When Michele's gaze falls on a stranger on the street, she is gripped with an overwhelming desire to meet him. But it was not to be and that brief sighting causes her to obsess over him. A couple of years later, she decides to take control of her life and forever banish all thoughts of the stranger from her mind. She goes on a blind date, but before she can find her date, she sees him, the stranger...
I have to tell you something, confess a little secret — I have had my eyes on you.
I am sure it was your smile that first caught my eye. That flash of dazzling, roguish sexiness snared my attention and the rest of you... oh my! Your tall strong body, tanned skin, firm and strong jaw not to mention those wicked lips all commanded my attention.
I tried to follow you. Tried to keep you in my line of sight, but I was too slow. Your long stride, the surrounding crowd and the steady stream of cars all hindered my attempts. I prayed for a break in the traffic allowing me to run to your side of the sidewalk. I even wished, with everything in me, that the crowds would disperse or you realised you were walking in the wrong direction. My only desire at that point in time was to get closer to you so I could adore you, welcome your gaze on me and explore the sensations of your touch on me. But it was not to be.
You were with me all day long as I could not banish you from my thoughts. That smile of yours was the last thing I saw when I closed my eyes that night, and when I woke up, the next morning, I thought of you.
Unable to shake you from my thoughts, I knew I had to see you again and found myself loitering on the street where I had caught sight of you.
I scrutinised every person and earned a few weird looks for my efforts. I didn’t care. Regardless, I still checked every person who walked by, knowing it was unnecessary, but I worried that by not doing so, I would miss catching sight of you.
You had stood out from the crowd that day. Your height, the purpose in your stride, the hidden strength in your body, drew me in like a beacon allowing me to follow you until you disappeared. Your presence that day made me buzz with awareness and feel alive.
This urge to catch a glimpse of you one more time was compelling. Perhaps I could move on after looking at you one more time?
Much to my disappointment, you did not show up and staying on the sidewalk, waiting for you to appear was not an option. I had to get on with my life and stop this stalker-like behaviour. I looked at the spot where I noticed you one last time and then walked away with a heavy heart.
As the weeks passed, I forced myself not to walk down that street. The weeks turned into months and you became a memory. But not forgotten. Work kept me busy, my family kept me busy and I let you slip deeper into my memory cache.
The last couple of years has been good. I own and manage a successful event planning business and my social life is bursting at the seams. Things such as paperwork, exercise and sleep consumed what little spare time I had. My life was great.
My family despaired with my non-existent relationship status and went on and on about it till they were blue in the face. It’s not like I did not date. I did. I gave it a shot. More than once but there had been no connection, no spark. If they were not self-absorbed, they bored me, or they did not have the same values as me. Am I being picky? I don’t believe so, but my family did.
I still thought of the man I saw a few years ago. Lately, though, I thought of him more often than I would have liked. Perhaps my subconscious was telling me I needed a significant other even though my head denied it? My inner circle, if they knew, would agree and try to fix me up with someone. Again!
The memory of that moment when I glimpsed him fleetingly pops out from the deep recesses of my mind. It doesn’t linger long, perhaps a second or two, but it always leaves me aching and wanting something more. The more I thought of him, the more I ached for companionship.
Like today. His face was so clear, even after all this time. What threw me were the emotions that gripped me as they left me listless for the rest of the day. These same emotions had me driving to the street where I caught sight of him, instead of heading home.
I felt stupid. But I could no longer back out as the moment I turned onto the street, I came to a forced standstill. The traffic was dreadful, with cars crawling at a pace slower than a snail. Fuck! Why did I have to have this compulsion to drive down this street now?
Frustrated with myself, I attempted to focus on the next event as I went through my mental checklist. I felt a little less guilty for wasting this time. Plus, it distracted me from the traffic chaos.
Suspecting that I was missing something important, I stretched over to the back seat to get my tablet to double check my lists when a long and angry blast of a car horn made me jerk back to an upright position. My head swung towards the sound. Was I in the wrong? Blocking someone? About to hit another car?
No, not at me, but at a sleek, all black Range Rover as it attempted to merge with the traffic. The car in front of me had taken offence and along with the horn, had flipped the bird. At our current pace, letting another car merge would not have slowed us down any further. What a dickhead!
As the car in front of me inched forward, I stayed where I was to let the Range Rover merge. It took a good few minutes for it to merge and in those few minutes, the back passenger door opened, and a man stepped out.
A delicious looking man. A man who caused me to stop breathing. Who made me feel instantly alive, caused my heart to race and made my body tingle all over in a good way. I hadn’t experienced these emotions in a while. The last time had been when I saw that stranger, two years ago. The same stranger who had just stepped out of the car. It was him!
My eyes greedily followed him as he walked towards a building. When he went inside, I started to breathe again.
Not realising it, I placed the car into park mode. One hand reached over to turn the ignition off while the other hand moved to open the door. My brain finally caught up, and I froze mid-action.
What was I doing? I couldn’t park the car in the middle of the road and follow a man, a stranger into a building not knowing where he would have gone. Besides this behaviour wasn’t me. I did not rush into a situation without thinking it through. It was foolhardy behaviour.
What if I pretended that I had broken down? As quickly as that thought crossed my mind, I discarded it. The ensuing implications would be a nightmare. Not only would I have to deal with the already aggravated drivers, it would be just my luck if a good samaritan came to my aid and found nothing wrong with my car.
A car sounding its horn behind me brought me back to my surroundings and all thoughts of leaving my car to look for him went out the window. Traffic was on the move and it was time to move twenty metres forward. With a heavy heart, I did just that.
Once again, we came to a standstill. I turned to look at the building again knowing deep down I would be back. The rational side of me told me to give it a rest and to stop acting like a loser. The other part of me bowed to the demands of my body, vowing to find him again, talk to him and touch him. Maybe then I could let go of whatever held me captivated and enthralled with him.
Despondently, I inched forward a few more metres, following the sleek Range Rover in front of me. I continued to dwell on the man and my neurotic behaviour when it came to him.
After all these years, the mere sight of him triggered all these dormant emotions within me. Consumed me with an intensity which took over all my rational behaviour.
Why? Why him? What was it about him that drew me in and spoilt me for any other men? I found them all lacking in one way or the other. Was my subconscious comparing them with this man? What though?
I didn’t know what he sounded like or what made him tick? Neither did I know if he was a nice man or a brute? What I did know is when I looked at him, I was alive. Every inch of me is like a live wire, charged with electricity, making me tingle and yearn.
Caught up in such thoughts, I vaguely took in a figure striding with purpose towards the now moving stream of cars. As he got closer, every part of me went on alert! He kept pace with the still slow-moving traffic. When his car stopped, he crossed the short distance with long strides, before disappearing into the back seat.
Eyes glued to where I imagined he was sitting, I tried to make out his profile through the tinted windows of his car. I got nothing for all my squinting and peering. The cars were now moving at a quicker pace. Fearful of losing him, I trailed behind until we were out of the jam and kept on his tail, following him to where ever he was going.
Twenty minutes later, his car came to a standstill outside an apartment building. As there was no place for me to pull over, I drove by slowly. Keeping one eye on my review mirror, I watched my stranger step out, with a briefcase in his hand, nod to the doorman before he disappeared. As the hour was late, I assumed that he lived here. His familiarity with the doorman solidified my assumption. I refused to presume anything else such as he was visiting a friend, girlfriend or family.
Coming to a stop at a red light, my body sagged in tiredness. I had been awake for over seventeen hours and I needed rest. I berated myself for my foolish behaviour. A successful woman, or any women, did not stalk men all over the city. No, they did not.
I berated myself all the way home. This was not living. It was senseless of me to putt my life on hold for a stranger who I had now seen twice. The only way, I could get on with my life was to go on a date. With that in mind, I decided to take Patty up on her offer and meet her husband’s distant relative.
Patty, one of my good friends, had been irksome in her attempts to set me up with him for a while. Each time, I had an excuse. So when I called her to ask her to set up the date, her scream of excitement deafened me.
Her assurances of me loving this guy, at first sight, was unquestionably over the top. I put any reservations I had aside and promised instead to give him a chance. Before she made me promise to marry him, I ended the call leaving her to make the arrangements. God help me!
A few weeks later, saw me getting ready for my date with Daniel. We were to meet at a wine bar a few blocks from my place. Deciding to walk to the wine bar, my thoughts automatically settled on my stranger. Thinking about him before a date, was a definite no-no. I was just torturing myself with the unattainable and that was not on. Thus pre-occupied, I got to the bar in no time at all. I walked inside and the first thing I notice sitting facing the door was my stranger.
What the fuck! What was he doing here?
I panicked. I had a plan. A plan, that involved me moving on with my life and not dwell on this man. His presence here, at this bar, made a mockery of this plan. Poor Daniel stood no chance. Dammit, I had a plan, and this man was spoiling it for me.
The door behind swung open. Someone jostled me, pushing me forward, making me realise that I had been blocking the door. I moved out of the way, willing my eyes away from my stranger to scan the rest of the room. I hoped with everything in me that Daniel was here so I could suggest we go to the restaurant across the street. Anywhere else but here.
Not knowing what Daniel looked like, I scanned the room again, this time looking for a man wearing a black jacket with a red handkerchief in his breast pocket. To make it easy for the both of us, I too had a red handkerchief half tucked into my jacket pocket.
Wait a minute! My scan of the room came to an abrupt stop. My head swivelled towards my stranger — he had a red handkerchief in his black breast pocket and he was heading my way.
My body began to overheat as he got closer. His stride was as I remembered, and it quickly ate up the short distance between us.
In no time, he stood before me, looking down at me from his great height. With his head cocked ever so slightly, he queried in a deep, orgasm-worthy drawl, “Michele?”
Oh boy! The man of my dreams had been waiting for me. He was my blind date. Elated, I cursed myself for not agreeing to meet Daniel when Patty first mentioned him eighteen months ago.
I locked my knees. Took a deep but subtle breath and grounded myself. “Daniel?” I queried on a shaky breath.
Remembering my manners, I took another deep breath and stuck my hand out.
It turned out to be a big mistake. I forgot to breathe all over again once his large, warm hand engulfed mine. I was finally touching him if the electricity shooting up my arm to the rest of my body was any sign!
I was in big trouble. Up close he was a breathtakingly handsome. Over six feet of hard muscle, with thick brown hair and blue eyes that seemed to look deep into my soul. He was superbly spectacular.
As I looked up into his eyes, the blue darkened a fraction. Was he feeling whatever this was between us too?
His grip on my hand tightened a fraction before he released my hand and gestured towards the table he had been sitting at. He said something, but for everything I hold dear, I have no recollection what that might have been. By the time, we got to the table I had pulled myself together.
We spent a lovely evening getting to know each other. The conversation flowed and time flew by. Patrons of the wine bar came and went, but we didn’t notice.
“I feel as if I have known you all my life.” I blurted out during a small lull in the conversation.
“Funny you should say that as I was just thinking the same thing. You are very stunning and interesting woman.”
“Why thank you. You are alright too.” I responded with a smile.
“You wound me. Just alright? Common, surely I rate a little higher than that?”
Laughing I shook my head. “Fishing for compliments will get you nowhere. But, as you have put up with me for the last few hours, I will add that you are very easy to talk to.”
He shook his head at my cheeky smile. “It seems I have my work cut out for me. I guess I have to up the ante on my charm-o-meter.”
“Charm-o-meter? Really? Who says charm-o-meter these days! You need help!”
The ringtone from my phone put a stop to our banter. I had ignored a call earlier that evening, but, seeing the same name appear on the display screen forced me to answer.
“It’s Patty again. I better answer this or else she might do something embarrassing.”
“Yes, you better. I think I have just as many missed calls from her as you do. Just tell her I am kidnapping you.” He responded with a wink.
Laughing, I accepted the call, reassured Patty that we were getting along famously. Once I hung up, the lateness of the evening, the long day all caught up with me and I could not stifle my yawn.
“It’s getting late, and I have taken up your whole evening, I do apologise.” Daniel voiced as he took in my yawn and tiredness.
“No need to apologise. I could go on all night but yes, I am tired. It has been one of those days.”
As much as I hated for the evening to end, especially as I was with the man from my dreams, I had to give in to the demands of my body. I hated that I could not keep going, but if the glint in his eyes and his body language was any indication, there would be a next time.
Standing, I held out my hand to him. His warm hand engulfed mine and after giving it a gentle squeeze he stood too. Settling our tab, Daniel insisted on walking me home our banter continuing all the way home. The closer we got, the age-old dilemma gripped me, should I invite him in?
At my doorstep, Daniel leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss.
Though gentle, and brief, the kiss ignited every nerve cell within my body. I wanted to pull him closer, wanted to thrust my fingers into his hair and hold him while I devoured him. I barely restrained myself, letting him step back.
He looked at me with such intensity which saw me on the verge of inviting him in to explore this intensity between us. But, before I could utter a word, he took another step back.
“It has been a delightful evening, Michele. I hope you don’t think I am being forward and I know that I am breaking some first date rule, but I would like to see you again. So what do you say to tomorrow?”
He reached out and gently caressed my cheek and I nodded in agreement.
Taking another step back, he said, “Go on inside. I will be in touch with the details tomorrow morning.”
As I shut the door, I blew him a kiss, chuckling when he leapt into the air as if to catch it. With a big grin on my face, I closed the door, already looking forward to tomorrow.
That was the start of our romance and over the coming months, our passion for each other blossomed and strengthened.
I had one secret though, and it was wrong of me to keep things from him. The prospect of coming clean scared me. Scared that he would think, I manipulated the whole situation. Regardless of my fear, I had to come clean and, to be honest, there never would be a good time.
That time came a few months into our relationship. As he had been travelling non-stop for the last couple of weeks, we decided to meet at his apartment. Which was fine with me as I was not in the mood to share him with anyone else and though we spoke to each other every day, it was not the same.
On the way over, I nearly talked my way out of telling him my secret. He sounded tired and the last thing he needed was me to drop a bombshell in his lap.
His exuberant and body tingling kiss the minute I walked through the door, nearly changed my mind. His wandering hands left me hot and bothered. The ferocity of his kiss, the hardness of his body pressed against mine turned my body to mush and incoherent. I forgot what I wanted to tell him as he swept me into an all-consuming inferno which left my body shaking violently after we climaxed together.
Later, much later after we showered and sat down to eat our re-heated dinner, I found the courage to tell him. Confess my secret about when I spotted him years ago, the compulsion to meet him, the subsequent attempt at stalking, and finding myself in a limbo until I agreed to a blind date.
He took it well and didn’t freak out. Much to my relief. Now years later, I am still with the man of my dreams, the love of my life and the father to out twin boys.
Copyright Tia J. Lee 2015
All Rights Reserved.
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