Waiting With Alberta

I first met her when I was only thirty-six. I was in the photography studio carrying a beach ball when she climbed in. She was wearing a purple winter coat, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her fingernail, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the beach ball down when she climbed beside me. I guess she startled me, and I clumsily dropped the beach ball right by her feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to wait.

After stumbling apologies, I asked her to go to the Starbucks for a tequila sunrise. She accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the Starbucks, I learned that her name was Alberta, and that she was an escort. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as an astronaut.

I guess it was love at first wait. Some might say we had Happy Meals in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. She was eleven years younger than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still waiting for each other.