She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Tall and graceful, hair scraped back tight in a bun, accentuating her eyes. As they passed in the street she looked his naval uniform up and down, and held eye contact for several seconds before brushing past with the hint of a smile on her lips. He stopped to watch her, and as she turned into a doorway beneath a ‘stagedoor’ sign he noticed something drop from her shoulder bag. The door closed behind her as he picked up a small bundle.

It was a pair of ballet shoes, threadbare and holed. The soft leather soles had parted from the cream satin uppers and they were wrapped together with shredded satin ribbon. He knocked at the door.

An old man appeared. ‘What can I do for you, Son?’

‘The girl that just came in here. She dropped these.’ He held out the ballet shoes.

The old man glanced at them and grinned. ‘Nice try, Sailor. We get all sorts trying to talk their way in ‘ere but I gotta say this is one of the more imaginative ideas. Where did you get the shoes?’

‘The girl dropped them. Really.’

‘In the unlikely event that she did, she was probably aiming them at the dustbin.’ He was laughing. ‘Tell you what. If you want to give ‘em to ‘er, wait ‘ere until after the show and catch ‘er coming out. Better still buy a ticket and watch the show.’

‘What’s her name?

‘Giselle.’ Still laughing the old man closed the door.

So he bought a ticket to watch his first ballet from the centre stalls of the Royal Opera House and sat surrounded by the buzz of conversation, the discord of the orchestra tuning their instruments., the applause as the conductor entered. And then silence, and the strange stillness peculiar to a ballet audience as the conductor brings the orchestra to readiness and the curtain rises.

After the performance he returned to the stage door in Floral Street.

‘Excuse me Miss,’ said the old man, ‘ this young chap has been waiting to give you something.’

The smile still played around her lips. ‘How exciting, a Sailor waiting at the stage door. For me.’

‘We passed in the street earlier…’, he felt lost for words.

‘Yes we did, didn’t we.’ The smile broadened.

‘You dropped these.’ He offered her the shoes.

‘Oh my God, my lucky shoes. You mean I did an entire performance without my lucky shoes?’ She looked horrified.

‘Well you weren’t really without them. I had them in the front row stalls. Does that make it all right?’

Her smile completely captured him. ‘That makes you my new lucky charm.’ she said, slipping her arm through his. ‘Come along, you need to buy me a drink and tell me all about yourself.’