She stood there in a group of students, sipping champagne, listening to one of her colleagues explain his theory of how one particular type of psychosis is developed and attempted to stay interested in the subject matter. This evening she felt particularly confident wearing her best fitting dress and heels. Her dress was black and shimmery and had a 50s style cut, tight on the top, nipping in at the smallest place of her waist, and flaring out a bit at the hips before tapering into an A-line finish right at her knees. Her shoes were black, open-toed heels and her jewelry was minimal and tasteful. Her hair was curled under slightly and hit just below her jaw-line, highlighting her pretty profile. She had put on just enough make-up this evening to give her a natural glow. She knew she looked lovely and was trying her best not to mess up the effect with bad posture.
This evening, she was distracted because her professor-crush was supposed to be at the networking event. Her former professor, Alex, was very hansom with dark, slicked back hair and big, beautiful dark blue eyes. He always dressed in slacks and a collared shirt with his sleeves cuffed to his elbows and had a dry, subtle humor that drove her crazy. He was also clean-cut enough that she sometimes wondered if he was gay. She hoped that he was simply metrosexual, or at least bisexual, so she could continue to entertain her casual fantasies about him. She knew, from their time together in class, that he respected her and thought she was funny, but she couldn't tell if the admiration went beyond that; which was, of course, part of the attraction.
Her thoughts had just begun to stray towards her favorite fantasy of Alex cornering her in a classroom one evening after class, when she caught a glimpse of him coming in the door. She tried desperately to look interested in her colleague's story, just as the last of her attention left what he was saying. Out of the corner of her eye, she tried to follow where he went, but he had disappeared into the crowd. Disappointed, she shifted her weight and did her best to make sense of where the conversation had gone in her mental absence.
Just as she had reengaged in the discussion and was about to take issue with her colleague's theory, a warm hand touched her bare elbow, causing her to start and turn around. And, there he was, smiling at her. She smiled back her warmest smile.
"Hi, Alex!" She said, turning her back on her previous conversation partners. The others barely noticed her exit, considering her limited contributions, and the group closed behind her, talking animatedly about CBT theories.
"Hi, Andy." He said in return. "Sorry to interrupt youβI just wanted to say hello and tell you how much I enjoyed your final presentation. You definitely put a lot of work into it."
"Aw. Thanks!" Andy said, pleased by the compliment. "I hoped that it made sense to everyone. Sometimes I get to the ends of presentations and I have no idea if I said what I wanted to say." She smiled at Alex.
"No," he drawled in his slight East Coast accent, "it made sense. I liked that you found a way to make the topic relevant to the class. You definitely did a lot of research," he said, raising his eyebrows slightly.
She giggled at this and watched happily as his eyes crinkled in a smile at the sound. "Thanks for noticing!" She laughed. "I definitely tried to be thorough. I'm glad that came across."
She worried for a moment that the conversation was close to ending. They could only talk about her presentation for so long. She took a stab at another subject.
"Did you just come from the Clinic?"
"Yea." He sighed wearily. "Just finished. It was a long dayβthere were a couple of emergencies today that completely drained me."
She listened happily as he talked about his day, glad that she had found a subject he found interesting. Not only did she love hearing about his clients from an educational stand-point, she was pleased that the conversation seemed to be going well. They stood in the middle of the room for a quarter of an hour chatting about his clients and their emergencies. Then, he suggested that they get some food and find a table. She could tell that he was enjoying himself, but felt awkward talking to only one student for the whole evening. She followed his lead and they chatted easily as they stood in line for food and found a round table with other professors and students from the program. They sat down next to each other and talked a bit with the other professors and students at the table. The conversation was easy and the drinks flowed liberally. Soon, the dinner was eaten and the dance floor began to fill up. Ultimately, Alex and Andy began talking to each other again, as people at the table paired up in conversation or left to dance.
As the band began playing La Vie en Rose, Alex looked at Andy slyly and said, "Andy. Come dance with me! This happens to be my favorite song." Andy, trying to stay composed in her excitement, smiled broadly and said she would love to. This song also happened to be a favorite of hers. Alex rose from the table, offering Andy his hand. As Andy took his hand, the butterflies that had calmed down from earlier, took flight again and began swooping rather lower than before. Andy walked carefully and deliberately to the dance floor and was happy to discover that she was not feeling the effects of the champagne as much as expected. As Alex led them to an open space on the floor, Andy congratulated herself on eating enough food to keep her intoxication at a manageable level. After all, she wanted to remember ALL of this.