Excuse Me

She was sitting by the bar with nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to talk to. It was relatively quiet when she first walked in, although the regulars that were already there were already well on their way to drunk. She wondered to herself for the millionth time why she thought she would ever find a decent conversation in a bar and then mentally quipped that she should get a prize for crossing that millionth milestone.

The more times the second hand wandered around the clock the more people filed in until there was a multi-pitched humming pulsing around the room punctuated by laughter. The sound itself was pleasant enough but the view left something to be desired. Dim bar lighting was supposed to make the occupants more attractive, but in this area of the midwest it was going to take a bit more than unscrewing a few light bulbs to make the room appealing. Really the only entertainment other than the CD player that occasionally skipped was watching the mating dance of the midwest rednecks. It usually involved quite a bit of staring, several shots of something or other and vague pointing gestures to friends. The laughter was now accompainied by the portly bartender occasionally slapping the CD player whenever he realized the same musical phrase had been repeating for 5 minutes.

It was probably the most boring night out imaginable, but to Sarah it was better than staying home. She'd seen a bit too much of home lately. Just as she was about to give up the unthinkable happened. An attractive man entered the bar. And he wasn't just attractive in comparison to the present inhabitants. His face and frame were enough to be noticed by people with even higher city standards than Sarah's. She felt a small smile twitch the side of her mouth. Perhaps she would stay and watch for all the 5 minutes he would be able to stand being in this atmosphere. At least now there was a view.

He scanned the room for a moment, then took careful study of the bar. Was it possible? He was looking at her. A slow easy smile spread across his face. Sarah felt her stomach turn over. What amazing eyes! He expertly threaded his way across the floor headed straight in her direction. Should she look away and pretend not to notice? Should she continue staring? Why in the world did she have the jitters?

As he drew closer to her bar stool he nodded to the bartender, who grunted in reply and slapped his towel to the bar to clean up a spill. Apparently he'd been here before.

And now he was here, standing in front of her. There was a fainty spicy smell of cologne and his suit jacket was exquisitely tailored. She thought it was odd that he was looking over her head but refused to break tradition and say the first words. She looked up into his beautiful eyes. He looked down with a somewhat perplexed look, perhaps even anxious? Their eyes met.

"Excuse me. You're sitting in front of my cell phone."

Sarah felt the blood drain from her face. "Oh! Sorry!" She slid to the side and he reached past her to collect a distinguished looking PDA from the other side of the bar. Was it an ice breaker? Sarah's mind reeled as she weighed the options for salvaging the unexpected beginning. He slid the phone into his pocket.

He smiled and their eyes met again. "Sorry about that. You have a good night." He turned and expertly threaded his way back to the door.

And that was that.