Stopping at a drinks stall in Kensington Gardens, breathing hard. Sweat streaming. Looking around. There, a pretty woman.
Our eyes meeting for just an instant, hers in the act of turning away. Caught. She'd been looking at me.
Well, a mild frisson, but nothing to be done with that, can't make too much of it. If I chase just for that, it'll seem too rapacious.
Looking up. Again our eyes meeting, again hers looking quickly away. But this time caught in the act, and knowing it.
Her face breaking into a smile. Me smiling too. Exchanging glances. Both doing the same thing, checking each other out.
From the nearby playground, her children returning, demanding attention. Another smile for me, then gone.
These things all taking place months ago and still a clean sharp memory, like a shaft of sunlight through dark clouds on a rainy day.
