Attraction

I appreciate beauty in a woman as much as the next man. Certain shapely figures catch my eye, make me smile, and evoke thoughts unsavory.  Those beauties I appreciate in passing - often out of the corner of my eye while I'm doing other things.  But attraction - that's a fairly rare thing - to see a woman and feel really attracted to her.  This attraction, it comes from something else, something other than physical beauty.  It could be something like her wearing a hat as an act of defiance, a weird bond that we just can't explain, a powerful personality that makes me feel a certain way, or finding a kindred spirit...  Sometimes though - so - so - rarely - this attraction happens before we even meet.

I saw her as I walked into the coffee shop this Saturday.  She was sitting in the window seat facing south - working at her laptop, with a book, and some notes.  I only caught a glance at her workstation so I couldn't tell you what she was doing exactly.  Her face caught the corner of my eye - something about her look projected sophistication.  Maybe it was the delicate shell earrings, the elegant necklace adorning her neck, the pretty ring on her right hand - perhaps it was the purposeful, natural look of the light, if any, makeup.  Her hair was blonde, her roots working their way toward a more natural dark blonde state; not that she dyed her hair rather that during Autumn and Winter her roots tend to grow in a little darker since she has not spent as much time in the sun.

I sat in the only available booth, facing the window where she was working.  I readied myself for a long day of programming work.  At this point the person in front of me was merely a passing observation.  She would have gone down as "wow she's pretty" if I had been paying attention and was not concerned with getting ready for 12 hours of work.  With my laptop and gear unfurled, coffee and banana in hand, I set out to work.  There just above my screen in my top periphery sat the woman in the window.  Moments after I started working something about her caught my attention.  This is that point where passing observation, that notice of beauty, really everything up to this point doesn't matter any more.  Out of the blur above my screen I saw her stop working and look up out the window and she smiled; just a simple, joyful, half smile.  I stopped and looked up at her and couldn't help but smile myself; in watching her eyes and her mind work.  I followed her gaze to a family outside - a young couple and their very young child.

I shook it off and resumed work as did she soon after. Time went by and I lost myself in my work absorbed in resolving an issue with the system I'm building.  Every now and again as the hours passed - I would see her, out of the top of my view, stop and look out the window.  I couldn't help but follow her eyes to a passing stranger or vehicle, often off into the distance where I couldn't go along.  Watching her observe as a momentary break from her obligation - It made me recognize and appreciate her inner beauty.  I wanted to talk with her about her ponderings.  As she stood up to leave I took a quick look at her shoes - and her dress. I debated with myself for about a microsecond as to whether or not I should try to talk to her. And then she left...

And then she came back to do something about a minute later.

And she left again.