Legend of Finch Landing

He was handsome with a large chin and perfect bone structure. Frighteningly green eyes gazed at her from his flawless face. His hair, though cut very short, was nearly as black as hers. His skin was the perfect combination of olive and ruddiness from the cold that made him appear almost god-like. Gingerly, Sophie closed her book and laid it on the table. She peered over at the table where the two other boys were still sitting and watching intently.

“Hi, I’m Stacey.” He smiled, all charm.

Sophie smiled back, “Hi, Stacey.” She picked her book back up and flipped through until she found the page she had already read three times now.

A little phased at the blow off, and clearly trying to appease an amused audience, Stacey laid one large finger on the top of the book and gently pushed on it until it no longer hampered his view of Sophie. “Are you going to tell me your name?”

Sophie appeared to ponder over that and then smiled sheepishly and shook her head no.

Stacey’s eyebrow rose, and he was unsure of whether to be amused by the challenge or offended that his oozing charm had not swayed such a plain-Jane so easily. Either way, he continued on. He didn’t need to know her name. She just needed to know his. “So my friends and I were mulling over some philosophy stuff and we can’t seem to agree on something. I was hoping you could enlighten me a little.”

She looked at him blankly and waited. A little uncomfortable, Stacey scratched the back of his head and leaned back in the chair. “Do you believe that someone can fall in love at first sight?”

She laughed out loud. “No, I don’t.” Before he could respond, she spoke up again. “There’s no need for you to be coy about what you came for. I was enjoying my book before you interrupted, so we can settle this quickly so I can get back to my reading.” Her voice was almost a whisper as she leaned in to speak to him.

Sliding the cocktail napkin out from under her mug, she dug through her bag until she located a pen. Clicking it playfully, she winked and began writing a phone number down on the napkin. As she wrote, she caught Stacey nodding to his friends and laughed a little, shaking her head. She slid the napkin over to him. “Here ya go.”

He read the flowery cursive aloud, “Genevieve: 802-555-4234. Genevieve is a beautiful name.”

“Yes, it is. Genevieve is my favorite name. However, it’s not my name, nor is that my number. But seeing as you came over here for one of three things,” she tapped the paper as she spoke, “I figured I could oblige you on at least two of them.” Sophie smiled and then leaned back in her chair.

Confused, Stacey looked at the napkin and then back at Sophie. “You gave me someone else’s name and number?”

“Sort of. The name, I borrowed from my grandmother and I don’t think she will mind. The number - I just made up. It may be not even be in service, or it could be the burger joint two doors down. Or it could be some mysterious girl who never leaves the house without make-up, looks like a Playboy centerfold and believes in love at first sight, and then this whole meeting would be very serendipitous for you, now wouldn't it?” Sophie could tell her big words confused Stacey but it served him right.

“I’m not going to even pretend to understand what you just said, but what’s all this ‘you came over here for three things’ stuff?” He was getting irritated and that made her smile.

She sat forward again and motioned with her index finger for him to lean in. “You did in fact come over here for two of three things. You made a wager with your friends that you could win a stranger over with your good looks and charm. You wanted to get my name and my number – two things. Possibly you chose me because you were sure you could get them both, which I’m sure is the case based on the conversation you and your friends had prior to you coming over here. I may not be the most beautiful girl in the world, but I have impeccable hearing and I’m smart enough to know your game. You’re a beautiful guy – perfect features, clean-cut, dressed well, gorgeous eyes, a mouth to die for and an amazing build. However appealing that is though, your lack of modesty, the overwhelming presence of self-love you have and the fact that you think you can have whatever or whomever you want makes all of those other things unattractive.” She took a breath and tilted her head as she watched a flurry of emotions come and go on Stacey’s face.

Before he could respond, she held up a finger. “So no I do not believe in love at first sight, and you are a perfect example of why. You look perfect, but your character… that cannot be seen or known with a single look. You pass people every day of your life, over and over again and don’t even notice them. The maintenance guy in the home economics building, the mailman who delivers every day here at lunchtime, the woman who walks six blocks every Thursday to the Price Chopper simply so she can get the senior citizen discount, or the girl - that very plain looking girl who sits in the back of Psych class. We as people just get so caught up in ourselves that we don’t look around and notice the little people. But then one day, maybe you bump into the little old lady who’s heading to get her discount. She’s a little hunched over, always has a plastic rain bonnet on and wears only long over-sized skirt-suits and Easy Spirit lace-ups. She’s wrinkled in the face and her hair has a purple hue to it because she has a bad dye job.” She sighed and continued on.

“But when you talk to her, you realize she has the kindest voice – a voice you have never heard before. The kind of voice that makes you feel better about life, and you can’t help but smile. And even though her skin is wrinkled from age and life’s wear, when she touches your hand, it’s the softest skin you have ever felt. And when she looks at you, her eyes are such a light gray blue, your spirit warms because you can see a million moments of life and love and loss in those eyes, and she’s still smiling after it all. And when you finish talking to her, you want to scoop her up and squeeze her; you want to carry her all the way to the grocery store yourself, you want to make her life easier. You want to help her in any way, but mostly, you want to see her again, because seeing her reminds you of the little bit of goodness left in the world. At that moment, you can love. You haven’t just seen a person and moved on. You have stopped looking at yourself and you have experienced another for who they are, and a little piece of you is a better person for that. I guess because the moment that happens, you have truly seen that person, then maybe there is such a thing as love at first sight. But that’s a different kind of sight and a different kind of love than you meant… and probably than you have experienced.”