Here is a scene from my short story Redemption:
*. *. *
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.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqF1d1bxxP
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj82wIMpuvX
“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0tGSgKQVL
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJP0ntBXnua
“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8RivG6aDj
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDLGA8K2PQ
“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.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1A155iB87r
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimGtVDbT8u
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6nqIXQLLV
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0I3N480Xf
“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.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlVx0eDuJt
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYWzoEDxxy
“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYwDL7qi0Q
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIg2KlbWa8
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.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmIB6duZAG
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwiPZoqO73
“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotlsmYh5P0
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9UxHd2aiU
“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DuXtXYtp8
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPt1jR572C
“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8pj3B37kX
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfezbvO2GD
“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxzbzogjfW
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡah9BMXkh5X
“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwKeQSFfcZ
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbu7ZXOsWK0
“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYTn03bBYD
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aoNnC5zGs
“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.197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZljVoZriLM
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡau8c1EdynL
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjqx7d0Y6Z
