September 11, 2023 - Nellskitchen, all rights reserved. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced without the writer's written permission. All characters appearing in "White Tie Affair," are over eighteen. NK
ΦΏΦΏΦΏΦΏΦΦΦΦΦΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛWHITE TIE AFFAIR
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββBy Nellskitchen
β«β«β«β―β―β―ΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛΛ"I don't know where but she sends me there..." βͺβͺβͺβͺβͺβͺ
...........................................................The Beach Boys
***
Suggestions are funny things. They come at us in numberless ways. They overpower in ways not always seen. In what follows, Janina reacts to Neil's suggestion.
It happened a long time ago, and much has occurred since, but relationships have starting points, hidden vanishings from which portraits arise. To understand, one must start at the beginning, where a couple establishes the rules.
The pair's creation stemmed from something Janina read in a paperback book Neil handed her. "Chapter nineteen," he remarked. It was all he said, just 'chapter nineteen.'
Janina might not have taken his suggestion seriously if he had not been the handsomest man in her experience. But he was, and she did. What follows is, well, what followed.
Neil forgot the incident, or at least it seemed that way. It meant he had suggested the reading to other women, which, to Janina, implied a recurring fantasy.
With that in mind, she did not forget. She read. She knew why he flagged the chapter. It was as plain as day. Acting on his hint seemed the logical thing.
Apart from the steamy ending, the driven woman mostly ignored the book's storyline. Other than its boy-meets-girl motif, only chapter nineteen mattered, and it mattered because it affected everything that mattered to her. She decided to carbon copy the chapter's colorful sketch and act out the girl part of the boy-meets-girl theme.
He attends important events, frequently with the girl of the moment hanging onto his much sought-after arm.
Janina Van Heusen is tonight's arm-clinging hopeful. The occasion is a white-tie affair, the grand gala of the opening of Columbia University's new library expansion. Janina prayed that the dull observance would furnish her with a room, a chair, and ten minutes of privacy.
Halfway into the interminable speeches, she took Neil's arm. She subtly urged him away from the throng of tedious society types, the raft of stuffed shirts who regularly appear at these things.
She led him up a flight of stairs. Pretending interest, she looked about the upper floor's vacant corridors. Eventually, they stepped into an as-yet-unnamed office wing. It smelled of fresh paint; stepladders lurked here and there. To Janina, it was the perfect setting to showcase the girl of his dreams, one worthy of an engagement ring.