How I met Her by Leon Staples

I was 17 and a broke student in Paris. It was Christmas time, my first winter in Paris. One Sunday evening, I went out with a good friend to the Champs Elysees Avenue.

Along the way, we ended up in the Virgin Megastore just to soak up the festive mood and if nothing else at least pretend we were seriously considering buying the whole store.

This is when I saw her. She wore a long, bright ‘Ferrari’-red coat, a white flurry scarf and brown knee-high boots. Her skin was smooth cocoa, her eyes were pure white and her hair jet-black. I stood still for what seemed like an eternity as I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I felt instantly consumed by her beauty, my head was burning.

I had never seen such a beautiful woman. Here was the woman of my dreams, my future wife (she didn't know it yet) and she was standing only a few yards away. She was so delicately elegant and serene.

I inched closer, sizing up my prey, psyching myself up and getting ready to make my move. I gave her a couple of furtive glances, mainly to check for any oversized boyfriend lurking in the shadows. Clear. I noticed a couple of smartly dressed men loitering around and they appeared to be drooling over her.

One of them was clearly getting ready to make a move and i couldn't let that happen.. not this time. The race was definitely on then, the battle would be short and I was not going to come out second or third best.

Suddenly she turned towards me and our eyes met for the briefest moment. That was it. I had no choice but to move in for the kill or be killed. Now was the time to become a man.

I went to her and said apologetically how beautiful I thought she was and how foolish i was to dream of such an impossible romance. She gave me the softest smile, said 'thank you' and asked my name.....

Her name was Ebla, she was 28 years old from Kenya. She asked me to walk her out. We slowly walked up the Champs for 10 minutes under the christmas lights to the metro. The air was mild. For once, I wished it would snow so we could cuddle up but it didn't. Damn.

She said i made her wish she was 10 years younger. I said it didn't matter but she just smiled again.

Before she left, she added I had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Clearly, my seduction gameplan was working.

She sealed our brief encounter with a kiss and waved me 'adieu' as the metro sped away towards St Cloud. I stayed on the platform, for a few minutes taking it all in. I never saw her again.

I was a boy, she was a woman but that was our magic moment. I walked back to my friend, feeling like a billion dollars for I had conquered her heart.

As I told my friend the story, he started staring at me. I said ‘what’s up Joe?’ and he replied: ‘Nothing. I’d just never noticed your eyes before, fool!’.