A Brief Fling

This is the second time this has happened to me in the last five years or so. You would think it strange; forty years as an adult and it happens to me only twice, both times when I am over 55. The first experience was while I was sitting in a Worthington Kroger grocery store, just outside the pharmacy department. I was awaiting a prescription to be filled, and so was she. This most recent occurrence took place in a Clintonville dentist office waiting room. As with the first occasion, it was just the two of us there, isolated and by ourselves.

It was about ten minutes before 2 PM. I was early for my appointment with my dentist, Dr. Raisch. I sat down two seats to the left of the only other person in the waiting room, an attractive woman who I guessed was in her mid-30s, maybe 40 years old. Coincidentally, I had seen the same woman six months earlier in the same room. Apparently our six month check-ups were almost synchronized. I wanted to say hello but she appeared to be reluctant to so much as make eye contact. It seemed almost as though I were too imposing a figure for her eyes to behold. I was wearing one of my best shirts, and I was enjoying a good hair day, so the notion that I might be simply too astounding was something I accepted as a natural reaction from the captivating woman.

I made myself comfortable in a chair, and in a tough decision chose a Guns and Ammo Magazine over a Today’s Bride. I was in the process of pricing bullet-proof vests when the comely lady two seats to my right whispered, “I want to say, I find you very handsome. Very handsome.”

My reading ceased immediately, of course. Truth was; I was speechless. How can anyone instantly respond to such a statement? I certainly could not.

Still speaking in a hushed voice, she continued. “We haven’t seen each other very often, but we’ve seen each other often enough that I know that you are the one for me.”

I turned and gave her a glance, but when I did she spun away, as though her own words were adding to her timidity. I was about to speak, but before I could, she continued with her shy, whispered disclosure. “I want to see you this evening… no, I need to see you this evening. You could come by my place.”

“I am flattered," I stated uneasily, “but…”

“Don’t say no,” the attractive lady continued, her body still turned away in apparent bashfulness. “Please, don’t say no.”

“Well, see, the thing is, I have a significant other,” I pronounced. “I think you are an attractive woman, and if I were an available man I certainly would consider your proposal, but...”

Suddenly the woman turned towards me, she removed the miniscule cellphone headset from what had been her hidden right ear. “Excuse me,” she said to me, her voice suddenly strong and direct, “are you talking to me?”

“Ummm, no,” I managed to stammer, “I was just talking to myself. That’s all, just, you know, talking to myself.”