Inspiration

(Photo via ffffound)


Not Quite Green

Excuse me?” She looks him directly in the eyes. Hers were green, but with brown, so
not really green at all. There’s a name for that colour, he thinks to himself. What is it?
“Sorry,” He says, stepping aside, “I didn’t see you there”. He’s not quite sure why he
moved for her, there’s plenty of room to pass.
She smiled, “Oh no, I meant ‘excuse me’ in the ‘can I have your attention?’ kind of way.”
Uggh, she thinks, I shouldn’t have said anything. She glances down at her shoes. I
shouldn’t have worn these shoes either. Is that a hole near the toe?
He waits for her to look up again, to return a sympathetic look, but she seems to be
focusing on what looks like a hole in her shoe. She looks up, so he looks away quickly.
He doesn’t want her to know he noticed the hole in her shoe.
“Um, ok. Well, you’ve got my attention.” He smiles and scans her face. I must know
her. He thinks. She looks familiar, but then again, she’s pretty. She’s very pretty, so
every guy wants to believe he knows her from somewhere.
“It’s Nick, right? You were at Camille’s party on Saturday.” She searches his face for a
hint of recognition.
“Oh yeah! Hey!” he replies, with slight relief. I knew I’ve seen her somewhere. What is
her name again? With a face like that, you think you’d remember her name, Nick. Shit.
“That was a great party. How’s it going?”
“Things are good, they’re good. Yeah, that party was pretty crazy, right?” Phew, he
remembers me. “I wasn’t sure you’d remember me and think I’m some crazy girl on the
street!”
She’s fiddling with the trim on her sweater. It’s green, well, green but with brown mixed
in, so pretty much the same colour as her eyes. Damn, he thinks, it’s on the tip of my
tongue.
“Well, you’re still that crazy girl on the street, just one that I happen to know!”
She blinks, and glances down at her shoes again.
“Sorry, bad joke.”
“Yeah” She’s staring at the hole again, I can’t believe I wore these. She hadn’t noticed
how good-looking he is until now.
“Which way are you headed?” He notices her toes wiggling, poking through the tiny
hole in her shoe. It’s kind of cute.
“That way.” She points eastbound and quickly crosses one foot behind the other. Shit, I
think he noticed the hole.
“Hey, me too!” he says, with just a little too much enthusiasm. She knows I saw the hole.
“Going into the office. You?”
“Yup.” She turns to initiate walking. “You’re in marketing, right?”
He begins to walk with her, “Yeah, in that ridiculous blue mirrored building on the next
block. Feels like I’m walking into 1986 every time I go in. Where’s your office?”
“Ha, I think the same thing whenever I pass it! I’m a few blocks away. I usually take the
bus, but I figured I’d walk today, it’s pretty nice outside.”
“Yeah, I’ve really been looking forward to the nice weather. It’s been so long since I’ve
been able to go outside without a parka.” The weather. Great, now we’re talking about
the weather.
“Tell me about it. I love not having to put on boots in the morning.” Damn, I can’t
believe I drew attention to my stupid shoes.
“True. And you’ve got built in air conditioning too!” He smiles widely. Shit, Nick, did
you really just mention the hole in her shoe? His smile starts to fade. Idiot.
“Ha, I guess you’re right. Maybe I should poke a hole in the other one to balance them
out.” She replies, smiling back. I can’t believe he noticed. What guy notices a girl’s
shoes?
“You could start a trend. Nothing better on a hot day than a pair of air-conditioned
shoes.” He studies her face, as much as he can without being obvious. Those are some
really nice eyes-seriously, why can’t I think of that colour? This is going to bug me all
day. Did I really say air-conditioned shoes?
“Um, I think those are called sandals.”
His face turns red. Idiot.
Their pace is as slow as their conversation is awkward. Despite that, they seem to be
enjoying each other’s company.
There aren’t many places you can go after small talk about air-conditioned shoes. He
shakes his head, smirking to himself.
“This is my office.” He says, slowing down. Slightly relieved to end this particular
conversation, but still a bit disappointed. There’s something about her.
“Alright, while you travel back to the eighties, my air-conditioned shoes and I have a few
more blocks to go. So…” She trails off, hoping he’ll take over. They both stop.
“It was nice running into you…uh...” Shit. He still can’t remember her name. To be
honest, he doesn’t remember really chatting with her at the party at all.
“You don’t remember my name, do you?” She tilts her head, searching his face
hopefully. She smiles, she’s not angry. But curious as to why he pretended to remember
her.
“I’m really sorry. It’s just that there were a lot of people at the party, and I’m just not
sure…” He looks down shamefully, focusing on the hole. Her toes are wiggling again.
He wants to laugh a little, but the timing is bad.
“Do you even remember me at all?” Ouch. The timing is really bad.
“Yes, well, not really. I mean, I remember seeing you there…” Shut up Nick. “And if
you say we chatted then I’m pretty sure we chatted and, well, that’s all. I’m sorry.” Way
to play this one, jackass. “But listen, it was really cool running into you.” Maybe I can
save this, he thinks. “I enjoyed the walk, maybe we can do it again some time.” Ugh,
what is this, the end of a date?
“Right.” Wow, this is really awkward, it’s like the end of a date or something. “Well,
um, have a good day, I guess.”
She turns to continue her walk. Oh well. At least I’ve got a story for the girls later.
“Wait,” He calls after her. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name?” It’s a Hail Mary,
but it’s worth a shot.
She pauses. There were a lot of people at the party. I don’t even remember everyone’s
name. And he is pretty cute.
“Hazel.” She says, still turned away from him.
“Pardon?”
She turns to face him. “My name is Hazel”.

Story courtesy of an anonymous friend, who is oh so lovely, and talented!