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I stepped out of hibernation. “Can I help you find anything, sir?”
    He tilted his head toward me, looking surprised that I spoke
to him. “Do I look old enough to be called sir?”
    “Um, guess not, sorry. Just figured I’d ask.”
    “Just messing with you,” he said, relaxing his stance. “I
don’t need help. Thank you, though.” He lifted the paperback in his hand,
showing me his new find, but looked down as soon as our eyes made contact,
smirking as if he’d heard some funny inside joke. Apparently, I missed it.
    “Okay, then,” I said. “If you need help with something, just
let me know.” I turned to walk away, but felt him lift his eyes to my back,
freezing me in place.
    He was too familiar. It was
beginning to annoy me. I turned around and said, “Hey, do I know you?” at the
same instant he said, “Is there a reason you’ve been watching me?”
    We both chuckled, my face flushing for sure now; I could
feel the pink spread to my ears. I managed to tuck my hair in front of my ears,
covering evidence of my embarrassment. “Excuse me?”
    “I just noticed you’ve been watching me from over there, and
I have to say ... I’m impressed. You spoke to me when I caught you spying.” He
shrugged. “That’s brave. It sucks to be caught people watching. Especially in
close proximity like this.” He gestured between us with his hands.
    My scrambled thoughts pushed their way from my mouth. I
shook my head. “No, not spying. I just feel like I know you from somewhere ...
your face ...”
    “So you were spying on me.” He grinned but his eyes glared
at me, his posture a bit tenser now.
    My face burned with humiliation but I squinted, determined
to study his face for anything I recognized, perhaps the shape of his eyes and
the line of his jaw, certain the answer was sitting right there in my memory
bank, just not visible yet. He continued to stare at me, his eyes drilling into
mine. My face felt as if it were on fire.
    I straightened, focusing on my response on him instead of
his scorching brown eyes. “Okay ... whatever you wanna call it, fine. I just thought I recognized you.”
    He laughed, looking apologetic. “Look, I don’t mean to
embarrass you. I’m only joking with you. Really.” He plopped the book in his
hands back on the shelf next to him. “You have seen me before, actually. Met me, in fact.” He pursed his lips, hesitating. “And
now I’m embarrassed that I embarrassed you .” He
shyly shifted his glance downward and placed his hands in his pockets.
    “Really? I thought so. I just can’t place you. I’m sorry,
how do I know you?”
    “Well, I believe we met in France a while back. I recognized
you, but I didn’t want to say anything.”
    Do I look old enough to be called
sir? The memory bank immediately broke, the recollection of our meeting
in Paris sliding out. “Oh, I remember now, of course! No, I’m glad you said
something. I felt like an idiot for staring at you, I just ...” Out of words, I
wrapped my arms around my body.
    “Don’t. It’s been almost two years. I didn’t expect you to
even look twice at me.”
    He didn’t expect me to look at him? This guy was oblivious to the effect he had on people.
    He broke the silence for me. “So ... you live here? In
Lafayette? Small world.”
    “Yeah. Well, in the Saint Martinville area. How about you?”
    “Yeah, I live outside of town, too.”
    I was enamored with him all over again, amazed I didn’t
recognize him the minute I laid eyes on him. I said, “Uh, just for the record,
I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. And on top of that, I’m really tired today.
My mind just had to catch up I guess. But believe me, I remember you.”
    “Ah, don’t mention it. I mean, we only met once. I can’t
believe it’s been almost two years since that trip, though. Sometimes I feel
like it was just yesterday that I was there.”
    “Yeah, I do too sometimes. Time really flies.”
    His stance relaxed more, and he leaned on