Thom, the Hipster Pharmacist

Have you ever walked into love? And I quite literally mean walking into it. Today, I experienced such a feeling. Today, I walked into love.

 

I was powerwalking to the outdoor pick-up at the local pharmacy, a gentle swag to my step. Let me explain - I'm not a gangster or a pimp or Justin Bieber. I mentioned I was going to the pharmacy, no? To pick up antibiotics. For an ear infection that induces swag-like walking [though I'm also often confused for a gangster. It's a burden I gladly bear].

 

I don't know what made me go to the outdoor pick-up - after all, it was 54 degrees in Georgia, [aka freezing - bring out the parkas!]. But still I found myself standing there, awkwardly wondering how to get someone's attention.

 

A bright yellow button that was marked 'call' seemed to be the ticket.

 

And suddenly...there he stood on the other side of that thick glass, waiting for me. My mouth may have opened slightly at the sight of his dark, unkempt-kept hair. The drool that clung to my lip? I blame that completely on the sinus infection and my inability to breathe correctly.

 

Wait...is this what love feels like?

 

I fumbled for the phone, clutching it to my face. "H-hello?"

 

"Yes, may I help you?"

 

His voice was as rich as his brown eyes, framed by thick rimmed glasses. Though he wore a white lab coat, I spied his checkered shirt and skinny tie. His beard was like unto something you would see on the Greek Gods - nay, on Adam Levine himself.

 

My heart stopped.

 

My pharmacist was a hipster. And he also happened to be my soul mate.

 

"Uh, yeah, well, I'm here to pick up a prescription..."

 

"Your name?"

 

I swear to you, he was asking for my hand in marriage in. that. moment.

 

"Jenn Mack..." came my whispered reply. "Uh, well, Jennifer."

 

His face looked puzzled as he contemplated the screen. "What are you trying to pick up?"

 

"You." I said, my voice a purr despite the phlegm in my throat.

 

Just kidding, that didn't happen.

 

Reality: "Well, I don't know. I mean, I just left there, but I honestly have no clue what she prescribed me."

 

I was losing him - he was walking away!

 

"I HAVE AN EAR INFECTION AND AN INFECTION OF THE THROAT!"

 

He stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at the phone near the monitor.

 

"The phone is blinking with a message. I'll get the lead pharmacist to check it and see if it's your prescription."

 

"Okay, yeah, great. They said it'd be here. And also, I love you."

 

Just kidding about that last bit...but seriously.

 

And like that, he was gone.

 

I didn't even catch his name, so I invented Thom. Mainly because it looks hipster to me, and also mainly because I have a spot in my heart just for hipsters.

 

Turns out my prescription wasn't ready and some reedy looking girl took my phone number to call me when my script was ready for pick up.

 

Have you ever walked out of love? Because I did. But for three glorious minutes, my eyes looked through my lenses, a window, and his lenses into the depths of eternity. Time paused. And though there was brick and glass and concrete between us, a connection was made.

 

I saw him again, you know. When I finally did pick up my prescription. He was sitting at a computer in the back while some nice lady assisted me with my drugs. The air crackled around us [I attribute it to his beard], and yet he remained silent and still.

 

Thom, I'll never give up on you. I know we'll meet again, through the glasses of time. And you'll hand me my medication. And when I go home and open the pill bottle to dispense a life-saving pill, a 2 carat circle cut diamond in a halo setting with a thin band bespeckled with little diamonds will fall into my palm instead. And also the pill, because it's life-saving.

 

Until then, Thom the Hipster Pharmacist, I'll compose a blog about you.