Ten Steps To Falling In Love

Ten Steps To Falling In Love

First,
Catch one another's eyes
In line at the grocery store,
Your cart full of the cliche ingredients
Of another night alone for a young girl (a bottle of red, some arrabiata sauce,
Fettucini noodles you'll boil
No more than eight minutes),
His something even more cliche
(A giant bag of Doritos,
A six pack of beer).

Second,
Pay.
Thank the cashier
As he hands you your change
Of a five, two ones,
And the coins that
(As you find yourself playing
With a strand of your hair,
The man a checkout over
In the corner of your eye)
You fumble

Three,
Clutch the wine and pasta and sauce
You plan to eat in front of a Succession episode
In your Chelsea studio to your chest
As you bend down to catch
The change rolling across the scuffed linoleum
Of the Citerella floor

Four,
Gather each coin
(A nickel,
Two pennies,
A dime)
Until you reach
The quarter
And instead
Of a quarter,
Find the smooth hands
Of (you know before following
His wrist up the tight binding
Of his forearm
To his smooth bicep
And tricep)
The striking man
Who caught your eye
(Or was it your eye
That caught his).

Five,
Fall.

Six,
No. Really. Fall (or maybe something more like pirouette)
To the floor in your knee-high boots and stonewashed jeans
And pink blouse to which you are no longer clutching your dinner
Items falling to the floor, the red wine crashing open,
Thee cashiers jumping to help as this man, somehow (and without
Dropping the quarter) grabs you by the arms and pulls you up
To him so that your chest presses against his
And you can nearly see into his lips, his breath like chocolate
Or coffee or a cigarette...

Seven,
Laugh out loud.
Be embarrassed.
Prattle on apologies about being "such a clutz."
Keep trying to hook that stray strand of hair
From your ponytail around your ear.
Be cute like your friends in college
Always said you could...

Eight,
Implore the owner not to pay for your groceries.
Implore the cashier not to mop up your mess.
Implore the man not to blame himself.

Nine,
Blush when he says, "So...what's your...
What's your name?"

Ten,
Tell him your name.
Good god.
Don't be a fool.
Tell him your name.
Give him your number.
Answer his call.
Hand him your heart.
Say yes. Everytime he asks,
Say
Yes.