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.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCm8XetlEX
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKr8sXrLh64
“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4AjTXMp32
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Yq02fzg8w
“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqZHkAVzUO
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHh6qdnSfUK
“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.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjq1smpAkU
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzldzyobEzj
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMxckDqeDa
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivNR5omYog
“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.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW2bNgPGs7
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIRpAJMp2s
“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3I0LZZUj2
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyqKMHxq2Z
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.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGnT7Cpv7W
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCxCcxNk1H
“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsLbpB4Vf9
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnehdk7m5sj
“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugxtXC9afm
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszO0I2NCoG
“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Q80s3oOTF
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG43B3LhbY
“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrIZdq58tH
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34PgCeM1JY
“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIqrHh8wQN
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt43NPM0tS2
“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsETlWcNbdZ
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuyLieqh7c
“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.183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXW9HhR4iWL
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QuczktHOa
183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsT3Az9mttN
