Remembered

He felt a soft breathe of warm air against the back of his neck and a tingle shivered up his spine. Turning quickly in surprise, sparkling eyes the color of warm, amber and the brightest, most magical smile that he had not seen in a long time greeted him.

“Marie?” Eric asked in shock

“Oh, you remember me?” she

Marie rolls her eyes and welcomes herself to a seat at his table, her arms softly trailing across the fullness of his back. It never crossed her mind if he might have a companion. Not that it would have mattered to him. Eric’s heart had already picked up a beat as the smell of her perfume intoxicated him. It was a blend of lemon verbena, coconut and a slight hint of lavender. Marie smelled like the beach and waves gently crashing onto the shore if there could be such a smell. He could still feel the touch of her hand lingering at his back.

The waiter, witnessing the arrival of a new guest, came over and asked her if she needed a drink.

“I like mine mixed. Can I get a sprite with orange juice, light ice please?” Her eyes were mischievous and it made the waiter smile.

“I’ll be right back with your cocktail”, he played along and walked away a little brighter than when we had come.

Eric had not broke his gaze from Marie’s face. She knew but pretended not to notice, staring at a pigeon that had perched in a spot on a wire a little too close to where the table was. She turned her face back to his fully knowing that her eyes would meet his.

“So, umm Marie. Why give me such a warm greeting when you could have smacked me in the back of head and kept going?”

“It would have been well deserved” she said, offering little other comment because it wasn’t necessary. A hot flash of something he couldn’t quite place flashed across her eyes. It was not affirming moment. She smiled to cover it up.

At that moment, a tall gentleman, maybe an inch or so taller than Eric and ten pounds more muscular walked up to the table. “Hey Marie, there you are!” His greeting was very intimate, a strong embrace and a firm kiss on the lips. His hand lingered at her waist after the hug then turned to shake Eric’s hand.

If Eric’s eyes were physically able to bug out they would have been hanging by the tendons. Marie and Stephen could almost see the fillings in his molars his mouth was open so wide but Eric caught himself in enough time to snap his mouth shut. Marie spoke first before his brain could even catch up enough to sputter let alone speak.

“I wanted you to meet my fiancé, Stephen.” The steely glint of revenge was clearly perceptible in her piercing, brown eyes now but she maintained her smile.

“Nice to meet you man.” Eric stood and stretched his hand out to shake Stephen’s. Novel to him was this feeling of being tiny. Even as a tall man himself he felt dwarfed not quite by Stephen’s few inches in height on him but his presence. He fought to maintain his poise and not let his eyes drop as he feigned happiness at Marie’s relative good news.

“Well, we have to go Eric. There is a venue up the street we’re checking out. I happened to see you sitting over here. I thought I’d say hi. Great to see you again!” That glint in her eyes masked by a polite and all too beautiful smile. He could still feel the tangible presence of her perfume and he did all he could to not take a deep breathe and inhale the essence of her. The wind blew and he didn’t have to. Another gust of wind blew a tendril of thick, curly hair across his cheek. Tea tree. Eric’s eyes could not help but follow the path of Marie’s silhouette as they left the patio eating area. He didn’t quite remember the sway of her hips being quite so tantilizing.

“God, I made a mistake with her”, the regret in his voice was palpable. And the pigeon perched in a spot on a wire a little too close to where the table was at, stepped over a few inches and pooped in Eric’s tea.

“Damn! Hey waiter, can I get another tea?”