THE WOMAN OF MY DREAMS: AN AIRPORT ROMANCE, PART TWO
The Joke, The Debriefing, and The Departure.
Continued from Part One in which Narrator Catches a Glimpse of Flesh
“Well! That reminds me of a joke. Do you like jokes?” She pivoted her torso towards me, and I could see her pulse throbbing at the base of her throat.
“Patrick walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness and sits in the corner of the room, drinking a sip out of each pint in turn. When he had finished all three, he went back to the bar and ordered three more.
The barman says, “You know a pint goes flat soon after I pull it. Your pints would taste better if you bought one at a time.”
Patrick replies, “Well now, I have two brodders, one is in America and de odder in Australia and here I am in Dublin . When we all left home, we promised dat we’d drink dis way to remember de days we all drank togedder.”
The barman admits that this is a nice custom and says no more.
Patrick becomes a regular customer and always drinks the same way … ordering three pints and drinking a sip out of each in turn, until they are finished. One day, he comes in and orders just two pints. All the other regulars in the bar notice and fall silent. When he goes back to the bar for the second round, the barman says, "I don’t want to intrude on your grief but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss. "Patrick looks confused for a moment, then the penny drops and he starts to laugh, “Oh no,” he says, “Bejesus, everyone is fine! Tis me … I’ve quit drinking!”
She exhaled and looked at her screen, still smiling, “That joke reminds me that appearances can be deceiving.”
I laughed, “Ha, you got me on that one.”
Giving me a quick once over, she replied,“I know you’re in the middle of work and whathaveyou, but I just have to say, it’s so nice to be here with you. I’m sending my last messages right now, so my friends know I made it this far, and then I’m going off the grid for a while. Seeing you there with all your emails reminds me how much I want to do this. I mean, no offense, but you look harried. I can see you need a break, but hey, I know you gotta earn a buck too.”
“Harried? No, I’m not harried, just unshaven,” I replied, perhaps too abruptly to be convincing.
I actually closed my laptop! Here she was, this, this…gymnast, uninvited, sharing MY power outlet, and I was letting her engage me. She bent in close and murmured in my face, “I hoped you would do that.” She grinned and leaned back. Honestly, I couldn’t help but notice her nipples under her blouse. It may have been silk. She was not wearing a bra. Registering my notice, she didn’t change her posture. I shifted on the bench which whooshed again.
I looked up at her face and asked, “I’m just en route from Beijing, how about you?” I asked. Had I lost all panache?
Sidestepping the question, “I’m en route too. I’m off to find the woman of my dreams,” she replied matter- of- factly. Her eyes were boring little holes in my forehead at the same time, monitoring my reaction.
“Is that so?” I inquired, my trousers tightening uncomfortably. I was surprised as I hadn’t picked up any cues that she might be gay. The coconut scent grew warmer and closer.
“Does she have a sister?” I recovered, trying to tamp the effect of her gaze on my pre-frontal cortex and of her scent on my lizard brain.
Throwing back her head, she chortled, “Ha ha ha, you funny man!” Then, exposing her teeth, she pronounced,“I’m off to become the woman of my dreams!”
Phew, I was safe, safe from warm aromas.
I fell for her bait and responded reflexively, “Oh?”
“Yes! I’m heading to a little island to run a retreat center. It’s a clothing-optional place, with an emphasis on detoxing and healing.”
I did snicker, I’ll admit it, and instantly regretted it.
“You laugh. I did too, but I decided to go anyway.”
She glanced down at her watch and unstrapped it, saying, “Oh, I’ve run out of time. My flight’s leaving now. Listen, here’s some money for the bartender. Tell him thanks. Maybe his wife would like this watch.” She slid the watch and the money across the table.
Leaning her face near the tabletop, she fidgeted, and when she sat back upright, her eyes twinkled. I looked down at her hand. She passed a pair of pale blue panties into my palm which rested on my thigh. She squeezed it and giggled, “You can keep these. I’m not going to need them either.”
She pulled her skirt down. The bench whooshed as she slid out and stood grinning down at me. “You can have my laptop too. You might enjoy my war stories; they’re filed under Writing in My Documents.”
My jaw was slack I think as I stared up at her.
“Thanks for letting me power up here. It was a pleasure.” She rolled out with her red bag , her short stride rotating her hips under skirt. She disappeared into the crowd.
Turning her laptop towards me, I looked at the screen which was open to an itinerary. Just as I figured out where she was destined, the waiter arrived with a Salisbury steak with a piece of parsley on top. “Madame is gone?” he inquired.
“From here, yes, but she’s out there somewhere.”