[They're overwhelming, he says, and then casts a smile her away, as if confessing silently that he doesn't find her as overwhelming as the confetti steamers and the boisterous music and acrobatic dancers, but rather, somehow even more—enjoyable.
She knows how he looks at her. She recognizes the shadow of—well, if not lust, then at least a willing craving in his expression. How her spouse once looked at her, after the wedding for a few short weeks, when there was just him and the comfort of his broad frame, and beach salt in the air and the wide expanse of honeymoon suites. How her lover looks at her, and with him, there is no need to disguise the passion and delight they share with each other, during hot private afternoons spent in the cool, silk sheets.]
Is that why you came all the way out here?
[She asks, choosing to pretend that she hadn't glimpsed the seductive curl of his mouth. As if they're just chatting, innocently—because that is what they're doing, isn't it? Talking, dancing, smoking to pass the time, watching their cigarettes burn away as the moon rises higher in the sky. Never mind that she shouldn't be alone with him. Never mind that someone should have come along by now. And certainly, never mind that they're addressing each other as if they have been together all their lives.]
Did you just want to be alone, or—
[Her own lips perk up, in something a little more genuine than the one she had forced before, along with her strained laugh. Rather than just being there to occupy the quiet, her smile is a little more earnest, a little teasing.]
no subject
She knows how he looks at her. She recognizes the shadow of—well, if not lust, then at least a willing craving in his expression. How her spouse once looked at her, after the wedding for a few short weeks, when there was just him and the comfort of his broad frame, and beach salt in the air and the wide expanse of honeymoon suites. How her lover looks at her, and with him, there is no need to disguise the passion and delight they share with each other, during hot private afternoons spent in the cool, silk sheets.]
Is that why you came all the way out here?
[She asks, choosing to pretend that she hadn't glimpsed the seductive curl of his mouth. As if they're just chatting, innocently—because that is what they're doing, isn't it? Talking, dancing, smoking to pass the time, watching their cigarettes burn away as the moon rises higher in the sky. Never mind that she shouldn't be alone with him. Never mind that someone should have come along by now. And certainly, never mind that they're addressing each other as if they have been together all their lives.]
Did you just want to be alone, or—
[Her own lips perk up, in something a little more genuine than the one she had forced before, along with her strained laugh. Rather than just being there to occupy the quiet, her smile is a little more earnest, a little teasing.]
Or did you just want to find me?