ii. And she smiled, my smile.

I saw her head turn towards me, and I must have smiled unconsciously. And then she smiled. My smile, I could tell from a hundred miles that it was my smile. Not one of those fake, polite gestures, just because someone is staring kinda smile, but a real smile. With the eyes. A smile is in the eye, not on the lips. The smile was for me, not anyone else. I am on air at this point. Floating.

In my head, the racket of the place fell dead. Time slowed down. Everything but her was a blur. This is the nice side-effect of adrenalin. I got off my chair, and walked slowly towards her. In my head I decided to call her Brown Eyes, for obvious reasons. I knew others were watching. Everyone likes to see someone else humiliated. It's the roots of reality shows, and freak shows like "World's Greatest Videos". I don't care. This is about Brown Eyes, and what she thinks of me.

I came by her table, and approached her from her side. Never approach a lady from her front. It's confrontational, and gets her into a flight or fright mode, none of which would be helpful. Approach from the side, left or right it doesn't matter, but let her turn towards you in a relaxed manner, and acknowledge your presence. I said "Hi, my name is Zed and I noticed you coming in with your friends, do you mind if I join you for a minute?" then just let the words hang. Don't try to get her to say yes, or say a line which she obviously heard before. She is waiting for the line, "the pitch". The ensuing silence did catch Brown Eyes by surprise, as it registered in her face, and her friends faces I noticed.

She is evaluating her options, while her friends were being naughty, pinching her arms. She could either tell me to f*** off, and say that they are waiting for some other guys to join, or she could say "Sure have a seat". This is more unnerving for her, then it is for me. She is trying to decide her entire future based on this decision. Am I the person she wants to be seen with? Am I taken? Am I just another player? Me? I just want to have a chat.

Then she nodded. Just a nod. Very subtle.

I said thanks, and pulled a chair next to her. She smelled like a thousand roses. I love that in a women. Ladies should smell nice. Her friends were giggling, naturally. She had a fantastic name, but lets stick to Brown Eyes <for reason's that apparently is quite obvious names had to be removed, sorry folks - got into a bit of a jam for this one. yikes!> But I didn't compliment her on her name.

(Zed's Note: The worst way to impress a lady is by complimenting them on something they had nothing to do with, albeit their name, looks or figure - its cheap, uncreative and lame. If you want to say something nice, talk about her dress, her blinky gadgets, her shoes, even her perfume. It's something she chose, and it reflects good taste and shared interest, how wrong can you be?)

We spent some time going through the necessary pleasantries. How often are you here? Where do you work? How about your friends? Are you colleagues? I find her funny, this I enjoyed. Her friends we supportive, and that is important, as women needs validation. About half a drink later, I told her that I need to join my friends, and that I shall be back. There is a dumbfounded look all around. Brown Eyes gave me a weird look. Aren’t we hitting it off? Don't I want her number?

(Zed’s Note: At this point it would be good to refer to my previous entry last August – What women want?)

This is a gamble. One I shall explain.