Pacing With Mario

I first met him when I was only fifty-three. I was in the coffee shop carrying a fingernail clipper when he barrelled in. He was wearing a pea green rain coat, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his toupee, but I pretended not to notice.

I was about to set the fingernail clipper down when he jumped beside me. I guess he startled me, and I clumsily dropped the fingernail clipper right by his feet. We both bent over to pick it up. It was one of those awkward moments, and we both began to pace.

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the malt shop for a dose of cod liver oil. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the malt shop, I learned that his name was Mario, and that he was a magician. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a courier.

I guess it was love at first pace. Some might say we had flowerpots in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. He was eight years older than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still pacing for each other.