And Then I Saw Him

I walked into the restaurant at work, on my way to my locker, when I froze in place. Sitting at a table, all by him self, was a soldier. Not just any soldier, but a soldier dressed in uniform identical to CB's. I noticed the combats first and felt the first twinge of pain in my heart. The color of his beret is what caught my attention next and drove the knife in a little deeper.

He noticed me staring and frozen. He got up from his seat and stepped towards me. I stepped back. He said hi and I smiled and nodded. I stood there for a few more moments, it felt like forever, just starring at him and him looking at me. I finally found my words and apologized. I told him I didn't mean to be rude, I was just caught up in wishful thinking. He apologized, gave me a pity smile, and stepped out of my way.

I cried the rest of the way to my locker.

I've gotten use to seeing soldiers, the combats don't make me as emotional as they use to, unless it's a really bad day. It's that damn beret that broke me down. I've seen green, I've seen blue, I've seen  a few.... just not his color. It doesn't help that I'm blind as a bat from far and all I could see if that he had a similar build, height, and weight. And why on earth did he need to stand up? It only confused me more.

Other than that V-day went off without a hitch. I got to ignore the whole day at work, got an e-mail from CB (surprised he even noticed which day it was lol), and ended the night with some great sushi.