The crowd parted and there he stood in front of me. Our eyes locked. I froze transfixed. The crowd around us disappeared. Everything moved in slow motion and time stopped. The only sound I heard was my heart beating in my jugular. It seemed an eternity that we stood face to face his eyes burning into mine. I was spellbound by his large never blinking eyes as I held his stare wanting to prove that I could take it, that I wouldn’t back down. I turned up the flame in me and thought, “I see you seeing me...”. I wanted this moment to last.

I realized I had shifted forward slightly because he was now diagonally across from me. With two quick, sharp, percussive looks he sized me up and met my gaze again, his eyes now changing shape. He was smiling ever so slowly. From the corner of his mouth, his lips slightly pursed to one side of his face. From the corners of his eyes he wouldn’t let mine go as he floated past me looking over his shoulder. He lowered his eyes and I could see his generously lined lids and his long eyelashes. He let out a slight breath and when he looked back up at me, he appeared almost bashful which made me melt inside. He must’ve noticed because he nodded his head as if to say, “Yes”. And then, he disappeared as the crowd closed in on him.

Only then, when he released me, did I become aware of the jostling crowd and came back to life from my suspended stupor. I was back in actual time, the noise, the excitement. What had just happened? Did it happen or was this chance encounter something I made up in anticipation of perhaps seeing him? I looked back, but he was gone. Yes, it had happened. We had a moment between us. Just a moment. We had spoken silently and in his eyes, I held him.