IMAGINATION
He sat at his breakfast table, finishing up his bacon, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, buttered dark toast and coffee while he scanned today's Asbury Park Press. Time passed quickly as he read about his Nets losing yet another
game, and he almost forgot to check the time. When he did, his watch read 7:48 AM.
Oh shit…
He got up, grabbed his cup, and rushed through his townhouse into his living room, moving quickly but carefully so he wouldn't spill his coffee on the
carpet. At the front window, he eased the curtain aside and peeked out, then breathed a sigh of relief.
Her car was still there.
He sipped and waited. After about a minute she appeared, striding down the walkway of her townhouse two units down from
his on those long, gorgeous legs and turning onto the sidewalk that ran past the front of his place.
For the hundredth time he silently thanked the poor planners who'd offset the parking lot of their development so that no one had a parking space directly
in front of their home. She had to walk past his unit to get to her car.
**********
Each day through my window
I watch her as she passes by
**********
She really looked good this morning. Actually, she looked good all the time, but he really liked the way she looked
when she went to work.
Today she wore a gray business suit, a matching jacket and a split skirt that stopped just above her knees - tasteful but still showing enough of those
beautiful brown legs to make his heart race. Under her jacket she wore a snow-white blouse. Gray pumps and sheer
stockings completed her ensemble.
She moved quickly down the sidewalk with her purse slung over her shoulder and her expensive leather briefcase gripped in one hand. Her other hand clutched a half-eaten bagel.
Not every woman knew how to walk in heels. She moved like she was born in them.
When she stepped just right that split in her skirt opened to reveal the side of one lovely thigh. A thin strand of
gold fastened around one ankle caught the morning sun and flashed like lightning.
Jesus…
He wondered what it would be like to have a woman like that. A woman like her…
**********
I say to myself
You are such a lucky guy
**********
He imagined how nice it would be to wake up every morning with her in his arms, to good-naturedly battle with her over bathroom time as he tried to shave and
she tried to put on her makeup (not that she needed any), and to share breakfast and the morning paper with her before they left for work.
**********
To have a girl like her
Is truly a dream come true
Out of all the fellas in the world
She belongs to you
**********
She held her bagel in her mouth as she fumbled with the keys to her Camry. She looked so damned beautiful. He was tempted to go out and help her, maybe hold her briefcase or take her key and open her car door for her. But of course he
couldn't. If he did, she'd know he'd been watching her.
When she finally got in her car and backed out of her space he sighed, closed the curtain and went back to his kitchen.
Yeah, it sure would be nice.
**********
But it was just my imagination
Running away with me
**********
But it wasn't going to happen.
She was a businesswoman - a white collar professional. He was just a welder - strictly blue collar, even though he
figured with overtime he probably made as much as her.
He loaded his toolbox into the bed of his pickup truck and headed off to work, thinking about her all the way. He'd
been hooked on her ever since the first time he'd seen her smile.
That was on a Saturday morning last summer. He was outside washing his truck when she came home carrying a bunch of shopping bags from Monmouth
Mall. It was the first time he'd seen her up close, and her beauty made his heart clutch in his chest.
He had to say something, so he'd made himself say 'Hello.' She'd given him a warm, sunny smile that
made the day a hundred times brighter and said 'Hi,' back to him.
From that moment on he was lost.
He'd wanted to ask her over for a cup of coffee - or anything so that he could see her again - but he couldn't work up the nerve. In fact, she'd seemed like she was in a hurry to get away from him. Hell, he
couldn't blame her. He was standing there bare-chested and unshaven like some kind of savage. Why in the world would someone like her want to spend time with him?
So he had to settle for dreaming. On his way to work, he imagined what it might be like to have her as his wife, to
have their own house…maybe some kids…
**********
Soon we'll be married
And raise a family
In a cozy little home out in the country
With two children, maybe three
**********
He'd thought about it - dreamed about it so much that sometimes it almost seemed real. It was as if he had another
life, a life that existed only in his imagination…a life that was perfect because it was with her…
**********
I tell you I can visualize it all
This couldn't be a dream
For too real it all seems
But it was just my imagination
Running away with me
**********
As he parked his truck in back of the shop he pushed thoughts of her out of his head. Today was going to be a long day
and he had lots of work to do. He had no time to be dreaming about what could never be…
**********
Every night on my knees I pray
Dear Lord, hear my plea
Don't ever let another take her love from me
Or I would surely die
Heavenly, when her arms enfold me
I hear a tender rhapsody
But in reality
She doesn't even know me
Just my imagination
Running away with me
----------
She sat at her townhouse window, sipping tea as she watched and waited until he finally came home. He must have worked
late again today. He got out of his truck and grabbed his toolbox from the back, lifting that big thing like it weighed
nothing at all.
Her heart did a little skip…
He was so handsome, so rugged - the kind of man who could make things and fix things without being afraid to get his hands dirty. He was the kind of man who when he held you in his arms made you feel that nothing in the universe could harm you.
He was nothing like the guys she worked with, guys who ran to the manicurist whenever they chipped a nail. No, he was
just the kind of man she wanted: A strong man. A real man.
She didn't even know his name.
She'd had her chance, however. He was outside washing his truck that day she'd come home from the
mall. He'd said 'Hello' to her, and when she looked over and saw him standing there with no shirt on, all
sweaty and unshaven and sexy, she'd almost fainted.
How she'd found the strength to say 'Hi' back to him she'd never know. She'd almost invited him
over for dinner, but when she stole a glance at his stomach and saw a six-pack that looked like it was carved out of granite she forgot how to speak
English. She'd hurried inside before she made a fool of herself.
She watched him go up his walk to his door, out of her line of sight. Oh well, he probably had dozens of women chasing
after him anyway. Odds were he didn't even remember her; probably didn't even know she was alive.
She wondered what it would be like to be married to a man like him. The thought made her ache with longing…
----------
As he turned the key, he imagined that she was waiting for him on the other side of the door. His heart ached with
longing…
**********
I tell you it was just my imagination
Running away with me
I've never met her
But I can't forget her…
**********
© 2001
Christopher Bynum
(Interludes from "Just My Imagination" by The Temptations)
