Scratching With Nettie

I first met her when I was only thirty-one. I was in the library carrying a barbell when she slid in. She was wearing a teal romper, which caught my attention right away. It really accentuated her palm, but I pretended not to notice.

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

After stumbling apologies, I asked her to go to the tobacco shop for a glass of orange juice. She accepted, and our relationship took off from there. We didn't even know each other's names yet.

At the tobacco shop, I learned that her name was Nettie, and that she was a talk-show host. This was fascinating to me, coming from my career as a wine merchant.

I guess it was love at first scratch. Some might say we had sticks of gum in our eyes, but we felt we were perfect for each other. She was two years older than I, but the age difference didn't matter to us. Even today, we are still scratching for each other.