Jury Duty (25)

I had my first jury duty summons since I've lived in this valley. It was an exercise in getting it together to leave the house at a specific time and still take care of all my daily chores, still keep up with my work. When the summons first arrived in the mail, I was tempted to postpone it but decided to hope for the best. Maybe my man would be there. Afterward, I told myself maybe he was there and I hadn't noticed him, and our jury duty would be the perfect excuse one day for him to strike up a conversation with me. "I believe we were on jury duty together," he can say. Like me, he'd have a hard time coming up with a way to introduce himself, a way to initiate a connection, but this would be perfect and happen to be true (unlike many of the lamer opening lines I have thought of over the years). I didn't make a point of examining every man in the room, I have to admit. But there was no one who caught my eye. I felt pretty out of my element, in fact, a very different fish from the others gathered there. Still, maybe he was on the other side of that long room. Maybe he watched me, studied me while I read the newspaper, didn't know how to approach me. Next time, he'll have just the ticket.