The Path Not Taken

It began like this...

I was in an awful marriage. My husband was always cheating, and then coming home and complaining about how out of shape I had become. It was true to some extent.

After I'd become a full-time geek at the firm, all I did was work at a cubicle and then bring back my work and sit at the computer some more. Once only 110lbs I had become a 150lbs.

When I looked in the mirror I only thought about the number of miles I'd have to run in the scorching heat to lose it all.

Silly, right?

Well, it was. But lucky for me, I met a person who had gone through the same gain and had figured out how to lose it all. She told me I had to join a gym and work out every day, and then eat healthy. I saw her 'before-and-after' pics and thought...what the heck!

I was game.

And, so I became a gym freak. I'd go at the same time. Mostly evenings. After work. But before going home.

Anyways...once as I was working out on the mountain bike I saw this really really amazingly sexy man. Obviously I gawked. I mean. This here is a small town in the midwest and there are NOOOOOO hot men in a 1000mile radius.

I gawked at him for a good few minutes and then tried not to.

Well, it was too late.

He saw me.

Yep. He saw me looking at him with you know what. Intent.

My eyes have that half-naughty half-amused look when I like a guy. I know it, because I make a lot of faces. Or so I've been told.

Well, he caught me.

After that, you can imagine.

We had a little secret contest going in the gym. I would check him out and pretend not to. He would do the same. Only, sometimes our naughty eyes would cross paths, and we would try not to look at each other for a while.

Well, it was too much sexual tension. There he was. A solid 15yrs older than me, but by far the sexiest man I'd seen in years. And I wanted him.

And there was I....something of a muse to him, I think. A younger woman. Someone who found him worth gawking at.

Well, one day, after working out, as fate would have it, I got stuck. It was raining. Not ordinary stuff either. Hail. Thunder. Wind.

I stayed indoors, as I hadn't brought my umbrella and always walked home. Well, there was I waiting outside the gym, on the steps, under the roof, when I saw him come out the gym and sort of stall on seeing the bad weather. And then he turned to see who was standing out there. I guess he hadn't anticipated it would be me. So there was another awkward stalled look on his face, and then he rushed into the gym again.

I thought..."Wow. That was fun. I really scared him.."

But in a few minutes, he was back. He was back, and in a minutes flash he was walking into the rain.

I giggled.

I always giggled at him, as a matter of fact, even when he was looking. Mostly, I giggled at the way he used all the weights in the machines at once, and I'd have to bring them down to use the machine. As FATE would have it, we always used the same machines and it looked like we were following each other. Though, not so.

Well...there was I ...giggling again...like a school girl. Was the crush obvious?

I think so.

And there was he. Heading back, defeated, and catching me giggle.

Of course, I couldn't stop.

He was totally drenched and looking like a wet crow by the time he got back. His grew sweats too...drenched.

I stopped myself, and quickly offered him my hand-towel. He looked at me for a minute, as though surprised. And then took it.

"I'm Paul," he introduced himself, as he handed back the towel, searching for my eyes. There was something in the look. It was a look of mischief like he was trying to figure me out.

I looked away.

We had waited so long for a chance to get to know each other. An excuse...anything. It was wrong if I showed him no attention.

And here it was. As he looked into my eyes, I felt unsure of what was next. "I'm Molly," I said. And then turned towards the rain.

Awkward silence...

He looked too.

The rain wasn't about to stop. We knew that much from the way the sky grumbled.

And yet, I didn't want to destroy the moment we were having.

As the wind blew the rain towards us, we moved back a few steps into the dark corner. And then looked at each other again.

"Do you live far?" he asked.

"No. I walk home." I smiled. He smiled back.

"Same." he said.

He knew it was married. Saw my husband there with me back in the day when I was new. I knew he was married. His wife was a blond who came to the gym once in a blue moon and then they saved the gym machines for each other, as they took turns.

"Any kids?" he asked.

"None." I tried not to sound too disappointed.

"Same here," he said.

I looked up at him, a bit shocked. I mean. I knew why I didn't have children. Husband didn't want any . But here was another man. Didn't his wife want any?

I didn't say anything, though.

Instead we looked at the sky.

Somehow the sound of the rain drained away like our lost tears. It was a long wait. The more we waited the more we grew closer in our hearts, connected by our unshared experiences. The silence.

I would have held his hand. I would have kissed him there. And if he had asked, I would have made love to him forever.

But, he didn't.

The rain stopped. As it did, we looked at each other like two human beings at crossroads, and parted silently.

I never saw him again.