SQN - Sine Qua Non - Issue Two - Journal - Page 103
surprised by your casual internal use of the word “beguiled.” Who am I? You think. Irving
Berlin?
When a knock comes at the door you know, you pretend not to know because the
disappointment would be too great, but you know and thinking back on it, you know that
you knew: It is the girl. It is the girl. She holds your jacket and says, “I’m really sorry. You left
this and it had a few of your business cards in it.”
You want to say, “thank you.” You want to say, “I’m so glad you came.” You want to
say, “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.” What you say is, “My business cards don’t
have my address on them.”
She says, “I googled the phone number.”
You take the jacket and stand for a moment, not knowing how it goes from here,
not knowing your lines. Her gaze shifts past you and you think that maybe you’ve lost her
attention. Maybe that was the only chance you got and you blew it. But she says, “That’s the
most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” and when you turn to follow her gaze you see the bright
purple of the blooming orchid and you think, filled with hope for the first time in a year, this
might be the start of a story worth telling.
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