moment from 06.04.11.

i followed you around the store for approximately eight minutes.
you'd obviously just gotten off work, still wearing your dress shirt and slacks. you stopped, compared flavors of juice, and finally settled for two of my faves.
i smiled and quit following you then, dreaming wistfully of all the things girls dream.
"if we bump carts, he'll ask for my number. this time next year we'll be married."
i swear, i saw our lives together flash before my eyes.

twelve minutes later, sitting in my car, biding my time before work, you walked out.
your car was parked in my same parking lot. why didn't you park in the grocery store parking lot?
i watched as you carefully guided your cart around the grassy barrier.
you unloaded your groceries, and i expected you to abandon your cart. you surprised me then, walking clear back around the grassy barrier to put it in the Cart Return.
instead of just walking through the grass like i would have done, you walked all the way back around the grass again. nothing else could have captured my attention in that moment. i saw only you.

i may have fallen in love just then. however short-lived and one-sided it may have been, i won't soon forget the way watching you brought an instant smile, as well as a comfort and hope i don't often feel.

maybe next time i'll bump into you on purpose...