The look

Just when I thought I had covered all manner of incidents like crushes, and LIT moments, etc. I happened upon another one. I don't know if there is a name for them? You are stuck in traffic or at an airport and you exchange a glance with a stranger - it's just a look, but - you smile, he /she smiles. You get that warm and fuzzy feeling and it makes your day. Another time... another place ... maybe.. who knows? But she dissappears into the crowd and life moves on.
Many years ago, I had one of these, although in this particular case, it lasted about an hour and a half. My folks had timeshare at a lakeside resort near Sedgefield, a beautiful little town near Knysna. I went away with them on holiday. I was probably around 18 or 19 at the time and the one evening my dad took the family out to dinner at the Holiday Inn at Wilderness. The hotel restaurant was quiet and warmly lit - it was in winter and just after we sat down, another family arrived and were seated about 3 or 4 tables away.It was a couple with their little son and a teenage daughter, about my age. The restaurant was very quiet and nobody was sitting at the intermediate tables. I looked up and met the eyes of the daughter. Neither of us smiled:I think she was as shy as I was, but the glance took a second too long and it was unmistakeable. My heart jumped into my throat. Throughout the evening, our eyes would meet occasionally and I would quickly look away and then back - each of us catching the other stealing glances. Only once did I see the beginnings of a smile, but it was too late: they had finished their meal and she gave one last backward glance as they were leaving. I cannot remember what she looked like, to be honest. Just that wonderful feeling of butterflies and nausea and the wistful afterglow of what could have been...