beyond ballroom

The party was going strong in the other room. I say room, but it was more ballroom than anything. I was on my way back down and saw lights strain into the foyer. The stairs were clothed in shadow and I slipped down the winding way quietly. And before I reached the bottom I noticed her. As she floated in the candles flickered and bathed her silhouette in a dark, sweet ochre. She looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back at her and met her at the bottom step. The air became a third person, filled with music and fragrance; it intoxicated us both. This is a beautiful house, she said with a silly grin, her champagne glass swaying in hand. Beautiful, I responded. And we both stood there, much too close, grinning at each other as the candlelight danced around us. The ballroom suddenly seemed very far away and I found myself in her arms. She had started to kiss me. It was the most unexpected thing. But the moment I tasted her mouth, I couldn’t stop wanting more of it. The ballroom, I knew, we’d never make it back there.