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.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7euprXiqQL
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“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JCzLUi8zC
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“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HiyJ2bqls
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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.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQ0HjWMzRZ
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“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16nRFkYa0L
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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.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDeojhAGx3
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“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFyctiA1XJ
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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.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEP21I0SjDr
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“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyO7twB1GZX
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“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWVN3fnSTu
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“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYdoehjqbU
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“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixZEHWQvS7
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“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1MiA1cXQH
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“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjN5MnYdQg
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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.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmaOC9rhmh
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