He was not my usual type, shorter and skinnier than I prefer, but there was something intriguing about the man I met in City Lights Bookstore on my first trip to San Francisco. There was an attractive intelligence in his flashing blue eyes, and his messy blond hair added to his charm. He saw me searching for a book and mentioned that he owned a bookstore in Berkeley, then asked if I would like his help picking something. We chatted as we browsed the shelves, and I enjoyed the witty banter. He asked if I’d like to grab a drink, but I was late for a dinner with my coworkers and had to leave, so he wrote his number on a bookmark and slipped it into the book he helped me pick out.
The next morning we had coffee before my flight left. I still couldn’t quite tell how I felt about him, but I enjoyed his humor and the easy conversation. We parted with a promise to meet up again the next time I was in San Francisco.