INTERSECTION

The corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Ventura Boulevard has figured prominently in my life for as long as I can remember.

In Junior High, the Sherman Oaks Galleria was the hang-out spot. About half a mile away, at the Malibu Castle miniature golf course, I enjoyed my first kiss in 7th grade, via the elusive Franceska Norman.

This was the Galleria of Fast Times At Ridgemont High fame, with the Hot Dog On A Stick girls churning butter up and down, their ridiculous red-yellow-and-blue outfits causing me to erupt into derisive laughter...

When I started working in radio, the office was across the street from the Galleria. Within walking diatnce, there was Ruben's Red Hot, the best hot dog place in the Valley. For years we used to watch outside of the bus windows, on the way to school, and see them constructing Ruben's, using a 17-foot section of the Chicago El Train. Then, as an adult, I started eating there. They know me so well there that I get freebies.

I mention this intersection because today, as I went to Ruben's for possibly the millionth time, I remembered that Eve told me not too long ago that she used to see me walking down the street to get food at Ruben's. She was across the street, at the "new and improved" Galleria, eating in the outdoor section of The Cheesecake Factory.

Funny how she used to watch me walking. Funny how I saw her a few times, and walked the other way. Funny how we were in the same vicinity, but not on speaking terms, for years.

There was the time I crossed the street and saw Eve honking at the car in front of her. That car in front of her was stopping so that I could cross, and when we made eye contact, I laughed. She told me later that she laughed also, and that Dick, her man at the time, didn't like it at all.

I saw her this morning, on my way to work. I stopped by her office to drop off a portable USB memory stick, with free space up to a measly 128 MB. It's still enough, though, for her to take the animation files and transport them to me whenever she has the time.

I was still reeling from her rejection of me around her birthday, but after I returned her gift (she didn't even know I had bought her one) I felt a little better. She was supposed to call me this past weekend, but I figured she was still working on the project and also dealing with her family, who no doubt treated her to countless things for her birthday.

I walked into her office. She saw me and already she had her excuses ready.

"I haven't been ignoring you..."

I laughed to myself. I didn't think she was ignoring me at all-- she'd told me last week, rather bluntly, that she would be busy with this and that.

"...it's just that my phone died."

She showed me her cel phone, the message screen blackened and cracked.

"I dropped it in a puddle."

I didn't tell her that I hadn't been calling her since we last spoke.

"I stopped by your place twice yesterday..."

I wasn't around. In the morning I had breakfast with Down Low and his girl Shaqueeda; then I made brunch with my cousin for his birthday; then I went to the studio and hung out with Elyse and her friends for a few hours (another blog entry for another day); and finally I made my way over to Paulie's house, to watch ther latest dailies on the animation...

"...but you were out."

She looked at me as if to say, "Okay, you got me-- I care about you, all right?"

I didn't have to say anything. She thought she was reading it all on my face, but really-- I had only planned to walk in, drop off the USB, and leave. We ended up talking for a while.

"Everything technological is fucking up on me lately," she said. "And I'm feeling a little sick, with the flu, I think..."

I finally said something.

"When you're ready with the animation files, bring them by."

She looked at me as she always does, with one eyebrow raised. I wanted to tell her all sorts of things, but I thought better of it. My silence was a defense, a way for me to figure her out without having to make a fool of myself, like I did last week...

I thought of Eve as I walked to Ruben's for lunch. She's not watching me now, I thought. At least, not in a literal sense... but she said she stopped by my place twice yesterday? That was uncalled for... and I'm glad she did... if she really did, that is...

I don't know what will become of us, but I am trying to understand it. The whole situation defies comprehension, but then again no logic can apply itself to attraction and its many tangents.

Today is a beautiful day, and as I walked back to the office I reflected on how much of my life has been spent somewhere near this corner of the Valley.

I wish she was still watching me from afar...