Love, me.

The Encounter

Rae

A familiar figure whizzed past me on two wheels causing me to gasp involuntarily as I felt my cheeks and neck turning red. As my eyes drifted to where the cyclist parked her bike, I could not help but let my eyes roam over her athletic figure. "Those lycra suits should be banned," I thought to myself, trying to prevent unclean thoughts from infiltrating my mind.

It has been two months since I first noticed her at work. We were in the changing room once when I was changing into my pair of scrubs when I heard a faint whistling of a familiar tune on the locker row behind me. Curiosity piqued, I turned my head discreetly to see a toned figure with crisp tan lines on her arms and thighs. "It's not summer yet, how did she get so burnt," I mused to myself. Unaware of my presence, she continued whistling softly to herself as she changed into her pair of scrubs and got ready for the long day ahead.

"She must be new, as I have never seen her, or anyone quite as chirpy as her at seven in the morning."

Before I had the chance to peel my eyes off her, she looked up and caught me staring at her. Not wanting to embarrass myself further, I turned quickly and left the changing room, wishing the ground would swallow me up as I rushed off, hoping that she was not on the same team as I was.

As luck would have it, the lift took forever to arrive. A familiar whistling jolted me from my thoughts and I felt my pulse quicken. I have not had a chance to be in such a close confines as her since our last encounter in the changing room and memories of her crisp tan line came flooding back into my mind. I have only ever spotted her a few times as she walked into the operating theatres as I headed towards the Intensive Care where I worked. I found out not long after that she was on a rotation to our hospital as a junior registrar, and that she had a few fans lusting after her in vain as she never seemed to show any interest in dating. Sneaking a peek over my shoulders, I noticed that she was engrossed in something she was reading on her phone with a slight frown on her face.

As we stepped into the elevator after what felt like hours of waiting, a look of recognition flashed in her brown eyes as she stood facing me in the lift.

"Hello again." A slight smile crept across her face as if she was unsure if I recognised her. Her voice was deep and soft, and lightly accented. I could recognise her from a mile away, with her lycra padded shorts showing her nicely shaped legs. Feeling a blush spread across my cheeks, and cursing myself for being so pale, I nodded at her wordlessly as I felt perspiration gathering on my forehead. She had dark brown, long, wavy hair that she did not tie up today, I noted to myself, and caught myself wondering what the texture of her hair was.

When the elevator door opened, she walked out ahead of me and I caught a whiff of a scent of sandalwood and something lighter. It was a scent that was so faint that you would miss it if you were not paying attention, and at that moment, I found myself wishing for more encounters with her again. At least, to know what her name was.