*once again, I would like to remind the reader that all my stories are true and some of them even happened and any resemblance between this and real life is just an accidental agreement of reality*
You and I went dancing. No, that’s not entirely true. You and I were at the same dance. I didn’t know you were going to be there; I didn’t know you before we danced together. You were a good dancer. So am I. We had great chemistry but honestly, if it had ended at the dance I would have gone home and never given you a backwards glance. Instead, after the dance we both happened to agree with out mutual dancing friends to go to a karaoke bar.
I walked out of the dance into the chilly night air and there you were: standing in a nice coat on the sidewalk, waiting for your friends. I was waiting for my friends, some of them the same friends. We started flirting. The flirting is the best part. I told you about cow tipping and squash and somehow contrived to make it sound charming and worldly. I chose to present my truth as a migrant farmer and independent out of college. I didn’t tell you I was nineteen and didn’t have my bachelor’s yet. But when we got to the bar and I asked you to go in first so I could see if you got carded and I assume you figured some of it out then.
We danced in the bar. It was a karaoke bar and to be fair, I danced with everyone. But I taught you how to dip and I knew in my low cut tank top make it rather a spectacle. You played darts with a drunk and I caught up with my dancing friends. Finally, I came up to where you were standing. I hopped up on the pool table. You looked at me and I knew you wanted to kiss me.
So I kissed you first. My hand in your hair and yours on my shoulder. We left the bar together. It happened that we were both riding the subway up town together. We slow danced as we waited for the subway. I couldn’t take my hands off you and your hands were all over me. Your fingers traced circles on my hips, on my shoulders, on my palm. When the subway pulled in I snuggled up next to you. I leaned on you and my tired head on your shoulder. I put my arm around your neck and your hand snaked around my waist and rested on the outside of my thigh.
I kissed you and you kissed me and when I pulled back I laughed and your lips twitched your eyes sparkled and then you kissed me again. The subway ride stretched into the darkness of the witching hours of the night. I wished the subway would never get to my stop. As we neared, I pulled back from the latest kiss and looked up at you.
“Look, I won’t have sex with you but I’m really enjoying being with you and being touched so would you like to get off at my stop and go for a coffee. How do you feel about that?”
“Yes. I think I’d like that.” Your voice was level and low and swirled the proverbial butterflies in my stomach like spiraling galaxies.
We got off at 96th. The subway station was entirely empty aside from the two of us. I held your hand and leaned my entire side against you. We went to dunkin’ doughnuts and I got hot chocolate and you got tea. We danced to the crappy pop music and the other woman in the store smiled at us and wished us a nice night. My eyes and hands kept going back to you. The magnetic attraction of new love drew me to you. By the way you kept turning towards me, I figured it was pretty safe to assume you felt the same way.
We walked down to Riverside park, hand in hand, the other hands occupied by our hot drinks. The park was empty. I’d never seen Riverside park without anyone else in my whole life. Globes of street light hung on both sides of the empty path and the air was hung with misplaced electricity and dim city starlight. We kissed for what felt like hours and your lips made imprints on my lips, on my cheek, on my neck. Your hands lit up my body with feeling and I felt your breath catch when I kissed your neck.
Finally, looking out over the Hudson, I noticed gray in the bottom of the sky. Perhaps it was just light pollution but suddenly I felt every one of the nineteen hours I had been awake. I studied your face to memorize it. With dawn coming on, it suddenly felt imperative that I learn every muscle in your body, every line in your palm, every angle on your jaw and cheekbone and eyebrow. And every time I met your eyes you were studying me just as steadily.
Regretfully, you kissed me goodbye one last time at the bottom of my apartment. You smiled and I smiled back. I kissed you again and the pulled back and turned to open the door. You and turned and walked away and I watched you all the way down the block from the open doorway but you didn’t once look back.
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