1. Adoration

Boris stared at his phone screen. The blasting radio went unnoticed as he sat in the passenger seat of his wife's car, looking at Facebook photos of one of his highschool girlfriends, with his browser in Incognito mode. His heart pounded in his chest as he downloaded a selfie. Quickly he backed it up into the cloud and deleted the file off of his device.

"Oh, I hate that song," his wife said, turning the radio off. "You don't like it, do you?"

"Uh-huh..." He murmured, eyes still fixed on the screen.

"You didn't even hear me, did you?" She said sharply. "What are you looking at on there?"

"Oh nothing," he responded in a choked voice.

"You get such a weird guilty look on your face sometimes," she continued. "Are you texting a girl?"

"No, no!" He cried, waving his hands. "I'm not doing anything I shouldn't be doing. You have to trust me."

She gave him a long narrow look from the driver's seat, brow furrowed. His hands were sweaty as he cleared his browsing data, fearful that she would ask to look at his phone and somehow find out.

"You think I didn't see you cutting that picture of your old girlfriend out of the newspaper?" She snapped. "Admit it—you're infatuated!"

He flushed and lowered his head, trying to still his quivering chin.

"You may be right," he whispered.

*****

It was almost a relief when, a few months later, his wife filed for divorce and left him for someone else. Boris felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

He spent hours going over his old friend's Facebook and Instagram, studying each post, trying to learn everything he could about how she might feel about him. Sue lived by herself with a big fluffy Samoyed, and as far as he could tell she was single.

How best should he make first contact? Online? In person? Boris weighed his options carefully. If he sent her a message on her socials, it would seem like he'd been stalking her. Yet meeting her "accidentally" in person would take some orchestration. But he came to the conclusion that physically encountering Sue would be the best option. He could gauge her reaction to him and see whether she'd be interested.

She lived not too far from his place, in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood. Since Boris owned a little brown terrier, taking a long stroll with his dog to her area early one morning wasn't such a big deal. He whispered a fervent prayer that she would be walking her dog at the same time.

His hands shook as he got dressed. He almost forgot to take his keys with him on the way out. The newspaper lay unheeded in the driveway. A neighbor waved as he walked by, but he didn't see who it was. He almost got run over crossing the street in his eagerness to get to where she lived.

His heart leaped into his dry throat when he saw Sue coming down the sidewalk with her Samoyed. His legs trembled. He hadn't seen her in real life in so many years. All the memories came crashing through; a tsunami of heartsickness. What if she wasn't interested in rekindling the relationship? What if she already had someone she was seeing?

Their dogs stopped on the sidewalk to get acquainted.

"Oh, hey, is that you, Sue?" He tried to sound casual and friendly, though his voice was a tight croak. "I'm sure you don't remember me..."

His terrier jumped and tugged at the leash, nearly pulling it out of his sweaty hands.

"Why, Boris, how nice to see you again!" Sue exclaimed. "I've been thinking about you. I heard you got divorced and was wondering if I should reach out..." She looked bashfully down to the ground.

Boris felt like his heart would fly out of his chest. He made a feeble attempt at casual conversation as they caught up on things, hoping she wouldn't notice how excited he was. Finally,

"So, if it's ok with you, would you like to come over my place for dinner one evening? Maybe this weekend?" He waited breathlessly for her response.

"I'd love to! I think it's time we got back together."

He felt lightheaded and dizzy all the way home. It was almost impossible to believe it had been that easy.

*****

"You're head over heels for that old flame Sue, aren't you?" His buddy said at the gym.

"Yes. I'm planning on proposing to her as soon as I can."

"You sure you want another gal after that first one dumped you? This one can't be much better."

"No, no!" Boris exclaimed. "She would never leave me. She's not that kind."

"You don't know. Maybe she'll get tired of you. Maybe she's not worth the trouble. Didn't I hear she got arrested a few years ago?"

"That wasn't her fault! It was a setup. The system is corrupt. She explained it all. She's never broken the law in her life. She will be a good spouse for me." His voice cracked, and tears rose in his eyes.

His friend shook his head.

"You're infatuated, man. You can't think straight."

"I'm thinking perfectly clearly, thank you very much." Boris snapped. "There's nothing bad you can say about Sue and you know it. Now leave me alone."

He pulled out his phone. Sue's picture was on his lock screen. The friend rolled his eyes and walked away towards the bench press.

*****

"Amazing that it's been ten years already, Boris," Sue said. "Thank you for the beautiful anniversary celebration."

They were sitting at a restaurant in the evening, with candles and dessert. His heart fluttered and he felt a lump in his throat as he looked into her eyes.

"It's the least I could do," he assured her. "You give me butterflies…If this is an infatuation, it's still going strong."

"I think I would call it adoration," she said with a smile that made him feel like melting into the ground.

Word count: 1007.