#heartskip

Annette riffles around in her purse for a moment before pulling out a few slips of paper.  “Three Tickets to the Captain America Tour!”

“What?!” Dorothy shrieks, quickly snatching the tickets from her friend’s hands to verify their authenticity.

You look up once more, in surprise.  “How on Earth did you get those?  They sold out the first day!”

Annette grins proudly. “My brother, Willie, works for the theater.  He managed to snag a few extra tickets!”

“Please tell me these are for us!” Dorothy begs, clutching the tickets to her chest.  “Please, please, please!!!”

Annette laughs.  “Of course!  But it gets better!!”  She turns back to her purse, riffling for a few more papers.  “Willie got us the extra tickets for taking pictures with him after the show!”

Dorothy screams in excitement, snatching those tickets from Annette’s fingers, too.

You laugh lightly at your two absurd friends.

Annette allows Dorothy to fawn over the tickets for a few seconds before she snatches them back. “So it’s time to dust off our best dresses and get all dolled up.  Maybe one of us will catch his eye!” she grins cheekily.

You shake your head before turning back to your work.  “I don’t know, Annie…  A man that represents hope, freedom and the American way?  A guy like that is bound to have a soulmate.”

Annette frowns as she contemplates your words.

Dorothy shrugs a shoulder. “Not necessarily.  Only the purest of hearts get a soulmate.  And with a body like that…  That man’s sure to have a little sin in him.”  She’s smirking by the end of her words, bumping her hip against Annette’s as the two of them giggle.

Annette turns to put the tickets back in her purse, releasing a dreamy sigh.  “But could you imagine being his soulmate?  He’s such a dreamboat.”

“I’d kill to be that woman,” Dorothy responds, flipping the page of her magazine.

You frown, keeping your comments to yourself.  You know she didn’t actually mean it, but that was the precise reason you never told them that you did have a soulmate.  Humans were fickle creatures and often wanted things they couldn’t have, or grew jealous of the ones that did have them.  It wasn’t uncommon for mated couples to be targets to hate crimes. You’re pulled from your dark thoughts when Dorothy speaks again.

“You’re so lucky you were here when he came to the shop.”

Your lips twitch in amusement as you remain concentrated on your stitching.  “He didn’t come to the shop, he crashed through the window.  I didn’t even catch a glimpse of him before he was jumping over the glass and throwing an apology over his shoulder.  Nearly scared Mr. and Mrs. Brandy half to death.”

“And then he saved that innocent little boy!  He’s so heroic,” Annette sighs once more.  She has stars in her eyes, and you can tell she’s already fallen in love with this man, even if she’s never even met him.

Normally you wouldn’t mind. That was just Annie’s personality. But for some reason, with her fawning all over the Captain… It just didn’t sit right with you.  You tried to push those feelings to the back of your mind. It was just an innocent crush. Nearly every woman in America had one for him.

“Anyway… The show’s next Friday.  Dorothy I know you’re bouncing to go, but what about you?”  Annette asks, turning to you.

Another unexplainable feeling arises.  The thought of going seems to make you a little nervous, anxious even.  More so when you recall that you would be meeting him face to face after the show…

You know that they won’t take no for an answer, so you force a smile onto your lips and look up at the two of them.  “I wouldn’t miss it.”

Next Friday comes faster than you would expect.  You pull out one of your favorite dresses from the back of the closet.  It was rare for you to dress up as much as you were for tonight.  You didn’t go on many dates.  It’s not that you’d never been asked, it’s just that you’d been hoping to spend those moments with your soulmate.

Your hair had been in curlers all day until you were ready to pin your curls in place for the night. Your make up is flawless, choosing to go with a dark red lipstick you normally left for special occasions.  You meet Annette and Dorothy at the theater. It’s positively thriving with activity, making it difficult to find them.

Once you do, Annette hands you your ticket and the three of you bustle inside.  Your seats are pretty far to the back, but you don’t mind. After all, the tickets had been free.  The show is incredible.  The three of you admire the dancers’ costumes and giggle over the Captain’s.  When he speaks, his voice seems to lull you into a daze.  You could listen to him talk for hours and it wouldn’t even matter to you what he says.

Looking around, you quickly realize you’re not the only one.  Both Annette and Dorothy have whimsical looks on their faces, soft sighs leaving their lips on occasion.  As do most of the women in the audience.  There’s one sitting a few rows in front of you that you’re pretty sure almost fainted when the Captain picks up a motorcycle with three dancers on it and effortlessly holds them over his head during the final number.

He stands there, smiling charmingly as everyone sings and dances around him.  Canons full of confetti go off, filling the air with colorful, glittering pieces of paper.

When the song ends, the crowd roars with applause, nearly everyone standing from their seats, some even standing on their seats.  You laugh as Dorothy and Annette bounce and scream in a desperate attempt to gain the Captain’s attention before the stage goes dark.

When the main lights come back on, Annette quickly grabs you and Dorothy by the hand to drag you out into the theater lobby.  “Come on, come on!  It’s time to meet him!” she’s giddy with excitement.  It’s difficult not to feel the contagiousness of it, but at the same time, you still feel a little nervous.

A line has already formed. The girls take this time to touch up their makeup and fluff their hair.  You wring your purse with your hands, feeling more and more nervous the closer you get to the front of the line.  “You all right?” Dorothy asks after noticing how quiet you’ve become. Annette turns to you curiously as well.

“Hmm?” you mumble distractedly, before noticing their strange looks.  You berate yourself and put a smile back on your face.  “Oh, I think I’m just a little nervous about making a fool of myself.  I’ve never met anyone famous before.”

The two of them giggle. “Oh, you’ll be fine.  Just smile for the camera and try not to trip in your heels,” Annette tries to assure you.

Before you know it, you’re hearing a man call out “Next!” and you’re walking into the small room that’s been set up for the meet and greet. You look around briefly, noting the long red curtain draped as the backdrop, and there are all sorts of posters and propaganda prompting you to buy Defense Bonds.  As soon as your gaze lands on the man standing in the center of the room, you realize you didn’t actually have to worry about tripping, because all of a sudden you can’t move at all.

His eyes are so blue.  They’re bright and warm and they seem to pull you in the longer you spend gazing at them. His full lips curl up into a small smile.  “Hi,” he greets you.

Your heart skips a beat, the deep tenor of his voice completely washing over you.  “Hi,” your response is breathless and it makes your cheeks flush.  You’re only able to break your gaze away when you feel your heart skip another beat, only this time, it’s not coming from you.  You have to berate yourself again.  You’re not supposed to be oogling handsome men when you have a soulmate.

“Ma’am, are you getting in the picture or not?” the camera man questions, giving you an annoyed look.

You look at him in confusion.  “I’m sorry?”

You hear someone calling your name. “Hey, come on!” you look toward the direction of Annette’s voice, to find her and Dorothy saddled on either side of the Captain.  The two of them are looking at you expectantly.

Your cheeks flush even hotter.  “Oh! Sorry,” you apologize, quickly shuffling next to her.  You make sure to keep your gaze away from the man just on the other side of her shoulder as she wraps an arm around your waist.

You focus on the camera, putting another smile on your lips.  The flash goes off and you don’t even have time to recover from the blinding light before you’re hearing the camera man shout another “Next!”

Annette grabs your hand to pull you out of the room, fearful that’s you’re going to embarrass her again. You try to resist the urge to look back at him, but ultimately end up failing.  You catch his gaze once more, this time noticing the curiosity behind the sky blue of his irises.  You only get a brief glance before you’re pulled around the corner and out of his sight.

The three of you move to another line where you have to give them your tickets so they know where to send the photos after they’ve been developed.

“What happened to you in there?” Dorothy asks, once you’ve placed yourselves in the line.

You swallow thickly, glancing down at your hands to avoid their gazes.  “I don’t know.  One look into his eyes and I froze…  I told you I was going to make a fool of myself.”

“Sounds to me like love at first sight,” Annette jokes with a light laugh.

“Get in line,” Dorothy giggles.

You try to force out a laugh for their sakes, but deep down you can’t stop thinking about how strange that encounter was.  And you especially couldn’t get the image of his piercing gaze out of your head.

As for Steve, he couldn’t get the image of your smile out of his. The way your painted lips stretched and your cheeks lifted.  He’s seen a lot of pretty dames over the last few months, but there was something about you that stood out.  Something that made you seem special.

He manages to get through a few more pictures before he can’t take it anymore.  He has to see you again.

Before the camera man can scream his usual next, Steve cuts it.  “I’m sorry. I’m going to need a minute.”

He darts out the exit before anyone can stop him.  In the next room, he sees that there’s another set of lines formed with people signing out for their pictures.  His eyes sweep over the crowd, trying to find you.  He doesn’t get much time before someone notices his presence and the group starts to swarm.

Even though they’d all just seen him, they were all eager to get one more moment with him.  He smiles politely, trying to make his way through the crowd, using his recently acquired height to his advantage.  He frowns when your face isn’t one of the ones looking back at him.

He must have just missed you.  He’s about to give up and head back to the meet and greet room, when a new thought strikes him.  He’d heard your friend call out you name, so at least there was hope.

He navigates the crowd to get to the tables.  “Excuse me, can I look at this?” he asks the person sitting behind the table.  Without really waiting for permission, he flips the notebook around and quickly scans the names.  Looking at the most recent entrees, none of them are you.

He takes a step to the side and moves onto the next notebook.  Your name isn’t in that one, either.

It’s not until the third notebook that he finds your name written in neat script on the page. Your address is handwritten directly below it.  Steve’s hear skips in his chest, burning the address into his memory.  He glances across the table at the worker in charge of this notebook and thanks his lucky stars when he recognizes the man.

“Robbie, remember when I signed that poster for your boy and you said you owed me one?” Steve questions.

Robbie eyes him curiously. “Yeah…”

“You think you can get me a copy of photograph 280421?” Steve asks, glancing back down at the notebook, to make sure the number matches with the one that’s getting sent to you.

“Uh, sure thing, Cap.” The man agrees.

Steve grins down at him. “Thanks,” with a parting nod, he turns to face the crowd and makes his way back to the room.