A Near Miss

Bright, sunny day, midtown sidewalk, the flow of people streaming past on their way from the office, to the office, and I slip into the current toward my deli to grab some food.

She's leaning against the building smoking a cigarette, blowing a thin stream of smoke the same direction I'm walking, so I don't see her face, but the guy walking towards me sure does. He's little and wiry, with a shock of white hair on top of his weathered brown face, and his mouth is open in awe, as if he simply can't believe that someone who looks like her even exists. 

We walk towards each other, me watching him stare at her like a man seeing for the first time, his mouth open, his brows furrowed in consternation, until he's well within her personal bubble, and then at the last moment, he veers off into the flow and disappears into the crowd behind me.