Chris sat in the crowded lecture hall and tried to wrap his mind around a particular concept. The professor was mind-bogglingly dull, almost as if he was merely reciting the lecture from memory in a monotonous tone.
Chris found his eyes drifting to the bare thighs of a girl across the aisle.
Her shorts were of the style that somewhat resembled a short skirt, the pale-blue cloth draping loosely across her hips. It had only recently become warm enough to wear such light clothing, and Chris enjoyed seeing the newly exposed flesh of the college beauties. The skin of the girl’s thighs was smooth and still pale from the winter. She wore a translucent, gauzy blouse that covered her shoulders and Chris could see the white of her lacy bra underneath it. A couple of buttons appeared to have fallen open, and Chris could even see some of the bare skin of her cleavage through the gap.
The girl shifted suddenly in her seat, and Chris grew aware that he had been staring a little. Still, she wasn’t looking his way. The girl stretched out her arms over her head like a cat. Her blouse tightened against the contours of her breasts and the bare skin of her midriff played peek-a-boo under the hem of her blouse. She ran her thumbs up the nape of her neck and ran her fingers through her long hair, briefly, and turned her head towards Chris.
Chris averted his gaze. When he looked back, she was busy writing something carefully in a spiral-bound notebook that she rested on her crossed thighs. She had removed her sandals, and one bare foot bobbed in Chris’s direction.
Chris wondered if she sensed that he was looking, consciously or maybe even unconsciously.
Chris took a slow breath, which he freed from his lungs very slowly and smoothly, until he could feel his heart rate begin to slow. The lights of the hall became hazy in his eyes and seemed overly bright, but he continued the controlled breathing until he felt the warmth begin to spread down his abdomen and begin to radiate out into his limbs.
Again, Chris glanced over at the pale smooth skin of the girl’s thighs. But his eyes did not linger, this time. He simply recorded the image in his thoughts and let his eyes unfocus as he stared forward from where he was sitting...
Chris’s hand, neatly-trimmed nails, wide palms and long fingers...He feels the cool skin of her thigh beneath the warm palm of his hand. Her small hand, also warm, rests lightly on his. Plenty of time.
“Who are you?” She says, in Chris’s mind.
“I am...an admirer.” Chris admits.
“Why do you touch me?” She whispers. “My boyfriend would not approve.”
“He will not know this invisible touching.” Chris answers.
His hand slides down to her knee, down on the inside of her knee as he kneels before her. He must be halfway into the aisle, as there is not enough room between her knees and the chair in front of her. He rests his head in her lap, and she uncrosses her legs to better cradle his head between her thighs. His cheek is warm against her thighs, and her thighs are warm as well in the cool auditorium. Her hand rests on his head, and her fingers stroke his hair...
Chris’s eyes opened and he looked down at his watch. Another fifteen minutes. He glanced over at the girl across the aisle. Did she know what he was thinking? She also seemed to be lost in a fugue, staring forward in a daze. Her inert hand lay on the notebook across her knee, still holding a pen lightly between delicate finger and thumb. Her legs were uncrossed.
Chris whispers, “Do you share my thoughts?”