Apple

We were at the Apple store. Drooling appropriately at the cool toys and sterile white-ness of the iPod church when I pulled him aside to look at the mac notebooks. They were white, cute and sitting in a little row of three, just begging to be typed on and fiddled with - which of course we immediately did.

I was having fun for a few minutes - navigating away from some dorky myspace page and surfing my way over to google when someone interjects - okay yells

"I was using that computer! That's mine!"

I turn around to look at, and then because I had to, look down at a short kid and his slightly taller friend standing there, glaring at me (up at me) and looking as menacing as someone who is probably fourteen years old could. (And that's actually fairly menacing.)

I instantly pulled out my rapier wit and divine eloquence to respond to this rude little hooligan with a

"Oh...okay?"

Fortunately, my guy was a little quicker on the uptake.

"What did you just say?" he shot out.

"I was using that computer. I was on it." I'm sure there was some big word mixed in there too like 'fuck', or 'fucking' or something equally useful, but I was too busy attempting to recover myself from my startled cod-fish impression to notice.

"Really, were you standing there? Were you buying it? Because I didn't see you..." He went on. Clearly more articulate than my pitiful "Oh". And for a moment, I ignored the conversation and was struck by the fact that he was protecting me. Defending me. It was such a surprise, such a shock. He could have been sitting on a white horse, with a big sword and chopped their heads off while sweeping me off my feet and riding me to safety and I wouldn't have been more affected. It was a warm feeling. It tingled straight through me, starting at my chest and moving it's way down. I wasn't paying attention to the boys, in fact I forgot they existed for a moment. All I can remember is the way he stood with his feet planted just so and his shoulders back. The way it looked like his muscles were tightening and how my touch felt on his arm. I remember looking at his lips, pursed just so, the way they do when he's passionate about something. The way I've seen a million times, usually when he's angry with me.

Then I heard the gravel in his voice and I looked back at the kids who had at first started out tough, taking that offensive step back to plant themselves and eventually lunge. Then quickly taking the defensive next step which clearly showed a fast submission. Why don't I notice these things normally? Why did I see them now? What was so familiar about them. It was as if I was watching a nature show and someone was narrating the play by play. Now the dominant male will circle in order to convey that this is his territory...

But it wasn't a wolf cub who I was looking at. It was a scared kid who threw up his hands and tried to escape while I turned to my wolf man and did the typical wolf woman thing. I put my hand on his shoulder and said softly "It's okay."

Before I could concede the computer the kids had fled and the two of us headed for the exit, and he held my hand.