Today, I summoned courage

Today, I asked out the girl that I had in mind, particularly when I finished writing The Note (Part 2).

what I -really- want, is what many men want.

Yeah, this might not end well. Oh well.

I knew that it may have not ended well because it was highly unlikely that I would succeed. I know it's stupid, to ask a girl out that is so obviously a hot commodity, but I did it anyway.

I knew too, that to stand -any- chance, I couldn't pussy-foot around and cowardly leave her my phone number. I needed to show her that I have the courage to look a woman of her stature in the eyes and reveal a piece of my soul. My fragile, exposed and vulnerable soul. So today...I found her.

When I saw her, I was just walking around wal-mart and she was working in the clothing section. I immediately knew that *this* was my opportunity. But first, I needed to collect myself.

I went to Patricia, "Hey Pat, I need your recommendation on this."
"What's up?"
"There's a girl working in the clothing section that I think is really pretty, and I want her to be my girlfriend. And I know almost nothing about her."
"Have you said anything to her?"
"Only in passing, such as, 'Having fun?' or, 'How's it going?'"
After some thought, she said "Just ask her if she wants to get a coffee." :)
"THAT'S PERFECT! YES! Thank you!" I high fived her.

I began reciting it in my head, "Do you want to get a coffee?" No, that's too straightforward. "Hey, what's up?" No...too cliche.

I worked on it until I had the lines set up just right, and I played them over and over in my mind, visualizing the success. Visualizing the setup, the approach, the tone of my voice and the eye contact. Preparing myself so I know what to say when I get to her. However...unfortunately the more I repeated it in my head, the less sincere it felt. "You probably get this all the time" eventually sounded like I had said it to many girls before getting to her. And to some extent... I kind of was. I noticed this as I repeated the words... they lost their energy.

So when I went to her, I knew that the words would be a little lackluster if I didn't let some of it come straight from the heart. I went back to the clothing section and she was gone. There was someone else there. "Excuse me, where's the other person that was working here?"
"Oh her, I don't know. One sec..." She started walking in a direction and hollered, "Lacie?"

"Yeah?" Came from behind us. We turned around, and there she was, holding a bunch of clothing that needed to get put back on the racks. She is so pretty, she wears rectangular glasses with black rims. She has a tiny lock on a necklace around her neck...and something that appears to be shaped like a guitar pick. There's a tattoo on her neck, her complexion is almost flawless, her skin is tan, and her features show that she's a hybrid of Caucasian and something exotic. Her mouth is wide, her lips are sultry and her neck is long. Speaking of long, I long to lick such a neck, to press my lips up against a woman with lips such as hers. . . anyways! O_O back to the story.

The 3rd wheel resumed working...right next to us. I knew then that I'd have to do it in front of her. (Mind you, I had already half-expected such a situation. Contingency plans, y'know?")

I angled myself so that the 3rd wheel was directly behind Lacie, and it would feel more like it was just the two of us. "Hey uhm, I noticed you come into the coffee shop sometimes, and ... " I looked her in the eyes, "You probably get this all the time," I looked down, "I was wondering if you'd like to get a coffee sometime?" I finished by looking her back in the eyes.

She kind of circled around me, as if a hunter sizing up it's prey. But she was gentle, "Yeah, I could go for a coffee. But I should probably let you know, I'm in a relationship. If that's what you're looking for..."
My voice shrank and my tone dropped off the edge of a cliff as I came to the end of this sentence: "Yeah, that's what I'm looking for." I looked down.
"Yeah, that's kind of what it seems you're looking for."

I felt a lump in my throat. I kept face by looking off into the distance, to the left, and by blocking my internal monologue.

"Okay, thanks for being honest with me" I turned and got one step away from her before she stopped me. She wasn't about to let me go. I'm thankful for that. If she had just let me leave, I would have beaten myself up. Instead, we continued talking...and we got to know one another.

I asked her, "Just out of curiosity, what's the tattoo on the back of your neck?"
"It's the sign for Gemini." She said calmly. She was very delicate with this fragile person.
"Oh, is that your sign?"
"Yes, I'm a Gemini."
I pointed to myself, "I'm a Scorpio."
She finally took her analytical gaze off me and looked into the distance.
"Oh...I know a lot about Scorpios. I've read a lot about them."
"What do you know about Scorpio?"
She took a moment, then said, "That they're very powerful people. That they go for what they want...and that...well, most of it has to do with partnership, and I don't really want to talk about that. A lot of what Scorpios are about, is about relationships."
"Yeah, like ninety percent of the material is about relationships. What do you know about Gemini?"
"Oh I know everything about Gemini." she said, then just looked at me with this deadpan facial expression.
"You're supposed to have split personalities, right?"
"Yes, and the reason for that is because we act differently around different people."

We continued talking for a few moments, and the entire time she was delicate with me, and I was respectful to her. We finished off our conversation, and I left with, "I'll see you around."

The experience was humbling.