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was still imagining it when he turned around and saw me staring, which made me angry. Last thing I wanted to do was let hi m think I was interested in him .
    Then he smiled that smile at me. Oh god his lips, they were very ki ssable lips. A dark ruby colour; merlot . I remembered how they felt on mine.
    The power of attraction is a mystical thing. I see no rhyme nor reason in my past attractions, I just know it when I feel it. And oh am I now feeling it with Charlie. Damn kiss.
    But just as my left foot stepped forward to start leading me over to him I remembered why I was here at the beach and I did a quick 180 degree turn and walked the other way, avoiding him while I finished checking out the last few stalls then quickly headed home.
    Later, I was startled to catch a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and see that I was smiling, a pretty dopey smile . Come to think of it, it reminded me of a grin that I’d seen not too long ago on a blue eyed curly haired boy who lived not too far away.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHARLIE
     
    I can’t concentrate on anything. Not work, not books, not the TV, nothing. People are suspicious of the permanent smile attached to my face.
    “What’s wrong with you boy?” one regular old guy asked suspiciously . “Why are you smiling like that?”
    “Like what?”
    “Like you won Lotto or something”
    I just smiled my s mile. My Pearly smile.
    “ Eh, you didn’t win the Lotto did you?” he asked, “Cause if you did would you mind loaning me a few thousand, I got some stuff need s do ing up around the house” and he looked at me expectantly.
    Even w hen I realised he was serious and denied it he thought I was holding out on him and got all huffy and started a rumour which meant for the next couple of weeks people kept coming into the shop and asking me for loans and oh, the sob stories I heard.
    I just couldn’t help it. Every time I pictured her face I smiled. And seeing as I pictured her face about once every two seconds you can see why I did a hell of a lot of smiling.
    At night, in bed, I would close my eyes and remember how her face looked when she reached up and kissed me, her eyes closed, her nose wrinkled softly, the feel of her lips (a little dry and scratchy actually, but I didn’t let that ruin the memory).
    I wanted her more than anything I ever wanted in my life, including the action-man-soldier-complete-with-parachute figurine I wanted for Christmas when I was ten, and I wanted that a LOT.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    PEARL
     
    Today I feel like I turned a small corner, spiritually speaking.
    I’m not normally a spiritual person. I don’t do grand, dramatic gestures or believe in signs. So I’m almost reluctant to claim what happened this afternoon as anything of the sort but for lack of a better word, let’s leave it as that .
    It was another fine day at the beach . The sun was out. There’s no real heat in an autumn sun. It doesn’t burn you or cause you to sweat profusely, give you heatstroke or make you want to jump into the ocean every five minutes.
    You can bask in an autumn sun for hours and all it will do is warm you, right through to the marrow in your bones.  A deep, radiating warmth. It’s very addictive.
    Lulled by the peace and the warmth I dozed in the swinging chair, stretched out, one foot on the deck pushing myself back and forth in a light rocking motion.
    I could hear the waves gently washing up on the shore. The occasional plane overhead, the cry of a gull.
    It was like a thousand perfect days rolled into one.
    Then it started to rain, an autumn sun shower, fat drops splashing on the deck, slow and far apart at first then getting faster and closer together. I started trying to grab everything, the seat cushions, my magazines, the towel and pillow still laid out from where I’d