They floated down to reality - slowly becoming aware of the carpet burn on their skin. There were red welts on her back, crumpled papers at their feet. She felt as if time had stopped, the title on her papers slowly coming into focus and branding itself on her mind.
He was still on top of her, she could see the tiniest pores and razor burn on his jawline. She savoured the feel of his heartbeat against her breast, with his eyes closed, he looked vulnerable enough to pull at her heartstrings. Suddenly, there was nothing more she wanted than to fall asleep just the way they were. An old nineties song floated into her mind... I could stay awake... I don't want to close my eyes... by Aerosmith. And she knew she was in a place that she would never come back from.
There would be plenty of time to think about the risks, the heartbreak and the pain she was lining up for herself. But now, now she traced his jawline, his mouth, his brow - thinking that she never wanted to move. But then the prickly carpet really started itching and she had to get up. As she pulled up her clothes, he stirred, opened one eye and smiled. "Hey..." he smiled. She smiled back, her throat catching at how perfect he looked, she had to look away lest a tear should fall, unbidden. Picking up her tee-shirt she got dressed and sat down next to him, leaning on the chair and he promptly shifted his weight and laid his head on her thigh.
It was such a simple, young gesture that this time she had to make a conscious effort to keep her emotions in check. The sex has softened me, she thought.
"What are you thinking?" he asked. "How perfect... how unexpected this was.. is.. ," she whispered. What will happen? Her fingers traced his neckline, his chest - less urgent, less insistent this time. He sighed, sated, relaxed and happy - truly happy for the first time since he could remember. She smiled at the unguarded expression in his eyes - his happiness seeping into her pores.
A silence followed, broken only by the sound of the traffic far away and the wind in the trees outside their 6th floor offices. She was resting her head on the chair arm when, to her surprise, he started singing! "All of me loves all of you, give your all to me, I give my all to you, you are my end and my beginning..." an older popular track by John Legend. And then she really did cry... he was singing softly but perfectly in tune and there were goose bumps on her arms. "Even when you are crying you are beautiful too..." he continued. Catching a tear on his fingertip and kissing it - his eyes filled up too and the song faded on his lips. First his hand caressing her cheek and then both hands reaching up and rubbing her cheeks. And then it was happening all over again - he sat up, slid up to her, planting a leg on either side of her and kissed her again. Hesitant, gentle at first and then insistent as if he couldn't get enough of her. She responded as her mind swirled like a storm, wasn't that thunder? Or was that her heartbeat? She ran her hands up his legs, inside his thighs - they hadn't fully undressed each other. She wanted to feel his skin on hers.
