Lucky In Love

Steve Rogers had a long flight back home, there was nothing that interested him on the plane entertainment system, although some kids nearby were engrossed in the latest action movie. He closed his eyes settling down for a nap and ended up reminiscing about when he was a young boy still in the primary section in his hometown school. How the kids used to laugh at him for not being able to tie his shoelaces back when he was 7 years old. Butterfingers was the nickname he got and it remained for his entire school life. It started with a girl called Roanna in his class. He sighed. She always had red ribbons tied to her ponytails. He tried teasing her about it too in retaliation, but it looked beautiful with the ends of the ribbon curling and swaying whenever she moved her lovely head. She was enchanting to watch, with her dark curly hair in two ponytails and beautiful sea green eyes. It was she who started calling him ‘Butterfingers’…..yes, he remembered her well.

After he completed his school, his father decided to put him in a college in the city with lodging facilities. It was here that he decided to join the corporate jungle. A bright and eager young boy, he steadily rose in rank and status and built himself to an admirable 6 feet 2 inches, with a muscular frame to match. He knew he had turned out to be what is called a ‘gorgeous hunk of manhood’ and had many girlfriends, but none of them were serious. In the span of 6 quick years and using his skills in negotiation, he rose quickly to become the Assistant Vice President in Marketing. He smiled, the future looked wonderful and bright.

His office mates would call him Captain America in lighter moments. He would enjoy with his friends and yet he was a completely goal-oriented sort of chap, a quality which found favour in the top managements’ eyes.

His mind again went back to the young girl who had given him the name “Butterfingers” way back in the past. He could vividly recall once when by pure accident he saw her dark hair being released from their confined pony tail existence and fell gloriously down her lovely shoulders when she was getting ready to play a part on the stage. She was 12 at the time. She was an absolute vision with her lovely green eyes. He wondered what had happened to her – his one-sided puppy love. He sighed and came back to the moment at hand and gazed tenderly at his girlfriend with him. This time he knew she was the one woman he wanted to be his wife and he planned to pop the question when they landed back home from their wonderful weekend together. Her eyes were a rich brown with hints of gold. He grinned, as he recalled the first time he saw those eyes, they were the most incredible eyes he had ever seen. He almost couldn’t believe that such a colour could exist. But her dark hair was exactly the same colour as he remembered Roanna’s hair to be. He guessed he must have a thing for brunettes and smiled.

Looking at his smile, Joan asked playfully, “What are you thinking of Steve?”

His smiled widened even further “I was just thinking that perhaps I have a thing for brunettes.”

“Let me know if you ever prefer blondes” she teased “I will dye my hair accordingly.”

“You tease!” and he said with love in his eyes. “Did I ever tell you that I had a school boy crush on a girl in my class? She too was a brunette”.

Joan looked at him with interest. “And he is trying to make me jealous!" she laughed "So what happened to her?”

“Nothing. She would tease me and I was a shy kid.”

“Steve, we’ve been together for 3 months, and we never once ever spoke about our childhoods!” Joan remarked.

“Yes…well why don’t you start?” he said, throwing the ball in her court.

“Ok. I was a really naughty kid,” she said. “I would tease the other kids in class and play pranks on them. I guess it was because I lost my mother early when I was 6 years and I got very defensive about myself.”

“My poor baby,” Steve murmured as held her hand to comfort her. She smiled up at him. “It's ok now. But my dad managed to take care of me rather well. Being a graphic designer in the marketing department was my dream, and now with your encouragement, I can move forward to have my own printing agency. Meeting you was pure luck at the Marketing Showcase event where both our companies had participated. What about you?”

He answered “I was a shy kid and got bullied a lot. The kids used to call me ‘Butterfingers’, and it started with one girl.” He paused.

She looked at him incredulously. Could it be? What were the chances?

“Go on…tell me more about this ……… girl” she urged him on.

“Well…” he said “you can call it puppy love. Even though she teased me mercilessly, I was rather fond of her. But I never said anything because I was shy and unsure of myself back then.”

“What was her name?”

“Roanna.” He answered

Her eyes shone brightly as her smile widened even more. “That’s my middle name! It was the name I used when I used to go to school! My full name is Joan Roanna Davison.”

“That’s not possible!” he said looking searchingly into her eyes “Her eyes were green.”

“As are mine,” she smiled “I started using coloured contact lenses ever since I left school. I chose this brown gold colour because it was the most unique and impossible colour I ever saw. I wanted to make an impression on people, show them something that they never saw before. I wanted people to remember me, so that I could stand out.”

He remembered that he thought the same thing when he first saw her eyes. He almost couldn’t believe that such a colour could exist.

They both smiled at each other and in the confines of their respective aeroplane seat belts, the most he could do was hold her hand even more warmly. She rested her head on his shoulder. Words were no longer needed between them, their eyes said everything they wanted to say to each other. The plane that carried them, moved on forward, onward towards a future, they looked forward to even more, as they both knew now that they were lucky in love.