C3 Chapter 3

Marcia remembers it like it was yesterday.

College club registration day for students. The sun was blazing overhead as she and her fellow club members sweated, running and jumping around passing students, cajoling, teasing, prodding, charming, them to join their wine-tasting club.

Clothing damp from sweat and from the occasional spraying of cold water on their faces, backs, and arms to keep cool.

Taking occasional short breaks to sip water, soda, or some other allowable beverage; she and her club members were working hard to get as many signatures as possible.

As Marcia takes a break, sipping her water, a dark figure catches her ever-watchful eye – a tall, well-toned student walking fast toward the main college school building, head down, shoulders stooped, seemingly doing his best to avoid the excessively, almost aggressively, boisterous wine-tasting club.

She looks closer and notices that the student has a build somewhere between a runner and a swimmer, with sandy brown hair.

Ah! That’s the sixth one today! Do they think avoiding eye contact makes them invisible? Marcia thinks to herself with a cheerful chuckle.

“What? What’s up?” The student beside her asks excitedly.

“Hold this, June,” Marcia replies, handing her water bottle to the student who had just spoken.

June takes the bottle and follows Marcia’s gaze; she gives a small knowing smile, “Get 'em, tiger!” She exclaims, slapping Marcia lightly on the shoulder, as they both focus on the runner.

==========

Marcia jumps in front of the runner, “Hello, how are you? We're getting new people to join the wine-tasting club. Would you be interested?” She comments cheerfully, sticking a flyer under the student’s nose.

Turning his head away, he walks past Marcia without saying a word.

“Hey, hold on,” Marcia calls out lightly grabbing the runner’s arm as he walks past.

Wow, that’s some muscle he’s got under there, she thought, momentarily distracted.

You wouldn’t know just by looking.

The runner half-turns, sharply, and raises his gaze to meet hers.

Marcia, stunned by the expression on his face, hurriedly lets go of his arm, apologizing immediately.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, that was...that was too much, I'm sorry. That was wrong of me.” She breathes, her breath suddenly coming fast – and not from the short run just now, she was breathing just fine when their conversation started.

“I was just...I was...I just wanted to...,” she stammers, trying to find the words to say, and subconsciously rubbing her hands against her slim thigh as if trying to wipe dirt off them to apologize for touching the runner with unclean hands.

More than his expression, the intensity of his gaze shakes Marcia to the core – the sudden and unexpectedly light blue eyes that seem to look right through her, hit her first.

Then the strong brow, aquiline nose, strong jaw, and sharp cheekbones, set with lips that look like they need to be kissed, all hit her at once.

As she fumbles for words, the runner’s frame softens and he turns fully to face Marcia. “What is it?” He asks, looking away from Marcia, staring over her shoulder.

“Uh, I…uh, wine tasting, uh…club, uh…join, uh…would you?” She blurts out, stumbling over her words.

He snatches the flyer from her and walks away.

Marcia exhales, hunching over, placing her hands on her knees, her heart racing.

“Woah! What was that? What was that?!” She exclaims to no one in particular, patting her chest, attempting to calm her racing heart.

“Hey! Marcia! Flyers! Hurry up!” Steve, the President of the wine-tasting club, calls across the lawn.

Marcia straightens up and rushes back to the table where the rest of her club members are, and continues to hand out the flyers.

“What happened?” June asks, her brow furrowed as she hands out flyers beside Marcia. Marcia glances down at her, smiles slightly, and shakes her head gently, giving no reply.

She gazes back up at the passing crowds, smiling and passing out flyers.

I wonder if he’ll come to the semester opening event this evening.

June, who watched the whole exchange from a distance, shakes her head as well, thinking

I wonder if he’ll show up tonight, as she continues handing out flyers and looking out for the next target.

==========

It’s evening, and the wine-tasting club’s semester opening event is in full swing, attracting a lively crowd.

The garden, where the event is being held, is tastefully decorated with white and yellow party lights and round cocktail tables scattered throughout, allowing guests to chat and sip wine for a bit before moving to another table or strolling through the garden.

At the back of the venue is a long table with at least thirty different types of wines from around the world, and a few beers for any heathens that may have made it into the venue.

The wine table is manned by the executives of the wine-tasting club, who give brief histories of the wines presented and explain the art of wine tasting to the guests who come for a drink or refill; and brief side glances to heathens who pick up the beers instead.

Soft classical music is playing in the background, a popular tune by Sebastian Bach, and many people are standing in groups or mingling around, creating a nice atmosphere.

The runner enters the venue, scanning the room from the entryway.

He slowly makes his way inside, moving in a quiet, unobtrusive way, avoiding all groups, and any eye contact. Many people don’t even notice as he walks past them.

His gaze lands on a group of wine-tasting club members – a group of people with the same gold-colored badges pinned on their chests – his eyes resting on one person: Marcia, talking and smiling with the group.

He stares at her magnetic smile that feels like it pulls you in.

He casually glances around the garden, but his gaze keeps coming back to Marcia, drawn to her black hair blowing softly in the evening breeze, her warm brown eyes, and the soothing sound of her voice, which he could hear even from a distance – not the words, but the vibrations of the sounds, soft and inviting.

As Marcia chats with her friends, she suddenly notices June’s voice “Um, hi, yes, um, welcome, do you need help with anything? I can show you around...” nervously speaking to a student who had just arrived, a stark contrast to June’s usually boisterous and energetic tone.

She and the other two club members she is standing with turn toward June’s voice and clearly understand why June sounds so strange.

Ah! It's him! Marcia thinks, as she excuses herself from the others and starts to walk toward the student she had met earlier that day while handing out the wine-tasting flyers – the runner.

“I'm here for this,” the runner says, showing June the flyer. His eyes flicking around as he speaks to her.

“Oh yes, yes, of course! We have the wines all set up at the long table over there,” June replies gesturing towards the executives at the inner part of the garden.

The runner lifts his gaze to follow June’s hand and after half a heartbeat assessing the wine dispensing table, he turns to move in the opposite direction.

As he glances away from the wine table, about to walk away, he sees Marcia heading towards him.