I first met F at SD's house in 2010 or 2011: she brought a large pot of white beans to a pot-luck. The next time I met her, I'd moved to Highland Park: after the New Year, I showed up at a Qi Gong class, and there she was. We went through a series of poses in which we stretched our chests and limbs in-extreme: eagle, bear. I was quite flexible then, which the teacher noticed. He was a tall, wide-chested man with native-American blood whose self-control seemed on the edge of collapse. I had a job that felt like a joke and wasn't seeing enough people. I was always "keeping face."
Later, I met F more properly through K: we went dancing. She's in K's African Dance group. I remember K picking me up from my apartment and telling me I looked nice. I don't have many things to wear so I wear the same things on-repeat and either look clean and presentable or like I'm going to the gym. K has a habit of asking me little questions like who I spend time with and what kinds of things I cook for dinner. After we'd been milling around at the dance-club for an hour, F showed up with a friend: she was wearing colorful stretch-pants and seemed full of warmth and life. A couple months later, she was at K's birthday, and then I saw her working at that delicious little cafe.
Both K and SD make me feel bourgeois. With K it's that I grew up in privilege and she doesn't understand my unhappiness and lack of ease.
Today, I ran into F at a yoga class. Throughout class, I found my eye wandering to her. I thought of the shoes I had worn. I had sprayed myself with perfume, which is something I typically hate in others. F was wearing a dowdy sweater which she removed as the class grew more rigorous. When she saw me, she greeted me by name. She repeated my name several times while we spoke. I had forgotten hers. F has a broad, smooth face and olive-honey skin. Her hair is dark: dark big curls - shaved on one side just above the ear. I asked her how she was and she said she was going through a divorce. She had taken on a new job: working with a family as a cook.