"Tell me about her, what's she look like? What does she do?"
The man said to the other man with whom he was obviously sharing a meal.
Gabriel looked across the table of the restaurant at his co-worker Dale where they were both dining for lunch during their break from the high rise office building across the street.
"Well, she's tall, she's a redhead, she's into computers like me, more software than hardware though, and uhhh well, she writes stories in her spare time" Gabriel replied.
"Awee man is that it?" Dale said.
"Gimme real details dude, big tits, come on I bet she's got big ones" Dale said, almost laughing.
Gabriel put his hands up in protest grinning, "No way man, I'm not coming off with anything else, Let's just say it's going nicely."
He placed his napkin on his plate and pushed it aside. They both lit up a cigarette and chatted a little longer. Soon they both left to head back to their respective offices.
When Gabriel got back to his office he looked to see if he had any messages from her. "Damn, if I call her, I'll seem too clingy" he said to no one.
He thought back to his years as a boy growing up in Italy. He had come to the states when he was a teen, just barely sixteen years old and had been mesmerized by all that the Americas had to offer.
Now at 48 years old, Gabriel had done most of what he had wanted to do in life. He married young, raised a family and built a business from the ground up. When his marriage began to fail so did his business. He didn't care about it or anything else after that.
Gabriel never had to look far for a woman to share company with. He wasn't overly tall but he was slender and muscular from years at the gym. When he starting balding he thought for sure he'd never again get to enjoy time with the ladies, but it didn't seem to deter them from him at all which he couldn't quite figure out but then again he never could figure out women.
For the two years since he had moved to town after deciding to move across the country for a fresh start, Gabriel had not been in any relationships at all. He dated scarcely, preferring to leave his job in the evenings to go home to an empty apartment and watch television. He refused to get involved for fear it would end in disaster like his marriage had so many years earlier.
Gabriel shook his head back into reality realizing he was sitting at his desk and had been zoning out for at least 5 minutes.
He started pecking keys on his computer with no focus and finally abandoned it all together. He turned to his phone and dialed the number.
When he heard the voice on the other end, smiling broadly he said,
"Hello Shane..."