Digesting With Herb

I first met him when I was only twenty-four. I was in the music store carrying a banana when he slithered in. He was wearing a lavender ribbon, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his little toe, but I pretended not to notice.

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

After stumbling apologies, he asked me to go to the deli for a cup of bouillon. I accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the deli, I learned that his name was Herb, and that he was a construction worker. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a cop.

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