As soon as the woman looked up, he knew he’d made some kind of miscalculation along the way. It wasn’t just her uncomfortable expression – the shock; apprehension; embarrassment – but was her face in general. It wasn’t the face that he had expected to see. Indeed, this was not the person towards whom the remark was intended, and that make the situation so so awkward. (Indeed, how did you explain to a perfect stranger, why you’d just asked their permission to play with their hair?!) Her general embarrassment was obvious, the red of her cheeks testament to the fact. He swallowed and allowed himself a small, nervous chuckle.

"Oh. Uh- Look I’m sorry. You’re not…who I was expecting to see." He shuffled backwards a few steps, more space was more space. Space was good. Particularly good for strange and awkward situations where you’d probably have to turn and flee at any moment. "I mean, you’re hair is nice and all but-" He cocked his head to once side, an embarrassed smile developing on his lips "What I’m trying to say is, I thought you were someone else. I’m not…I don’t generally just walk up to people and ask to play with their hair so uh-"