The other night after work I was looking for my flashlight so I could walk around and read, per my modus operandi. After several minutes of fitful searching, I couldn't find it. The only other possibility I could think of was that I had left it at work, so I walked to the store to see if it would turn up. Stephen and Saqib and I searched all around the registers, and I searched the cooler because I use it in there when I'm counting in inventory in preparation for ordering, but it was nowhere to be found. I finally decided to give it up as lost and to head on home. On my way out I stopped to shoot the breeze with Stephen and Saqib for a few minutes, and as I was standing there near the counter, a couple of regular customers - a guy and a chick - stumbled in, whoo-hooing and laughing, obviously somewhat drunk. Upon espying us, the two of them immediately tottered over and greeted us loudly and with celebratory enthusiasm. Then the girl - I think her name is Theresa - turned to her friend, and this is what happened:
Girl - Oh! Well, now's my chance... I've always wanted to do this, and now I think I'm just drunk enough to actually do it!
Friend - What's that?
Girl - I gotta run my fingers through his hair!
Stephen and I exchanged a kind of WTF look. Both of us have long hair, but I'm sure that neither of us knew who she was talking about.
Me - Who's hair, mine or his (referring to Stephen)?
Girl - (She turns to me) So, can I? Can I run my fingers through your hair?
Without waiting for my permission or any kind of response, she immediately started to luxuriously stroke my ponytail with her palms, and to slowly run her fingers through the length of it. As she was doing this, she emitted little sighs of pleasure and squeals of glee. I was a too surprised and shocked to do anything else except to just stand there as this girl 'oohed' and aahed' while stroking and petting my hair, like it was some kind of royal fabric of utmost quality. Finally she stopped and performed a wobbly little pirouette while laughing out loud delightedly, and threw her arms around me. She hung onto me for an inordinately long time, until finally she unlocked her arms from around my neck, slid them slowly across my shoulders as she pulled away, and gave me a very light push against the chest with the palms of her hands to complete the separation. Then she laughed again and turned away from me quickly, possibly a little bit embarrassed. After buying some beers, she and her friend left, laughing loudly and cutting up on the way out.
I have to admit to having been taken completely by surprise there. I'd been seeing that particular girl come into the store for years, and although we had chatted a little and exchanged a few pleasantries, we'd never actually 'talked' to any real extent, and I'd never interacted with her in any way other than as a customer. To me she was just another face, albeit a quite pretty one, who I recognized as one of the regular customers at the 7-Eleven where I work. Turns out that all this time she was harboring this secret desire to run her fingers through my hair. Huh. Just... huh.
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