile was back on her lips and he felt his mind melting.
“Get a hold of yourself Robert.”
“I’m sorry, did you say something?” She asked, and at that moment, he realized he had said his last statement aloud. His cheeks turned bright red.
“Um, no.” He looked down at the floor, letting defeat set in. “Sorry, I’ll leave you alone.” He started to turn away from her.
“You go to Middleton High, right? In Mrs. Haislip’s calculus class?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” His heart sped up, realizing that she knew who he was. “You noticed me, huh?”
“Well, it’s kind of hard to miss you. You kind of stand out in the crowd.” She held her hands up, indicating his 6’4″ frame as she smiled at him. “Plus, the word is that you know a thing or two about math.”
“Yeah. It’s kind of my thing. Like how derivatives and…” She reached out her hand and touched his and he immediately stopped talking.
“It’s ok, you don’t have to prove to me that you know it all.” Again, she gave him that smile that just stopped his world.
That was thirty-one years ago.
Tonight, he watched her from another doorway. This time, she sat in a chair, but she still looked around as she waited. Time had been kind to her, and although her hair was not the same color, it still had a fire to it. Her eyes seemed not as bright, but still held an ocean of green in them. At 49, he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
He knew he had waited long enough, so, taking a deep breath, he walked toward her. She turned as she saw him approaching and he felt his heart racing faster in his chest as he neared her.
“Hello.” He said, his voice strong and firm.
“Hi.” She said back to him, slightly nodding her head toward him.
“I, umm, well…” His words got stuck in his throat as he thought to himself, “Not this again.”
“I’m sorry, not what again?” She asked.
“Did I say that out loud?” His face turned bright red again.
“Afraid so.”
“Sorry.” He looked down toward the floor.
“About what?” She said standing and reaching her hand up, touching him on the chin and making him look up into her eyes. Immediately, the world seemed to stop in that moment as she stared into his eyes and he knew she saw him. His heart rate slowed, his breathing steadied, and his thoughts came into focus.
“I love you.” The words fell out of his mouth before he could think.
“I love you too.” And her lips parted in that smile that he had come to adore.
“Happy 25th anniversary.” He leaned his forehead down and rested it on hers as they looked into each others eyes. “Thank you for saying yes.”
She smiled. “Thank you for saying hello.”
Filed under: Flash Fiction
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