Snow in New Orleans. It figured. The first time in ages I had a conference somewhere interesting and the weather had to crap out. OK, it was February. But this was New Orleans. It wasn't supposed to snow here. Not that the residents seemed to notice. The street carnival atmosphere prevailed despite the cold, with a lot of skin exposed in a way that gave the proverbial finger to the skies. It had just gotten to the point where dusk congealed into real night. The crowds thickened, rowdier as the evening's drinking progressed, generating a heat that kept a walk in the French Quarter from becoming unpleasantly chilly. The balconies filled, the souvenir shops lit up like some unholy Christmas, and the musicians were out in fingerless gloves, playing the fiddle, going electric, or just singing their hearts out. It was New Orleans. The weather didn't matter.
I'd ditched my conference buddies and gone for a walk on my own. I loved the French Quarter best without cautious academic company. In leggings and soft-soled boots and a reasonably warm coat and scarf, my hair blowing in the breeze, I was happy to blend into the group watching the jugglers, and then the small crowd at the old-fashioned hotel bar, then the circle calling encouragement to the acrobats. The fire sizzled in a couple of the torches set up around the performers, expelling snowflakes as tiny puffs of steam. It was all vivid and heady and exciting, and I first noticed you out of the corner of my eye -- taller than most of the watchers. Quieter. The long black leather coat suggesting some other period in history that it was difficult to pin down. I liked the coat -- the dramatic flair of it. And the long dark hair. And I was looking too intently or for too long, because you turned to meet my eyes and I had to redirect my gaze probably-not-quite-quickly-enough. Damn. Though really, who could blame me? Time to warm up in the bar of one of the French Quarter hotels, perhaps with a new fantastically decadent drink. Maybe I was being a bit of a coward, but being caught looking had me a bit disconcerted. Easier to cede the field altogether.
I wandered through the foyer of the slightly seedy but wonderfully period hotel, peeling off my coat as I went, and folding it over the back of the bar stool. Who knows, maybe I was looking for liquid courage. It was still quiet here -- the tourists hadn't discovered the place yet.
What do you have that tastes wonderful?" I asked the fat, friendly bartender.
I remembered him from a few years ago. Glad he and the bar were still here.
"What do you have that tastes like dessert?"
Before he could answer me I felt you come up behind me with the barest swish of that long, black coat -- felt it like a shiver all the way up my spine. You said something to the bartender in French that made his eyes widen -- clearly the name of some exotic drink -- but he turned from us to prepare it, shaking his head just the slightest bit. I looked up.