Michael Collins - Glow

"You Glow." There was a brief silence.

"Really… You think so?" A tentative response.

"Oh, yes… I mean: sometime women merely… shine… But you glow…"

"Now you’re just… well… Being too much…"

"No…no…no…I would not lie about a thing like that…truly… The halo around your head…gives it away. You know…Like when the moon has a halo… It is really obvious."

A lot of smiling all 'round.  The woman glanced about. The other couples were deep in their own conversations. To be honest, Jennifer was not sure whether or not she should have come to this  place at all. A friend recommended it. The advertisement read: ‘Come to the Meet Up Café. Find your emotional and spiritual soul-mate.’ Furthermore, Jennifer was not convinced that Geoffrey fitted the suit: in both senses, actually. He looked a tad second hand in a last minute Vinnies acquisition. She did, however, quite enjoy feeling a little bit special. It had been a rough decade. Geoffrey was relentless in his continuing praise. The Sun, the Moon, the starts… and on and…

"Next, you’ll be comparing me to a saint", jibed Jennifer, with a small laugh.

If that does the trick, thought Geoffrey to himself. "No…no…no…" chuckled Geoffrey, instead…"That would be just… too much…"

Jennifer considered his words and spoke unto herself… What’s so bad about that? At least I could be 'saint-like'. All those good works I perform for the benefit of others. "Of course," she said instead, smiling.

There was a time limit to these encounters, and their time was, sadly… or fortunately, almost up.

"Well… It has been pleasant", Jennifer ventured… possibly by way of drawing the interaction to a close even more quickly.

Geoffrey was caught off guard. A bit blindsided, actually.  "Yes, it…er…has."

They swapped tables.

Geoffrey sat down. He bared his teeth in an almost charming way...

"Hello….Jan…Do you know… you glow... "

There was a brief silence.