Gazing With Ophelia

I first met her when I was only fifty. I was in the movie theater carrying a fishhook when she scurried in. She was wearing an amber helmet, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her cheek, but I pretended not to notice.

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

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

At the bowling alley, I learned that her name was Ophelia, and that she was an archeologist. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a makeup artist.

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