Dorothy

Yesterday at work I got a nice surprise. (Before I go into this, let me preface that these days I fall in love on a daily basis, with almost everyone I meet, but don't always write about it).

I was sitting at my terminal taking calls and noticed Danny and Tracy talking with a tall slender dark haired girl dressed in black. I didn’t look too closely but thought she seemed familiar.

After a while, Danny brought her over to my terminal, hit my meeting button so we wouldn’t be interrupted and I looked up to see the woman who was with him.

“Is it Dorothy?” I hesitated. I was not sure, but indeed it was Dorothy, the same girl who crafted the white origami roses that grace my bookshelf and accompany my Tibetan bell. She worked with us in CRES last year.

When she left CRES, we exchanged a few emails for a while, and then there wasn’t much left to talk about and so the communication dropped off.

What is it about Dorothy? She is tall, very slim, and not really pretty, but she is absolutely lovely in a way that I can barely explain. It is as though she is a shrouded in mystery and nobility, perhaps a princess in disguise who has stepped out of the Hidden Dragons world and is on some secret mission that she can tell no one about.

Our eyes met briefly but we didn’t really connect on the physical plane, yet I could feel her embrace in my spirit.

Her black dress, slim body and long hair pulled straight back into a ponytail made her look almost severe.

Because of the formal nature of our meeting at my terminal, and my penchant to not hear things clearly when I have my headset on, I missed the few clues that led up to the revelation that she has now passed the bar (learned later that the bar exam is upcoming in September) and is working in a law office across the street from us, in the old Mac-Blo building which now houses Coast Capital Savings.

I was stunned, as I had asked her if she was manning the phones there, completely forgetful of the fact that she had been studying law and with no idea she was so close to graduating to begin practice.

I joked, “You are a martial arts black belt, and now a lawyer? There will be no beating you in court!”

I suggested she might help me draft my will. “I have to think about these things now,” I said sotto voce.

“You’re not going anywhere for a long time,” she said, and touched my shoulder warmly. “I’m going to hold you to that!” I joked and all three of us laughed.

We both seemed at a loss for words. I think we said, “It's nice to see you again” at least 3 times each.

But she hesitated before leaving and seemed to step towards me. I realized that I had been sitting the whole time and so stood, and we embraced briefly. Once again, I felt that strange and beautiful sensation of the bodies barely touching, but the spirits embracing.

And as she left, and walked across the office, stumbling slightly in her stiletto heels and grabbing Danny’s arm for support, I felt myself missing her presence already.