Chocolate Cheese Cake, Coffee and Kisses

Over the past months of separation and somewhat isolation I have grown to love a place called Barnes & Noble. I'm obviously not the only one who loves this place. It is pretty much the place to be and is always filled w/ folks from all walks of life. My main reasons for spending so much time here is my new found love of reading and all things literary and my adversion of being "lonely." Now, I spend hours here and never talk to anyone, but being alone and feeling lonely are very different things.

One of my favorite things to do here besides napping, writting, reading and listening to music is people watching. Yes, I am a voyer of sorts. Given my present marital situation, I am extremely interested in watching how couples interact in a place like this. I obviously know how couples act in bars or at rock concerts or under the influence of some substance, but in a book store??? What I have found is that love is shown, communicated and expressed in so many ways that don't require, demand or expect the utterance of a single, solitary word. I have sat in the deep comfortable chairs next to women or men who are reading while their significant other is meandering around the bookstore. Ever so often they will ease up and stand behind the chair and stand there in silence to see if the other is ready to go. There might be a nudge, a smile, a glance or even a brief word to gage the other. Many times they will be sent back out to meander a bit longer. I have never seen or heard a conflict between these couples. It is uncanny and amazing to me. Envy is not the word to use here, but a longing would be more appropriate. I would like to enjoy such a relationship w/ Mary Bennet one day.

I could spend hours here alone. I could spend years here w/ her. The pinnacle will be when we too can share what I witnessed tonight. A coulple had just finished w/ a crock pot dinner of vegtables and pork loin that filled and satisfied them. They then wound up in the chairs across from me sharing a coffe and a piece of chocolate cheese cake. Each one would fork a bit up and hand the fork to the other. They sat in silence and read their own different books, but you could tell that they were "together" as one flesh. She got up and went to find another book and leaned over and kissed him not once, but three times. It made my heart skip a beat.