His glass is shaking. Almost imperceptibly, but I can hear the ice tinkle. I watch him take a sip, his lips touching the rim of the glass. His upper lip is sweating. He sets the glass down. Gently. Like if anyone heard a single clink it'd all be over. As to what it is? I'm not entirely sure.
Mr. Parish absentmindedly wipes the sweat off his upper lip. I'm glad, because it was pretty annoying.
"Can I get you another drink?" he asks, outstretching his hand.
"I haven't even finished my first-"
"Oh, no no no. That's all ice, here." He grabs my glass and pours a shot of bourbon in. He adds a few new young ice cubes and plops them in. I notice some of my drink spill over the lip when he walks over. I'm not sure if he actually measured a shot.
He hands me my new drink, cheers-ing me. I take a sip. I've never liked bourbon. Never knew what to mix it with. Now I get it. It's an alcohol that stands alone. Independent.
"How has your first semester of college been so far?"
The sweat is back.
"Oh," I shrug. "It's been fine."
"Fine?"
"Fine."
"Cool!" he breezes, as he slowly melts a little deeper into the couch. "I remember when I was in college."
When? The eighteen-hundreds?
"I loved it.
I made so many friends. Have you made any friends so far?"
None that I recall. "A couple, yeah."
He shifts a little closer to me, our thighs now innocently touching. "I'm glad. You know, these connections that you're making at college? Those are the connections that you're going to cherish for the rest of your life." Now moving his knee slightly, he draws attention to our contact.
I start to rub back, "Are you still friends with your college pals?"
"Most of 'em. But most of 'em are also professors."
He catches himself red handed, and it slowly moves to his face. We share a moment of silence. I look at his hand, it is tense in anticipation. He knows what he wants to do. He wouldn't have invited me here if he didn't have a plan. I know this type of
His hand is on my upper thigh.
I look into his eyes. In a way, he's kind of pathetic. Like a nerd with glasses that grew up and got old.
Why am I here? Does he have a wife?Does he have kids? Does he
His grip strengthens as his confidence increases. Every second that I don't move his hand, he'll get more excited.
My breathing gets faster.
His hand moves up my thigh.
My cheeks start to flush.
His hand grazes past my lap.