It had been a slob kind of day. I’m not saying I look like I just stepped from the pages of GQ every day, but I do try, most of the time, to look presentable. But due to the various jobs I had to do that day it had become a basic slob day!

It was already midafternoon, and I had yet to even take a shower. Because I had a lot of small dirty jobs to take care of that day, I’d just pulled on scruffy old jeans and snatched an old torn shirt straight out of the dryer, put the dogs in the car and headed off. I didn’t really care what I looked like, like I said, it was a slob kind of day.

It was late afternoon when I remembered the fridge was bare and if I wanted any dinner, I was going to have to stop at the local market and purchase something. At the market, I grabbed a basket and as I wandered the store, I selected a few items and then went to wait in the checkout line. Standing there waiting my turn, was a young woman standing in front of me who casually turned around and glanced back at me. My breath seemed to be sucked out of my body; the woman was stunning. I mean jaw dropping, howl at the moon beautiful. Her auburn hair was shoulder length, and she had large twinkling brown eyes. The woman was dressed in a handsome dark blue suit with a lovely ivory colored blouse under her tailored jacket. Her outfit was far from revealing, but I could still tell she possessed a shapely body. I believe the word best used to describe her would be zaftig or Rubenesque. Some might feel she was overweight, but I thought she was just perfect. Even though she was looking right at me I couldn’t keep myself from noticing her lush curvaceous body. I guessed her to be between 5’8” to 5’10”, however because she was wearing high heels, it was difficult for me to tell. I’m just over 6 feet and we almost looked at each other eye to eye.

After her initial glance back at me, she turned around to move forward as the line was moving and then she looked back at me again and smiled. That smile curled my toes, and I just knew she couldn’t be smiling at me, so I turned and looked behind me to see who she was smiling at. There was nobody behind me and when I turned to look back at her, she smiled at me once more and I wondered if maybe I knew her somehow.

“Excuse me! Do I know you?” I asked.

“No. Not that I remember.” She replied, her voice soft and sultry.

“OK ... I guess I look at bit ratty today ... I’m doing errands today.” I offered lamely as to why I was wearing clothes looking like they would be turned down by the Salvation Army.

“It’s fine.” She chuckled, “I can always spot a diamond in the rough.” She grinned at me, winked, and then it was her turn to check out. She paid the clerk and as she walked out the front door of the market she turned and glanced back at me, giving me a nice final smile. I grinned back at her and wondered what that had been about. To start with, she had to have been at least 20 years younger than me; she was dressed to kill and since I looked like something the cat drug in; why had she been smiling at me. I’m used to having women flirt with me, mind you I wasn’t complaining, but it was not something which had happened in a long time.

By the next week I had forgotten all about the incident with the lovely young woman. Once more I was shopping in the same market and since I had been to a meeting with my banker earlier, I was dressed in a suit complete with vest. My daily attire is not usually so formal but since I was involved with building a multi-million-dollar strip mall, I’ve found being well dressed puts a banker at ease when you’re asking for money with more than six zeros involved.

I was standing in the checkout line and suddenly I remembered I’d forgotten something. I picked up my basket and as I turned, I found myself looking into a pair of beautiful large brown eyes filled with tears. It was the young woman who’d smiled at me the other day. She wore a different outfit today but was still stunning; however, today her face was tear streaked and her eyes brimming with unshed tears. I smiled my best smile and said hello to her. I was wondering if she remembered me and to my surprise she said, “Oh ... it’s you! Hi!”

I was concerned and I asked her if she was alright. She told me she’d received some bad news, and it surprised her. She said she’d be fine and thanked me for asking. She looked me up and down and with a wry smile said “See ... I told you I could spot a diamond in the rough. You look impressive today. What’s the occasion?”

“I’m constructing a strip-mall and today was ‘banker day’.”

Her lips smiled slightly, but her eyes were still sad. She looked up at me, “Well, I was impressed the other day, but now I’m really impressed.”

Concerned about her attitude, I also wanted to talk to her some more. I knew I was acting like an old goat, but I just was so taken by this sexy young woman.

I tried to be as soft spoken as possible and with a smile I said, “To be honest, I was a bit surprised you’d even speak to me the other day. I wasn’t working on impressing anybody that day.” The corners of her mouth lifted again a little at the remark, and I loved it I got a little grin out of her. “I still feel we know each other somehow...” realizing as soon as I said the words they sounded like some sort of pick-up line.

“I’ve seen you here before, and I’ve seen you walking your dogs over behind the park, but we don’t actually know each other. I was feeling bold the other day when I smiled at you.”

Still feeling like an old fool flirting with this young child, I had to admit she was doing wonders for the old ego. “Do you have time for a cup of coffee after you finish here?” I asked.

“Well,” she seemed to think about my offer for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders, “I’m not the best of company right now ... but it you want. Yes, there’s a coffee stand just behind the store.”

“I need to pick up a couple more items and I’ll meet you there.” Waking away, I know I had a grin from ear to ear on my face; I just couldn’t help it. Quickly I picked out what I needed and got in line to pay for everything. I glanced around but I didn’t see the young lady anywhere. It was at this point I realized I didn’t even know her name. Once I was finished at the check-out line, I went to the car and put my groceries in the trunk and checked on my dogs. They were both still asleep and I quietly slipped away.

The coffee shop was warm and cozy with wonderful smells. There were several large stuffed chairs placed around the room and two chairs sitting right next to a gas fireplace. I noticed she was sitting in one of the chairs and I went over to her. “Can I get you something?” I asked.

“Latté ... small one please with no flavorings in it,” followed once more with the weak smile.

“Give me just a moment.” I ordered her drink and a latte for me as well. I paid for the drinks and wandered over to sit in the other chair next to her. I handed her the latte, settled down in the chair and she gave me a small one of her killer smiles. The words just seemed to slip out of my mouth. “You have a beautiful smile.”

She actually blushed and lowered her eyes. Her voice was soft as she looked back up at me, “Thank you. Actually, I really shouldn’t have accepted your offer. I’m not very good company right now. I should go home, and we can do this another time.”

“Please ... no! I want you to stay.” I paused for a moment, and then continued, “if you feel up to it, I wish you’d tell me what happened. Why were you crying and why do you look like you want to start crying now?”

My comments seemed to have pulled a plug, and tears started to flow once more down her cheeks causing me to stand and I quickly went over and picked up some napkins. I handed them to her, and she gave me a weak smile through her tears. She gave a hiccup and started to speak in a low soft voice as the tears continued to run down her cheeks. “When I pulled into the parking lot at the store a little while ago, I saw my boyfriend ... or I should say my ex-boyfriend in his car kissing another woman. He saw me and as I got out of my car, he came over to me. He was angry and told me to stop following him, I told him I wasn’t following him, and he proceeded to tell me in the parking lot we were done. He told me he had wanted to break up with me for some time but just didn’t know how to do it.” Her tears started to fall faster, and she rushed to tell me the next part.