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.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTeVH5Qnx5
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“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZhmy8dt8Y
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“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8h2S37MBnk
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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.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1y6kdNo8FS
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“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtHIYeH5jo
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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.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sM1RgsipW
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“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30uF4Z4FSn
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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.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRg0mXWpwRS
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“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPDUcgGCkB
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“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKgq2BfsPc
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“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MqffVrBR8
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“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZ79iLwPSt
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“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTf86RWvHKn
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“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJoA2gyqcd
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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.174Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLkTJyhQM5
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