Before getting on my bike to meet with ELECTION DATE [um…my date for the election], I fussed a bit over my outfit in the reflection of a car window. I dug into my purse to see if I had something perfume-y until I remembered that every time I see this guy, he’s wearing the same grey hooded sweatshirt and mismatched argyle socks. So I shrugged and put on a helmet.
A bit of gossip: ELECTION DATE is the coworker crush. While I don’t normally drink the company ink, we keep having interesting & comfortable conversations. I love talking to him. And his eyes sparkle. They do! One of the last things we spoke of was politics, so I took a chance and invited him to share in this big night. It felt a little heavy-handed, like asking someone to prom. I mean, we’ll remember that night forever. But I got over it when he rolled up to my bike all sparkly-eyed.
We hugged a lot during the election brouhaha and he wiped some mascara off my face after I finished crying, but there was a clear line drawn, mostly out of nervousness. He is very shy and seems to think through his words and actions quite carefully. I followed suit and behaved as a coworker and friend. No flirting…Until we were saying goodbye.
We straddled our respective bikes side by side on a busy corner. A few hugs were shared, and I managed to touch his elbow or hand a few times to test the waters. Then while talking about how much fun he had, his eyes got so sparkly I couldn’t take it any longer. I put my hand on ELECTION DATE’s his cheek and leaned into his mouth and kissed it. Just once. Real quick. He was smiling when I pulled away, which I hope is a good thing. Then a drunken passerby said, “Aww. Look at the retards in their helmets. So cute.” ELECTION DATE nodded dutifully at her, as if to say, “Yes. We are retards,” and then pedaled off into the red, white and blue mayhem.
