Inevitable Words

 

He was the kind of man that made me wonder if he was real…or even human. He was tall, his hair was black as night, and he had a face that you could find in a magazine. His eyes were a piercing deep green and if you looked close enough into his eyes you could tell he was a very good natured man. How could I tell all of this?

Those eyes were staring right into mine.

It was alarming. What was happening? I was sitting on the couch in the lobby in our hotel and he was sitting behind the front desk watching me. In the USA, when we catch someone staring at us, we usually look away. It is considered rude to really stare and look closely at someone.

I glanced back at him. His eyes hadn’t moved at all. It was as if we were at a zoo and I was some kind of exotic creature that the world had never seen before. To say I was uneasily startled is an understatement. Thankfully, the Professors daughter who had lived in France previously, taught me my first lesson.

Lesson #1: In France, if a man is genuinely interested in you, he will literally stare you down. It’s considered polite and it is socially acceptable.

The next day he was working again. I eyed him carefully as I talked with my fellow travelers. He sat behind the desk crouching down a little bit with his head tilted forwards as if he was listening very carefully to my words as I spoke.

Finally after exchanging a few smiles back and forth, and after saying “Bonjour” to each other came the night I was secretly dreading. A night when it was just me, him, and no one else in the lobby. 

As usual I walked alone to the elevator from the game room to the lobby. Sure enough, there he was sitting alone at the desk in an empty lobby. I walked swiftly to the elevator avoiding eye contact. I pushed the elevator button desperately hoping the doors would open right away.

The doors didn’t open…and they didn’t open for a very long time.  I could feel his eyes engrossed on my back. Every fiber of my being knew he was dying to say something. I was dying to say something too. You could feel the air getting thicker by the second with electricity.

 Should I say something? Should I turn around? I couldn’t, frozen with uncertainty. I just kept staring at the elevator being consumed by my nerves and a racing heart. The silence was finally shattered by a nervous voice.

“So..where are you from?”

I spun around. Instead of sitting behind the desk, facing the door, he was standing directly behind me observing me from the counter. I found my feet walking to him.

“I’m from the States! We just came from England.”

“Very nice.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Are you having a good time so far?”

“Yes! I’ve been having a great time, actually.”

How was I able to speak correctly like this? Why wasn’t I tongue tied?

We stood studying each other.

He opened his mouth to say something but then those curious green eyes darted behind me and turned into disappointment.

The elevator chimed loudly and the doors opened. I looked at the doors and then back at him. I wanted to stay and talk so badly but I didn’t know what to say, so I rushed into the elevator.

“Goodnight!” He called waving from the counter.

 His eyes were heartbreakingly sad. It killed me. As the doors closed I watched him watch me. Something caught me off guard. The way he was watching me was as if he had just won the lottery, or was deeply, genuinely in awe of something. He almost looked like he was proud of something.

What on earth was happening!? How was this happening? What was I supposed to say? I couldn’t speak much French. I didn’t even know French. I was just a normal girl from Wisconsin who had an eye that looked really strange from a car crash. He couldn’t possibly find me attractive, but the way he looked at me was the way every girl wants to be looked it.

They say when you know, you know. There was no denying this man was someone I should pay attention to. My heart screamed that this was it. This was the big thing I was waiting for. Just by witnessing every ounce of awe in his face humbled me. It carried me through each day. And it made me smile for hours. Little did I know that in the days ahead, my heart was not deceiving me.

Author's Note

Reviews

[Terry O'Leary]

An interesting description so far...
Terry

[Richard🖌]

It is endlessly-interesting, Kathryn, how this wonderfully real-feeling young lady thinks, how her emotions are so vividly portrayed through the magic of your words, that even to me (a man) can understand them, or feel he does … LOL!
You make me wonder if she is anything like You.

The manner in which you describe her new love interest, André, is quite remarkable, too, as is their emotional gymnastics throughout the story … you really hooked me, but good!

[Kathryn Smith]

Thank you! I am one of those people who is able to look at someone without knowing them and getting a good vibe about what kind of person they are. (Weird I know.) I could tell Andre had a lot of questions and I think in the end our language barrier made it harder to communicate. I'm glad I portrayed our feelings well! :)