/lit/ - Literature

On a Breath


I'm just a tiler. to make ends meet I work at Home Depot, In the gardening section. Which beats the intermittent work I used to get with landscaping contractors and their sometimes sexist or even homophobic crew. I do miss the outdoors work. Ah-well. At least here I get more respect from co-workers and often the cutovers. Oh the customers. Seems everyday we get at least one or two hot babes in here. One co-worker, Jim from tools, spotted me checking out this one hispanic woman one day. Waiting till she rounded a corner he turns to me and mouthes a wolf howl in agreeance. "Good taste" Monica. Jim is a genial, balding and greying hippie kind of laid back dude and a good friend.

My hair is thinning too, though I'll never be as bald as Jim, it's just a bit disappointing. Aging stinks. I don't recommend it. I guess I'll have to cut my hair short one of these years real soon. I've just never liked the short haired look. On me or other women. Right along with fowling up my life, I've fowled up my love life so many times that I'm starting to lose hope I'll ever settle down with the right girl. Some suggested I wear a rainbow bracelet, but I'm such a screw up, months went by before I even got an acknowledgment. Waiting in a coffee shop I saw a gorgeous woman walk in. I was pretty sure she was lesbian. I tried to play up the damn bracelet, but all I got was a casual glance before she vanished with her 32oz. brown thing. On some other advice I tried dating sites but have had only dismal returns. I guess I'm just thin skinned and can't take rejection.

One summer our supervisor threw a barbecue and invited some of us old-timers and their family over to praise his spruced up backyard pool, patio, greenery and cooking chops. He had good reason to be proud, it was nice. Real nice tile work too. Wish he'd have asked me to help install it. Unironically we praised, but turning my attention away from the tiles, I finally took notice of the most beautiful girl in the whole place. Tan and freckled faced with sandy blonde brown hair, I somehow tore my glance away from her, and not because she was going to notice me gawking, my eyes then rested on her hairy arm, and then her hairy legs. I'm sorry, but body hair is a fetish of mine. I tried to play it off, be cool– Just then Jim came up behind me and introduced her.