Inhaling With Ryan

I first met him when I was only twenty-eight. I was in the laboratory carrying a fountain pen when he swung in. He was wearing a striped denim skirt, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated his belly button, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the pharmacy, I learned that his name was Ryan, and that he was a dry cleaner operator. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a nanny.

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