Excerpt from First Time Again

Nancy took a sharp intake of air. Oh my goddess, she screamed in her head. It’s Vic. Wait, is it?

Slowly, she kept moving towards the man, all the while hoping to be giving the impression of just another tourist window shopping. But she felt his eyes on her, just like before, so long ago.

The more she felt the man staring, the more she feigned interest in a rack of shawls at the entrance to one of boutiques. Taking a blue and white alpaca wool ruana off its hanger, wrapping it around her shoulders, and turning her back on the man who was most pointedly watching her, Nancy wondered why she was avoiding him. His voice, his stare, her memories, were all making her very nervous, in a giddy kind of way.

What’s to be nervous about, an inner voice argued. If it really is Vic, he probably doesn’t remember you. It was so long ago, and she certainly didn’t look the same. They hadn’t stayed in touch. Surely, I hadn’t been that important to him that he’d remember me, Nancy rationalized.

Still, she felt her heart flutter as he was now walking towards her. “The owner of this shop has stepped out for a bit, but I’m helping out,” she heard him say, thinking he was likely talking to someone else. But that illusion was shattered when he followed up with, “That shawl looks great with your coloring. Can I ring it up for you?”

She saw his reflection in the boutique’s window. Damn, she thought, it is him. That’s the same smile, the same beautiful eyes, even sexier now with his hair gone grey. She decided to pretend not to recognize him, and turned to say, “No thanks, just looking.”

“Nancy? Nancy Silvers. I thought that was you,” he declared. “My god, how long has it been? How are you?” His enthusiasm for recognizing her caused her a new rush of light-headed, goose-bumpy sensations.