www.colincampbell.org all fiction copyright colin w campbell
flash fiction by colin w campbell
Mr Opportunity.
Runner up, Adult Creative Writing Club Competition No. 84, 2008.
Most of us have an opportunity story. Some folks get lucky, others just look on as
it all passes them by.
This lady I know, I won't say her name, once pulled me aside
and told me her story while we waited for her husband.
She started by saying she had
been a good looker in her younger days and that she was mentioning this not to be
boastful but because it had a bearing on her story. I was inclined to believe her
for it was easy to imagine what she might once have been. Anyway, years before she
didn't say how many, she had worked out regularly in the gym at her local health
club.
One day in the fall a new member turned up at her health club. He created a
good bit of interest for this was a small town club where the girls outnumbered the
boys. She often saw him working out in the gym and they soon became quite friendly.
He even asked her out a couple of times but she said no.
She really liked him for
his warmth and sense of humor but she had her reputation to think of. He was just
about the same height as herself perhaps less with her high heels. He was a little
overweight and wore thick spectacles. What's more if you looked closely, you could
see he had some sort of skin problem on his face and neck. In this small town she
had to be real careful about who she would be seen with. By the end of the year he
had dropped out of the scene. Strange thing is, she said she never asked his name
and he never volunteered it.
Very soon afterwards, she found an altogether more acceptable
partner and they were married within a month. He had the required good looks and
some money besides. They could manage a good night out every week and even a grand
occasion from time to time. It was on one such special outing that she saw her old
friend from the health club again.
It was styled as a black tie, gala charity dinner
and came complete with entertainment and a few celebrities no doubt keen for some
publicity. Tickets were hard to get but they had been lucky for they knew someone
who worked with the caterers.
She didn't recognize her old friend at first. Realization
came gradually with answers to some of the questions from the pushy lady with the
microphone. No, he had stopped wearing the fake glasses as he was getting recognized
now whether he wore them or not. Yes the director had asked him to gain weight for
his last film role, but he had worked it off in the gym. Yes, he had been troubled
in the past with an allergy but now he knew what to avoid. And yes of course it was
all right to ask if he was romantically linked with his current co-star, but of course
he wouldn't answer.
She wanted to go over to say hello but was pushed out of the way
by a crowd of otherwise respectable society girls clamoring for his autograph. Some
were trying to pass him telephone numbers on barely concealed slips of paper. He
didn't see her in the crowd and she never saw him again except on television.
I pressed
her for his name but all she would say was he had been her Mr. Opportunity.
Her husband
arrived as she got to the end of her story. He was neatly dressed, overweight, with
thick spectacles and a poor complexion. I guess they're happy enough but there was
something in her eyes that time she was telling me her story.
She wanted to go over to say hello but was pushed out of the way by a crowd of otherwise respectable society girls clamoring for his autograph. Some were trying to pass him telephone numbers on barely concealed slips of paper. He didn't see her in the crowd and she never saw him again except on television.
I pressed her for his name but all she would say was he had been her
(625 words)
