Page 5 of Finding Parker

“Good morning,” I said as I sat at the table on the left side of her.

She turned and studied me intently. As she looked from my toes to the top of my head for the third time, the edges of her mouth curled slightly, revealing extremely white teeth.

“Same,” she said over the top of her glasses which rested carefully on the tip of her nose.

“Victoria,” she continued as she closed the magazine she was reading.

I looked down at the magazine as she tossed it on the table. Fine Cooking. Three others littered the right side of the table and two more sat neatly stacked on her left side. Bon Appetit, and Fine Cooking. I loved to cook and could talk about cooking all day. In lieu of bringing up the obvious, I opted for a totally different line of conversation.

“Which year was your worst to date, as far as luck goes?” I asked as I opened my tablet and powered it on.

“Excuse me?” she said over her shoulder without looking as she scrunched her nose and flipped through the pages of Bon Appetit.

“Luck. Or, well, lack of luck. Let’s say bad luck. Which year was your worst for luck?” I grinned.

Dressed in a pair of sheer black pants, a quarter sleeve top, and what appeared to be two inch heels, she looked intelligent with her dark rimmed glasses perched at the tip of her nose. Her eyes appeared to change color from brown to green as her head shifted from side-to-side.

“You’re pretty random. 2012 without a doubt, why?” she responded over her shoulder as she lowered the spine of the magazine to meet the table.

“Well, the jade necklace you’re wearing. Most people wear jade with the hope of it bringing good luck. I suspected you had either a really bad event, or a really bad series of events which prompted the use of the necklace for luck,” I looked up from my tablet as I finished speaking and smiled.

“My my my. Observant aren’t you?” she said as she released her magazine and fingered her jade pendant.

“I’m Parker,” I smiled.

“First or last?” she asked as she turned and reached toward me with her right hand.

I raised my eyebrows as I extended my hand to meet hers. Before I thought to speak, she began.

“Name? Your name. Is Parker your first or last name?” she asked as she shook my hand.

“First,” I smiled.

“It’s a good name,” she began, nodding her head slowly as she squinted her eyes.

“I like it. I never talk to random people. I can’t believe I’m talking to you Parker, but you’re cute,” she said as she turned her left wrist and glanced at her watch.

I smiled at the thought of her thinking I was cute, and being willing to express it. She certainly wasn’t shy. As I admired her hair, she pushed her hands on the edge of the table and began to stand.

“I’m sorry, but I have to work in about fifteen minutes and my current job is in El Cajon,” she said as she rose from her seat and began to straighten her mountain of reading material into to a neat pile.

I stood and nervously pressed my sweaty palms against the thighs of my jeans.

“No, Parker. I won’t give you my phone number. If that’s what you’re wondering. Not now, she paused as she looked down at the magazines.

“I’ll either see you again or I won’t,” she said as she picked up the pile of magazines from the table.

“Fair enough. It was a pleasure to meet you,” I smiled.

“Likewise,” she nodded her head and walked briskly toward the stairs.

As she worked her way down the winding staircase, I smiled at the ease of making conversation with her. Although I realized I may never see her again, I felt satisfied she was very attractive in personality and appearance. As I sat in the chair and looked around the open room, I convinced myself she must be a regular here.

It would stand to reason if she finished looking at three magazines by the time I had shown up, she had arrived early in the morning, probably as the store opened. If she sat upstairs, she had probably come to spend some time here alone, knowing the typical patrons coming and going from the store would never venture up the stairs if they didn’t have to.

As I thought of Victoria and what she may do for a living, a brunette at an adjacent table stood and walked to the staircase. Although rather slight, she was attractive and seemed interested in me. The first five steps of her trip down the stairs included an eyeful of me from over her left shoulder.

I raised my hand to my chin and smiled as she disappeared downstairs.