Sunny Afternoon in Marina Del Rey

I leaned my chair over on its side to snatch up the folded sheet of paper I was using as a bookmark. Normally I wouldn't consider such a dangerous maneuver in a cheap restaurant chair � most are just plastic and would fold in half if you looked at them too harshly, but this was a sturdy iron chair so I leaned farther toward the ground with confidence despite the trembling of the only two legs that held me up. I reached the ground and slid the sheet over to my hand with my fingers then threw my bulk to the right.
��������The old man next to me (who wasn't really � he was sitting inside the actual cafe while I enjoyed a light breeze that was coming in from the beach on the other side of a large window pane.) had been watching with mild interest. He seemed somewhat disappointed, as if he'd somehow been led on by me in my leaning chair, only to have his tiny hopes dashed when I righted myself completely unharmed. But he seemed to accept this almost immediately and buried his face back into his hardcover.
��������I was alone but I didn't mind on a day like today. The sun nearly always shines over the Marina, but some days it hits the ground just right. Those days, people look more interesting as they walk along the streets dangling shopping bags and riding their beach cruisers past shop after shop. The women look like they're glowing creamy white or soft tan and their walk slows down so that you don't miss a single step. A guy doesn't really feel alone when he's sitting outside on one of those days. All he has to do is sit back and watch and something is bound to turn up.
��������I hunched over my table and looked straight ahead with my eyes not really focused on anything. My back started to get tired so I leaned back in my chair. After a while I began to squirm and grow uncomfortable, so i leaned back toward the table. I repeated this several times. As I leaned back for about the fourth time I noticed a pair of legs coming my way from across the parking lot, long, smooth and perfectly tanned. It was the tan that kept my eyes fixed on her � it spread from her legs up her body, to her shoulders and back, perfectly bronze and gleaming, not opaque and orange like you'd get with a cream or tanning bed. Her slow-motion walk let me get in every detail: the mid-thigh camouflage skirt that brushed past her hips with every step and her bronze cowboy boots that were perfectly matched by her tan and perfectly complemented by her pure white tank top. I made sure not to seem too obvious but I had to get a look at her. The sunglasses over her eyes gave her the upper hand. I felt vulnerable, out in the open, while she was free to look wherever she wanted. Her jaw-length, chestnut hair was highlighted with streaks of auburn that tickled her cheek as she walked right past me into the coffee shop.
��������The floor to ceiling windows allowed me to watch her standing with her hip thrown to the right and her left leg slightly bent and on its tiptoe. The old man sitting next to me (but not) still clutched his book while his eyes focused on this thing that no one in that coffee shop could touch. She stood in line and, with each customer served, took one marvelous step closer to the register. After she ordered her coffee she sat at an empty table directly in front of the old man. This twenty-something was proof that an old man didn't need to pop Viagra to get his s**t together. All he needed was a bronze work of art to stroll past him on a sunny day and let her fragrance float into his nostrils. She sat there waiting for her order while the old man continued to sit and clutch his hardcover. He didn't move or blink, because he knew like the rest of us that if he did he risked missing something. Her legs crossed and uncrossed under the table. I didn't understand how she could act so normal. She must have known what her presence was doing to every man in that room. I stared hard at her legs, amazed at how far up they went. I was dying to know where those legs went. I could only imagine how warm she had to be after walking in the sunlight outside. I thought about how it would feel to go in there right now and put my arms around her from behind with my chin resting on her sun-warmed shoulders. The heat.
��������Her order was up and she got up to go to the counter, snapping the old man out of his trance. She took her cup and walked out of the place, this time through the side door, away from me. Just as I thought she was going to leave she walked toward me. My entire body went tense and on alert. She was about to reach me when she stopped at the table right in front of me. She took off the purse she had been wearing and then she did something amazing. Her elbows rested on the table and she began digging through her purse with her shoulders hunched and her a*s way out behind her, gently rocking back and forth. Her right leg was bent behind her left, with the toe of one foot rolling against the heel of another. That perfect profile was like a gift and torture all at once. Why was she doing this to me? She knew and she acted like she didn't which made me love it so much more! She kept rocking and I began to relax as I felt the warm beginnings of a hard-on tingling inside me. I bit the inside of my cheek and took all of her in. Just like that it was over. She pulled out her cell phone and quickly stood up straight. She tossed her purse over her shoulder, satisfied with what she had just done to me and walked back from where she had come from. The old man beside me eyed me with envy. I leaned back in my chair and exhaled for what seemed like the first time since she'd come along. I resumed my casual observance of passersby and let myself smile a little. I was a lucky sonofabitch today.