surprise surprise - cop shoot cop

the munch last night was excellent - far more so than i might sensibly have expected.

i arrived late. the traffic was hideous, huge tail-backs from the city centre outwards in all directions. and my bus hit each and every one.

so, by the time i got there, the place was packed. not just better-attended, but actually crowded. nowhere to sit, just faces, familiar and otherwise.

and - oh yeah - i ran into Someone i've only spoken to online til now.

around the middle of last month, there was a thread on ic i replied to. it wasn't even a subject i particularly cared one way or the other about.

the only reason i stuck my tuppenceworth in was, a friend of an Ex of mine had commented on it. i spotted her and, since i hadn't seen her in a while - years - i posted a reply.

and this Woman i 'd never heard of replied to my post. a couple of earlier posters replied to Hers - and, by association, mine. She struck me as bright - and popular. i still couldn't place Her, though and her profile, while brutally direct, had no pictures whatsoever.

She was a ghost, one that everyone else could see, but flitting through me like a pale grey shudder.

since then, She and i have run into one another from time to time. we chat lightly, there's an edge of flirting there, but nothing you could put your finger on. nothing tangible.

so last night, i was talking to a girl i know, occasionally, one or both us would raise an arm - or smile - over at someone. a Woman approached, slipped an arm around my friend.

the two thoughts that collided in my head as my friend introduced us, were (1) this is the Most Beautiful Woman i've ever laid eyes on. and (2) She has no inkling that i even exist.

my friend introduced us. Her smile widened at my name - as mine no doubt did at Hers. my on-line Friend. my Pen-Pal, if you like.

we exchanged a few sentences and drifted our separate ways. occasionally, i'd glance over at Her like a stalker.

towards the end of the night, i was chatting to tam. a number of people had already left and those of us left were gravitating to the same couple of tables by the door.

She must have been outside, cigaretting. She joined us at the table, opposite me. She smiled over and then we were talking...