dressing down

We rode back in a cab from uptown. All night we'd looked at each other and then looked away, but not in the sort of way that belied interest; it was just timing and the result of being in the same packed room.

I stood outside waiting for the cab I'd called when she came out. I had a feeling she was just waiting and hadn't called one, so when mine arrived I asked her where she was going and if sharing one was a good idea. She told me it was, so we did and we talked a bit on the way. She told me her name, where she worked, what she did. She told me about her time in Chicago.

I paid for the fare up until the point of my destination and I got out with a casual goodbye. I think she was shocked; that she'd expected some flirtation, some advance; perhaps an invitation to join me.

I'd see her later at different venue and she'd be introduced to me by a different name. She found me on one of the social networking sites and her photo's and name there made it impossible for me to tell that all three people where one girl in the same. Someone mentioned she had conspiracy theories and so she was generally distrustful of the internet.

I saw her today and didn't recognize her right away. I was wearing sunglasses and listening to headphones and I noticed her staring at me. I stopped as I slowly realized that her hair was different color, she was wearing glasses and she was almost unrecognizable from the person I'd seen out nearly a half a dozen times by that point.

We chatted for a moment and I considered that she was actually far prettier when she wasn't wearing the wig, when she dressed more conservatively without the extreme makeup. I asked her if she'd be out tonight and she mused that she wasn't certain, but when I said I would be, her smile got a little bigger.

I didn't linger after telling her where to find me next. I told her it was nice seeing her and then went on about my way. When I was a few steps away I stole a backwards glance and she had an expression that suggested she didn't know what to make of me. I put my headphones back in while considering it fair that she shouldn't know what to think of me, because I wasn't sure to think of her either. I felt certain, however, that when I saw her next, we'd both be trying to figure each other out.