OLWG #11
I saw him as soon as he walked into the coffee shop. He was almost twenty minutes late and I had been nursing a small mocha since I got there. I waved and he came over.
“Hi Brenda,” he said as he turned the chair around, threw his leg over the seat and plopped his butt unceremoniously down. “Can I call you Brenda?”
I took my time answering. I wanted to evaluate my latest computer date – see what they had hooked me up with this time. He was tall and lean, things I had asked for, probably 6’2” or thereabouts, maybe 185 pounds. He wore faded denim trousers, held up with a brown leather belt and a big silver buckle, scuffed cowboy boots and a dusty long sleeved white shirt. Typical attire for the ranch hands around here. I noticed he was smiling from beneath a brushy mustache, other than the cookie duster though he was clean shaven. He looked OK, my kind of guy.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” I answered.
“Oh? OK. What would you like me to call you?”
“Barbara would work. My name’s Barbara, not Brenda.”
“Well, if that don’t beat all. I’m supposed to be meeting Brenda here. You sure you’re not Brenda?”
“Are you Lucas?”
“No, ma’am, I’m Matt.”
The girl at the next table wiggled her fingers to get our attention, “’Scuse me, I’m Brenda.” She smiled at Matt as he stood and turned the chair back around.
He nodded his head at her, then nodded to me, “Nice to meet you Barbara, Sorry about the mistake.”
I blushed and ducked my eyes, “Nice to meet you too.” I mumbled and sipped my mocha, eavesdropping on Matt and Brenda.
“…that’s an impressive buckle… so shiny…”
“Rodeo… I have to polish it up regularly or it will tarnish… yes ma’am… always been a cowboy…”
“like cowboys… I work at the bank…”
They seemed to be hitting it off all right. I turned my attention back to the door. It was 10:30 and ‘Lucas’ was now a half hour late. I finished my mocha, and gathered my bag and jacket to leave. ‘Lucas’ had apparently stood me up. Just then the door opened and a short round man stepped in with the breeze. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and plaid shorts, his ensemble was completed with sandals and black socks. At first I thought he was that actor, the guy from that TV show and I wondered why he would be here. Then I realized the guy from the TV had more hair than this guy. He was looking around the shop as I brushed past him.
As the door closed behind me I heard him ask Brenda if she was Barbara.
I hurried down the walk and around the corner.
Written in response to OLWG #11 – the prompts this week were:
- Wait for it!
- Can I call you Brenda?
- It will tarnish
I think I worked all three of them in although, the first one is merely inferred!
tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice 