Students were finally gathering their belongings and filing out of the classroom. It was a clumsy, unorganized affair. The professor waited patiently as the last student added the final touches to his blueprint. We scurried to our usual seats. All except me. Of course the one baldheaded, overachieving, nerd of student who is always last to leave the class, had to sit in my seat.
Just a little bit annoyed I took the seat right behind him and settled in. He was still there. The clock was ticking and he had a whole two minutes before our professor would throw him and his belongings out with the female professor who, still, waited ever so patiently for this.
He-letβs call him Baldy since I didnβt know his name yet- finally looked up from his work and rolled his blueprint into a gigantic baton. I was still annoyed but also curious to see his face. I just wanted to know who Mr. Seat-stealer was, but so far I could only describe the light gleaming off the back of his head.
Suddenly, while I was still caught up in my mind trying to place face to the head, he stood up. All 6ft 4 inches of him, standing sturdy and tall with a posture of a noble Englishman. He was probably 3 times my size, maybe almost 300lbs of solid muscle and could probably destroy anything that made contact with his steel physique. This was just a side view.
Swinging his backpack over one shoulder he turned his face to me, looking right at me. Or should I say, looking right through me? A piercing intensity in his eyes as we made eye contact, for a brief moment, while piercing but distant, his eyes passed right over me. All the while I could not take my eyes off of him.
I donβt know for sure, but my jaw might have dropped. I might have had my mouth gaping wide open in awe as I shamelessly stared at this handsome man. His eyes, his nose, his jaw line, his lips, his body; not one part of him was out of place.
He carried on without ever realizing my existence that day, and my eyes followed him to the door and beyond without blinking. As he exited the class I heard myself whisper, βAdonis.β
I was shaken to reality as my phone vibrated. βIts so hot when you talk legal,β read the line across the top of my screen. Immediately I brought myself back to planet earth where I normally lived, and reminded myself of the complicated rut of a relationship I was actually in at the time. Shaking my head, I put my phone away and forced my attention toward white board.
My poor professor was straining his voice and rapidly going through slides, teaching and lecturing in vain, to a group of tech-addicts who were all smiling down at their crotches where, Iβm hoping, they had their mobile devices. I started paying attention, mostly out of sympathy, but slowly, random thoughts started creeping in and out of my mind.
For the first time ever I looked up at a man and was immediately attracted to him. For the first time ever, I wanted to jump out of my seat to run after a stranger just to get his name. For the first time ever, I βchecked outβ a man while I was seeing someone else. For the first time since meeting Tubz – thatβs what weβre going to call the complicated relationship guy- I actually wanted to break up and move on.
It was one long class to sit through that night, and I donβt remember taking any notes. And Baldy? His name isnβt really Baldy or Adonis, but it was a nice enough name to match his demeanour. I’ll tell you more about him and how we met later. But this story is actually more about falling out of love and healing post break up, than about the gorgeous distraction that first took my mind off of Tubz. Adonis is how I realized that I was in denial of the fact that Tubz and I were hanging by a thread.
R. A.Douglas
November 20, 2014.
π‘. π. ππΈπΎπ°π΅πͺπΌ 