Here is a scene from my short story Redemption:
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A short time later, while mingling and chatting with the gathered guests, Howard noticed a woman sitting off in a corner of the large living room watching him intently with a half-smile. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, dressed in a simple black dress and black shawl, her long, lustrous vantablack hair flowing in generous undulating curls all about her. He gravitated towards her and asked her “Can I get you a drink?” taking a sip from his champagne flute.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOC9dBVMnE
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“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN62dZG6xzY
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“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGrU6V4Awg
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“No, but I know you,” she replied, in a vaguely feral voice dipped in honey, her large, black eyes looking at him intently, reading him.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLe9qNvN2B
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“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTPWloRh6D
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“I only believe what I see, and read,” she responded, her voice wrapping itself around him, drawing him to her like a moth to a flame.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlFCLtUcB5
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“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN916lEDy0r
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She laughed, in response, a slightly disquieting sound, like pan pipes blown off-key. “Not that kind of reading,” she said, crossing her legs and broadening her smile.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKcuzsJ8Iu
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“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvQ4TluGg8
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“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvQK3vxQnv
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“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMIT3JAad5
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“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzinS06c5h8
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“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDBChkoPbO
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“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKa3i4gZOW
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“Well thank you. I do try,” he said grinning. He had no idea what game she was playing but was enthralled by her approach and drawn to her for reasons he would not have been able to articulate. She was lovely, true, but not as lovely as some of the other women he had been speaking to when he noticed her. There was just something about her. Maybe Chuck would need to take an Uber home after all if this played out right.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXqzQyWZtC
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