A Second Encounter - part 1
Switching between Him and her. Try and keep up! Part 2 in the next few days.
*****
I was excited, and still nervous about our second meeting.
I was given very little time to make arrangements to be free that evening. But he insisted. There was something in the tone of his message. Exciting; not demanding, but definitely different.
I arrived, as instructed exactly at 7pm (five minutes early actually). It was a Friday night, and the restaurant was already full; couples, lovers, friends, along with a small, but rowdy group of short-skirted girls, already very drunk. A birthday party perhaps?
I was a little disappointed that it was the same restaurant as our first 'date'. (Funny, what was it? A date, a meet, an encounter?)
I was shown to our pre-booked table. He wasn't here. I sat where I had been told to, if I "indeed arrived first"; my back to the wall. Even the way he spoke, his accent, his eloquence captured me.
"Drinks?" "Oh, sorry, yes please, a glass of house white please. Oh, and table water for my ... Err my friend". What is he to me? What am I to him? Am I anything?
He doesn't drink when he is driving. I admire this in him; his self-discipline, his ability to hold me with his eyes, his presence, and his conversation. I feel myself getting wet already.
Two girls from the rowdies in the opposite corner were dancing together, gyrating to the song they were singing (killing!) a little too loudly for some.
He would like them, for sure! My heart skipped. Would he like them more? How can he like them?
I checked my phone. 10 minutes late. No txt. Is he coming? My heart skipped another beat. Has he changed his mind? My drink was in front of me. When did that arrive? I lifted the glass, my hand trembling, and sipped my drink. I fought the urge to drain it.
I lowered my glass. My hand shook more intensely; my heart stopped. He stood in the doorway. Not yet seeing me, he began to walk, confidently, over towards the maitre d'restaurante. He slowed, allowing the dancing, barely-clothed temptresses to swish and sway in front of him.
His eyes never left the maitre de. He paid them no attention! Smoothly, he strode to the station. A brief conversation, and two heads swung in my direction; one I was completely oblivious to. The other, jump-started my heart.
The jolt, the rush of adrenaline coursed my veins. Did I physically jump in my seat? I tried to stand, as he approached the table, as I felt I should. His eyes had never left mine. My legs were useless. I half-rose, before I felt his hand, oh that touch, that hand on my bare shoulder, stopping me from standing.
I eased back into my seat, his hand slid to the side of my neck, beneath my fire-red hair. Hidden, it squeezed, gently, enough to squeeze more wetness from me. A light kiss, a warm greeting.
I was on fire already.
She sat opposite me, her chest rising and falling, trying to catch her breath. She quickly slipped her phone from the table, and into her bag. Good. Manners and 100% attention are a necessity.
From what I could tell - for now - she was wearing exactly as she has been told; black.
Black; of the night, villainous, sinister, potentially rotten; corruptible.
In stark contrast to her soft, smooth milky skin; white.
White; pure, innocent, virginal, clean; unblemished.
The only colour was that of her lips and hair; red
Red; blood, lust, bloodlust maybe, sexiness; temptress.
A waiter stood beside me. I ordered a fruit juice, and "she will have another wine". I could see her beautifully defined jaw tense slightly. She wanted to be an equal? This will be fun. A waitress returned with the drinks. I thanked her. The first words I had spoken since ordering the drinks. She had tried to start, but I silenced her with a finger to my lips. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, but remained silent.