Louise had long legs and long, shiny blonde hair. To be honest, when I first met her in the office I didn't much like the look of her. "Not bad, but too tall," I thought. "Not my kind of girl." Not that she wasn't pretty, you understand, but she was two years older and two inches taller than me. Girls get away with being short, guys, well, who likes their guys to be tucked under their chin? Anyway, like I said to begin with, I ruled her out and maybe that's why we became friends.
We'd go for lunch, picking up sandwiches together, laughing at our lack of inventiveness (mine was ham and cheese, for Louise, chicken salad), and sometimes extending the walk to delay going back to the office. She'd tell me about her boss and how she felt she wasn't being taken seriously (at twenty-six, she was still one of the youngest of the middle-management) and I'd moan about how my career didn't seem to be going anywhere (now, of course, I realise that that's not so unusual). We'd sympathise with each other, then head back to the office and wade through another afternoon of drudgery. We didn't socialise away from work, though we often talked about her boyfriend (serious) and my flings (much less so).
Louise and her boyfriend, Kevin, had been dating for about a year. He seemed like a reasonable guy, had his faults, just like anyone I guess. He was quite traditional – he didn't like her working late, but worked weekends – and seemed a bit selfish but I guess that I only ever heard one side of the story. It can't have been that bad because when he proposed (cack-handed, and over smoochy) she said yes.
To my surprise, I was invited to the reception. I went with my then girlfriend, who I'd only known for about a week. She was young but unfortunately unimpressionable. My attempts to corrupt her having met with little success, I was starting to get bored, so my eyes were roving. I guess my girlfriend felt the same, anyhow within half an hour we had 'lost' each other.
The reception was held in a local hotel which had been converted from an old manor house, which meant lots of medium sized rooms rather than one large hall. Kevin's family had money and they both had good jobs, so they had booked the entire hotel. I guess that might be why I was invited.
The party itself was a pretty dull affair. Too many old women and far too many guys. I ended up wandering from room to room, drink in hand. In one room I found Louise, still dressed in her white dress, dancing with a girlfriend. I leaned against the wall and watched her tall, thin body moving to the Latin American beat and suddenly felt faint. I couldn't look away from Louise, her long hair floating in front of her face as she twisted and swayed in time to the music. What was it that drew me to her now? The music? The sway of her hips? Or that white dress, forbidden and out of reach? Whatever it was, as she giggled and downed a shot of tequila, I wanted her. I watched as she danced some more and followed as she and her friend headed out of the French windows, avoiding the crowd and heading to the bar in the next room.
Once there, they both downed another shot of tequila and I saw Kevin leaning against the bar, definitely the worse for wear. Louise bent down and kissed him; deep, long, sickening. He hardly responded. She pulled back, giggling with her friend.
Her friend tapped her on the arm and indicated the dance floor, but Louise shook her head. Pulling at her dress she pulled a face and said something, but I couldn't hear what it was. She pointed to Kevin and whispered something in her friend's ear. They both giggled and then Louise turned and wobbled off, her friend heading back to the dance-floor.
I followed Louise slowly out of the room and up the stairs. I couldn't think straight, but wanted to hold her, smell her hair, feel the softness of her bosom and the firmness of her thighs. I felt drugged and woozy headed, my thoughts were as meandering as she was walking – both Louise and I coming back eventually to the same track. I saw her turn into a room and decided to talk to her. This was my chance to get her on her own, talk to her, convince her... of I don't know what. I pushed the door open and stopped dead in my tracks.