Affair of youth

1. His head full of novels of adventure and romance, a teenager would like to play the part of a hero. Maturity teases him like the smells of summer evenings, like streetlights and wine at smoky cafés. 2. A wisp of a woman waits by a tree on the promenade. The streetlight glimmers from a bobble in her hair. She pretends to be beautiful and serious, so he decides to play along with her. 3. She’s left her leash behind her on a bench. Poverty and confusion give her an air of mystery. He’s lost his inhibition as though it were a dream. Naïveté gives him a fictional bravery. 4. She forgives him his clichéd advances. His innocence suits her better than her uncle’s intimacies. She would rather not know his age, and he forgets to ask for her name or address.