The luscious-looking checkout girl paused momentarily with my plums in the palm of her delicate hand, almost brazenly looking me directly in the eye before catching me in the act of noticing the tight crispness of her uniform.

It was one of those moments in life which are gone in a second but linger in the memory for many years afterwards, like an old snapshot that was once fresh and bright but is now both faded and dated.

She had arched an eyebrow and seemed to allow herself a secret smile as she gauged the weight and firmness of my plums, never once breaking eye-contact with me, i suppose you could say we had a moment but a moment is all it ever was...those playful eyes, her pretty hand...it's a very special moment when a man first allows a girl to hold his plums, after all.

We both smiled as she gave my plums a final gentle and loving squeeze before moving onto the rest of my groceries (which were especially mundane that day) and before i could blink, the spell was broken...the next thing i remember is making my payment and departing with nothing more gallant than a mumbled thanks.

I have no doubt at all that she had completely forgotten me by the time i'd reached the street outside but the memory of that checkout girl, her eyes, her smouldering, unspoken insinuations, remains as clear in my mind today as the very minute i stood blushing before her.

plums