How I managed to convince the limo driver to give me his keys isn't important. What is important was that I found myself steering the midnight-black stretch through the teeth of another famous Boston snowstorm. The sunset, though quite breathtaking, wasn't helping, as it cast a golden glare across both my windshield and the mounds of blinding white on either side of the street.
It was all a formality, though. I was only in town to see one sight, after all, and she didn't yet know I had arrived.
Traffic abated grudgingly the further I moved from the airport, but eventually I found myself cruising at a brisk 78mph, shielding my eyes from oncoming headlights and ignoring the moronic waves of various passersby. I was a victim of acute tunnel vision, focused on the prize at the end of my journey. It didn't keep me from flipping the bird to a line of soccer-moms camping the left lane. I let such aggressions out in small increments, not wanting anything to build up that would keep me from being gentle with her.
Night had fallen completely by the time I pulled the limo into her driveway. I hesitated only slightly before adjusting the knot of my tie and stepping gingerly onto the powdered concrete. My mind raced with possibilities – What will I say? What will she say? Will I be able to withstand her presence without losing my mind?
Mere feet away, the door seemed to buckle in spacetime, appearing farther away than the distance that previously lay between us. I reached out, pierced the veil of that illusion and knocked lightly. I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly, allowing the bitter chill to burn in my chest as I held it for several seconds. Footsteps echoed from the entry in measured strides. I felt my pupils contract as adrenaline seeped into my bloodstream.
"Hel –." The greeting was aborted before the second syllable had passed her lips. To be so close after so long...
"Howdy."
I haven't seen a sunrise in my life that measured anything close to the warmth of the smile that lit up her face. She stepped into the cold and pulled the front door closed behind her, lunging up into my waiting arms and taking the breath from me with a kiss that defied description. The heat of it, the electrical energy that was transferred between us, should have melted a circle in the slush at my feet. The moment of abandon was brief, though, and she quickly took me by the hand and pulled me back through the front door.
"The limo's here!" she called into the house.
"Limo?" a head poked around the corner. I waved, more of a sarcastic salute than anything warm. He nodded.
"Gratis," I said loudly as he disappeared from view, winking at the beautiful girl kneading my fingers between her own, "from a secret admirer."
My right hand snuck unconsciously around her waist, coming to rest above her hip. I felt her body tense as my fingers slid gently across the seamless fabric of her black dress, feathering lightly down the line dividing her abdomen and upper thigh. I watched as her eyes rolled upward under their lids, lips parting in quiet ecstasy.
Unwilling – or not yet ready – to push the envelope any further, I disappeared, returning to the overheated interior of the limousine where I used my thumb to rub away the sinful shimmer of lip gloss. I took the liberty of scribbling a heart on a generic bi-fold card before setting it atop the silver bucket of ice I had yet to put in the passenger quarters. The champagne sweating there looked good. I hoped she would enjoy it with me later. I snickered only a little as I placed it securely on one of the mini-bars, wondering with a wicked sneer how my treasured one's husband would react.
I had been reclining in the driver's seat for several minutes before there was a rap on the window. I opened my left eye and peered through the glass, rolling it down just far enough that she could see nothing at all.
"Ma'am?"
"Mike's finishing an email or something," she said, pouting at the small orifice through which I was forcing her to communicate. "How on Earth did you get a limo!?"
"Trade secret, m'dear," I replied with a wink, allowing the window to descend fully. "Plus, I don't want you to be an accomplice when I'm finally tracked down. Just do me a favor, k? Don't look in the trunk."
She shook her head and giggled beautifully, leaning through the window and gifting me with another kiss that transmitted nothing less than her body's need – for this was more than a simple, human desire – to become one with me in both body and spirit. The way my hands cupped her face and stroked her hair replied in kind, and we broke apart with much hesitation.
"You came here for me?" Her tone was one of disbelief rather than curiosity, but it dissolved into another musical laugh in short order. "Can I tell you something?"
"No," I said, "but you look like poetry."
Even though her figure was largely concealed by the heavy coat, the blush that migrated across her skin made her seem almost ethereal. Something within me fluttered like a caged bird. Snow whipped red hair across fair skin, but no amount of obscuring white could quench what burned within the cerulean rings of her eyes. Were I a weaker man, my soul would have evaporated as it drank in the image, leaving my body to expire in that cold driveway.
"Are you going to read me later?" Her original, intended question seemed to have been lost along the way. She was unbothered.
"Line by line, little Miss."
The mood was soured as her husband appeared, forcing our conversation to come to an end and compelling me to get out of the warm car to open the door for my passengers.
I restrained myself from shutting the door on one of his limbs, satisfying myself with a saccharine smile that caused the already sizeable frown on his face to deepen. I fiddled with many of the buttons on the console after returning to the cockpit, delighting myself by pressing a certain purple one over and over again as Mike's exclamations became less and less amused. The sound of my redhead's laughter caused me to punch six or seven at once, one of which opened the privacy glass behind me.
"...the fuck is this guy's deal?"
"I wasn't supposed to hear that, huh?" I said jokingly through the small aperture. "I apologize, but it's really hard to work all this shit when you're blind!"
Heather, the reason for my visit (and a large portion of my madness), lost it, laughing so hard that she slid out of the leather seat. Her husband was less than pleased.
"Can we get to the party now, maybe?" He spoke in a clipped manner, obviously far more annoyed than I imagined he would be after such trivialities.
