deja vu

Moments like this are why you should carry a lighter with you, even if you don't smoke.

Don't worry. In fact, step forward and say hello! She might put on a little show for you.

All that way just for a 'quick' smoke. It's worth it every time.

At least there's something she can do to pass the time; something we both enjoy as it happens.

Memories of last night.

And now you're gone.

I've no idea what the time is. I don't care. It's been this magical evening full of laughter and subtle flirting. If it never ends, that'll be just fine by me.

Do you have a favourite brand of old, or has your brand of choice changed their artwork? When did you like it most?

It's always worth the wait.

Of course, I love it too.

I'll sweep her hair out of the way and kiss her passionately just as she inhales. She'll pull away just for a moment to blow her cigarette smoke away, before we carry on kissing. If I'm lucky, I'll catch some of her exhale in my face.

I'm sure she's got me figured out by now. I hope she doesn't mind.

"'It wasn't just that, kind of, social side of it though. Smoking with mum or my friends and what have you. There was always this romance too… Particularly back in the seventies...' Pippa dragged on her cigarette thoughtfully before explaining how she had watched people smoke from a young age, particularly her own parents. Her father would light her mother's cigarettes whenever they were together, and Pippa fondly remembered the way they would look at each other over the table in the dining room of their home. Their hushed conversations and soft laughter. The atmosphere in the room. Pippa had been far too young then to smoke, indeed as a child she would not have wanted to be amidst the smokey haze despite her parents making efforts to welcome and include her, but she wanted nothing more than to feel love the way her parents clearly did; that closeness, that intimacy. It was something she had always tried to emulate, to have for herself."

Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything.

Finally it's time. She'll just have to borrow someone else's notes.

It's love's first kiss all over again, in a smoke filled, illegally parked car. Every time.