Do you believe in love at first sight? I do. I don’t just believe, I KNOW it exists. I knew the second I saw Grace.
I’ve been working as a night security guard at an office park downtown for about 3 years now. Normally it’s boring as hell, but last Saturday I was doing my 4am walk around the perimeter of the building when I noticed a figure sitting alone on a bench tucked in an alcove behind Wallburg Paper Company. No one from that company ever works on weekends, much less at 4am, so I moved closer to make sure everything was ok. I rounded the corner and that's when I first laid eyes on Grace. Her soft pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, and her golden hair glimmered as it spilled over her shoulders down her back. She was petite but curvy. Even in an unflattering uniform (a mustard yellow polyester dress and stained apron, I assumed from the 24-hour diner across the street), I could tell she had perfect hips and a tiny waist. My eyes traveled up her body and briefly stopped at the silver name tag pinned just above her ample bosom- Grace. I sat beside her, my heart fluttering in my chest like a teenager with a crush. I reached out and brushed a golden lock of hair from her face, then immediately felt flush with embarrassment. How could I be so bold with a woman so clearly out of my league? She didn’t pull away though, and my heart soared. I tucked the stray hair behind her ear and studied her features. Her face was delicate and thin with the kind of high cheekbones most women would kill for. Her lips were heart-shaped, pouting, and just about the most alluring thing I had ever seen. Light freckles sprinkled the bridge of her nose, and above that strikingly light blue eyes glistened from under a veil of long, dark lashes. Her face didn’t appear to be marred by even a drop of makeup. She didn’t need any, she was a natural beauty. She was actually beyond beautiful, she was breathtaking, but it was her eyes that really made me fall in love. I stared into her wide eyes and I could see the universe. I could see eternity. I felt like I should say something, but the moment was perfect as it was. I slipped my arm around her and sighed with pure contentment as I felt her lean against my shoulder. We sat like that for a long time, the stars shimmering above and a light breeze rustling the trees. Everything felt perfect and I wondered how I’d gotten this lucky. An old saying I’d learned in Sunday school popped into my head, ”Grace is when you get the good things you don’t deserve” Boy, wasn’t THAT the truth! I giggled to myself and glanced down at the goddess who had slumped even further into me and was now resting peacefully on my chest. She didn’t seem to have noticed me laugh and I was glad. A woman like Grace must have heard every pun and pick-up line in the book. We left together as the birds started their morning songs. I wasn’t scheduled to leave until 9am, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even punch out, at that moment nothing mattered but Grace. When we got back to my apartment we showered and changed out of our work clothes. I gave her one of my shirts to wear, a dark purple T-shirt screen printed with an image of a tiny kitten with angel wings. I’d been given that shirt as a gift for donating to the ASPCA a few years back, and it seemed very appropriate for Grace. She was angelic and she was tiny. On her small frame, the shirt fell almost to her knees. We stayed in bed together all day Saturday, and the next day as well. It didn’t even occur to me to go to work, that just wasn’t important anymore. My friends and family had always known me to be a loner, and I usually can’t stand being with someone for more than a day, but Grace was different. Nothing she did annoyed me, and I enjoyed just being with her more than I’d ever enjoyed the company of anyone. I never wanted my time with her to end. I’m old fashioned in a lot of ways. Normally I wouldn't have let a woman stay with me so soon after meeting her, but this was not normal and she wasn’t just any woman. I would also never rush a lady to be intimate, but she seemed as comfortable with me as I was with her. Sunday night she was nestled in my arms and everything felt perfect. By candlelight, I made love to Grace and it was the most exquisite experience of my life. Afterward, I examined every inch of her beautiful body as she lay naked in my bed with her head propped up on one of my blue silk pillows. I thought how glad I was that I’d bought a new bed set recently, I doubted if she cared, but I did. Grace deserved only the best. I lightly ran my fingers down her slender arm and paused for a second below the elbow to study the track marks there. I didn’t care. I knew she’d gone into the empty office park that night to get high, and I couldn’t care less. All I cared about was that the perfect creature who had sat on that bench to be alone had ended up leaving with ME. I’ve lost track of how long we’ve been laying here just loving each other. I think today is probably around Friday. I feel like I’ve known my Grace forever, but I haven’t left my apartment to go shopping, and I’d be out of groceries if we’d been holed up here for much more than a week. I haven’t even charged my phone much less checked my messages. I’m sure I’ve been fired from my job by now, and that’s ok. About a half hour ago my landlord came banging on my door shouting. I got up and tiptoed to the door, quietly fastening the deadbolt I’d installed when I moved in. Logically I knew I couldn’t have my eternity with Grace, but I wanted to spend every last second I could with her. I lay back down with next to her, buried my face in her long silky hair, and held her hand, intertwining my fingers with her tiny cold ones. I closed my eyes and pictured flying away with her, just like that. Hand in hand. Forever. I can hear sirens in the distance now, I assume they’re coming here, and I know when they do they will take my love away from me. It was worth it though, true love always is. I’d known she was special from the moment I laid eyes on her, and I’d known I loved her since the second we’d touched- me brushing the hair back from the quickly cooling skin of her forehead and gingerly removing the syringe that stuck out from her arm. We’d had a blissful week of true love. Some people never get that in a lifetime. I don’t blame my landlord for calling the police. The smell must be permeating the hallway by now. Of course, I don’t even notice the smell... you don’t notice silly things like that when you’re in love.
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