Collapsing With Oliver

I first met him when I was only forty-four. I was in the travel agency carrying a rose when he zoomed in. He was wearing a rose scarf, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his adrenal gland, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the nail salon, I learned that his name was Oliver, and that he was a magistrate. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a lobbyist.

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