Subject: a chance meeting on a sunday afternoon

on my way home from church on sunday, as i'm walking down my street i noticed a car pass me, the driver stealing a glance in my direction. thinking nothing of it i continue on my path as the car turns left onto a cross street. as i cross that street, i look to my left to see the car turning about in a driveway and making a left back onto the main street, the driver again looking at me.

this time i think two things - 1) he's probably feeling stupid because he's lost looking for one of these open houses and 2) i hope that this man isn't trying to holla.

as i continue down mystreet i noticed that the car has made a u turn and has pulled into a space marked by a fire hydrant. the gentleman steps out of his car and heads towards the sidewalk, not intimidating in anyway, about 5'7" or 5'8", maybe 175 lbs, glasses, a regular square looking dude with Connecticut tags on a early 90's volvo.

the guy approaches me with a grin and says "do you realize what you just made me do?" confused and still weary of being approached by a stranger, I answer - No.

"well, i left the safeway parking lot, drove down 4th street . . ." and he continues to recount all of the various turns and illegal maneuvers he's made to tell me one simple thing, "you are beautiful, absolutely georgeous."

at this point i'm at a loss for words, but realize that this form of flattery gets people killed, but he continues on and i stand in the beautiful weather soaking up the sun and compliments. i have a man and i of course say that i do, the first line of defense for a single woman is to claim someone to ensure that the suitor is thrown off by you being attached. he says that my man is a very lucky to have me and that if he weren't married he'd have to give him a run for his money. he asks to see my left hand and asks why i don't have a ring to note my significance to this gentleman and i answer simply "because he's an idiot". he asks several questions - is he in school, is he working, he must be young and i answer each question honestly about a man who is not honestly my boyfriend. the suitor and i exchanged pleasantries and i pass along my business card for some weird reason and he promises me a poem.

at 4 PM today i receive the following email.

From: volvo man
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 4:00 PMTo: nubiantemptres43
Subject: a chance meeting on a sunday afternoon

nt-

let me apologize for finding you such a striking young lady. in no way did i intend to insult you or invade your space, although i was a bit forward in my honest admission regarding you being so attractive. i may only hope that you did not feel awkward or anxious because of my "youthful" exuberance. :)

with that sincere apology (and apologia) out of the way, please accept this poem in recognition of our chance meeting ...

i eat words,
devour them in bunches
as if a sweet fruit
savoring them in my mouth
letting them rest in the back of my mind
as if they were the ragged, jagged, jumbled
notes of a jazz tune
heard late ... 'round midnight
(at some smoke/filled joint'where the tenor/man wails)...

now for the sake of keeping this man's sweet nothing sweet and only provide a snippet of the poem. there are 5 more stanzas, but i'll be nice and not put him out there like that.

but i was wise enough to share this two day tango with the boy. i of course left out the part about him being an idiot, until he offered this revelation himself. after hearing the story of some man doting on me for 5-7 minutes the boy admitted to me that he was an idiot for not giving up on chasing behind women who don't mean anything. he also admitted that he's scared of commitment with me specifically because he thinks his karma will come back to bite him in the ass with me and he will be devastated. LIKELY FUCKING STORY.

after receiving the email today, i was kind enough to share the poem with the boy as a simple reminder - if you don't want to take a risk, someone else is willing, waiting and able. well, not really in this case, but who gives a damn, its somewhat effective.

regardless of any of this, volvo man is married and not my type, although i plan on working outside the norm soon. while my poem was being penned, the boy and i spent a quiet evening together watching football and building our "friendship" and in the moment that is more than enough to keep me satisfied.