It's been a wonderful night. The seven of us sitting around your fireplace, six college girls and you, barefoot, informal, eating great Cantonese with just the right amount of wine. Talking careers, with funny little side trips into "girl stuff." What we should and shouldn't wear to those summer intern jobs and where you got the beautiful jade bracelet. How to brush off advances from those senior guys in the firm and still have a future; the best place to buy sexy lingerie, cheap. It was really fun. I've tried to stay close to you, physically near you, without being too obvious, I don't know if you noticed.
It's about ten and you start moving us all to the door, everyone saying "thanks" and "goodnight." I feel you touch my hand and you whisper
"Why don't you stay? Go back to the living room and wait for me."
I fall back from the group and return and sit by the fire. I throw a couple of pieces of wood on it and watch the mesquite blaze up. In a moment you're back. You sit down on the other side of the hearth and curl up your legs, looking at me.
"That was fun..." I start to say. But you smile and me and continue,
"But a little exhausting!"
I look at you, really look at you. You're pretty, not gorgeous, not beautiful, but very pretty. You're smart and ambitious; only 28, in demand as a consultant and on track for a full professorship. And you're oh, so sweet. Maybe the sweetest person I have ever met. I've never heard you say anything nasty, I've never seen you less than patient with a student, I've never met anyone who's met you and doesn't like and admire you. I think I could, maybe do, love you.
"Are you tired? I can leave." I hear myself saying. You laugh.
"Don't be silly, I asked you to stay. No, I'm just ready for a little quiet, a little downtime, a little intimate conversation."
At the word intimate, my heart skips a beat and I feel myself warming a little, between my legs. You hold up the bottle of Chardonnay and tilt your head. I nod and hold my glass out. You fill mine about halfway and then your own. We both take a sip. You put your glass on the hearth.
I feel you looking at me and I look down, then back up. You're smiling.