Not so super -- Chapter 1

I felt her presence before I saw her. 

She was right in front of me, standing behind Mom’s empty seat.  She loomed over me, looking down with an all-knowing, confident smile.  Even in its smugness there was something serene about that smile.  That only made it worse. 

I squirmed in my seat.  I wanted to burrow out of harm's way.  My cheeks burned like a furnace.  Why would she have come over, if not to confront me?  My brain ached as it ran through the possibilities.   Would she call me a loser?  Would she mock me in front of the baristas?  Would she accuse me of being a pervert?  I was only looking for one second.  How much of a crime had I committed?

She silently spun Mom’s seat around, planting herself on it.  Her deft action made left me feeling self-conscious of stupid, young me and sophisticated, impressive her.  She straddled the chair with her face leaning towards me.  Her posture magnified my need for fight-or-flight.

“Rick Smith,” she said.  It wasn’t a question.

“Uh.  Do I know you?” I stammered out.

“No,” she said.  “I guess you don’t.”  Her head cocked gently to the left, causing her hair to swing provocatively from side to side.  Her smug, serene smile flustered me.

“So… How do you know me?” I asked.

“Because I’m going to be your wife, and I have superpowers, too.”