flyin' that plane solo

When Jewels and I lived in our last apartment, we had a mysterious guy living across the hall from us. He seemed to come and go at odd hours and had random women over frequently at odd hours, among other things.

I also found him to be extremely attractive.

I can't leave well enough alone, so when his Wall Street Journal continually got delivered to our apartment by mistake, I took it upon myself to take a peek at his name. (No, I'm not a stalker!)

Jewels surmised he was a pilot, as we lived near an airport at the time, and thus kept odd hours.

I'd smile when I passed him on the property, but nothing more than a "hello" was ever exchanged between us.

When I started my current job, I moved to a different apartment and began living by myself and promptly forgot about our mysterious pilot friend.

Until one day as I was driving near the airport and saw our former neighbor, standing alongside his car and a tow truck.

A few months after that, I was wandering around the courtyard that surrounds one of my restaurants, and guess who was there? Our mysterious former neighbor.

Each time I'd see him I'd get a kick out of it, because surely, he'd have no idea who I was. So when Jewels and I were at Barnes and Noble a few months ago and she starts convulsing and saying,"The pilot! The pilot!" like she was on "Fantasy Island," I looked at her strangely. Then I turned around, and there he was.

Perhaps my taste in men has changed, or he's aged badly, but the guy was looking like he'd seen better days. It didn't stop me from passing a couple of two (okay, three) times just to get another look.

I love trips down memory lane.