Sighting

Her back was towards me and so, at first, I wasn't sure if it was her or not. She was holding the hand of a tall man. I know she is dating a French man, so I told myself that if I heard him speaking French, that it was definitely her. I walked into the next gallery and started to listen. I didn't understand what he was saying, but it was definitely French. It was her.

I left the museum and headed North to the trail by the bay. I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. I hadn't seen her in years, and I wasn't sure if I was ready. Then, I remembered that scene in Vertigo, when Jimmy Stewart watches the lady with the spiral hair at the Legion of Honor. I went back and positioned myself where I imagined he had been standing. The air smelled like Eucalyptus. I stood there for along time. My feet fell asleep and I jogged in place a little.

There she was. Red dress, long hair. She looked fatter, and I tried to take some consolation in her weight gain, but I was lying to myself. She kept touching him and laughing. I meant to look at him more carefully, but he was wearing a baseball cap and his face was obscured. He looked average. Even with her extra weight she looked like she was slumming it with this French gentleman.

They started to walk down the long road through the golf course. I waited until they had passed, and then I followed them. I remembered, at the second corner, that she and I had been there years before with her parents. We had brought a picnic and walked to Land's End after the museum. Her mother had become tired and I walked slowly with her, while my ex-girlfriend hurried along the hilly trail with her father. We ate turkey sandwiches on buttered rye bread and cherries and left before the sun set.

I followed them all the way down to California Street. I guess I could have said "Hi". I remembered the foggy Forth of July we spent walking around this golf course. We were just out, walking, the way we used to do. Neither of us had dressed appropriately and the wet air enveloped our exposed, goosebumped arms. We did jumping jacks to warm ourselves and then ran home.

At the bottom of the hill, they took a right, perhaps to go to Geary Street. She took his hand, and he moved a little closer to her. It was sad to watch her leaving. I walked back up to the Legion of Honor and then on to Land's End for the sunset.