Damage Limitation.

So, Mel went off to find a table in the coffee shop while I ordered the drinks. I found myself drawn to the hair of the young woman preparing the Americano and chai latte. She appeared to have a redhead’s skin type and her eyebrows had a natural reddish tinge, but her cranial hair was uniformly dark with artificial red highlights in the curls at the extremity. Being fascinated by such mysteries, I continued to look until she spoke sternly:

‘What?’

‘Oh, sorry. I was just looking at the red curls in your hair.’

‘What’s up with my hair?’

‘Nothing, nothing at all. I just find that sort of thing fascinating.’

‘Oh. Do you want cinnamon on the latte?’

‘Yes please.’

I was also interested in her nose. It was an unusual shape, and I remembered seeing just such a nose on an actress in a film I watched recently. I decided not to mention it.

Meanwhile, the woman customer standing next to me was smiling. Women bystanders always seem to find my encounters with other young women amusing for some reason.