Starlight First Sight: Darlene

The night stretched quiet, a soft ribbon of light and shadow.

Then, without warning, she appeared — Darlene, in electric blue,

Long brown hair catching the streetlight,

Sweet brown eyes almost green, flicking just enough to meet his gaze.

There was a certain sweet innocence about her,

A gentle openness, a trust that seemed effortless,

As if she had already surrendered to the moment before anything began.

He felt it instantly: the butterflies, the pulse, the subtle crack in his armor,

A reminder that even the most steady heart

Can be unsettled, rendered tender by a single glance.

Yet even in that instant, he had to answer Christine’s call —

A woman of intensity and promise,

Offering everything he wasn’t sure he could handle.

A reminder that life moves on,

And that Roy, though he’d learned from the best,

Was still navigating desire, responsibility, and human complexity.

And in the balance of what could have been,

He carried the sweetness of that first sight with Darlene,

A memory untarnished, a honey well always there to return to.

She smiled softly and said, “Don’t be a stranger, Roy. You’re always welcome here.”