That night

We made our way into the club, a space with more of an industrial flair than that of a laboratory, although the sign said ”The Cocktail Lab”, with a huge Mendeleev Periodic Table hanging on the back wall. The crowd, mainly 20 year olds, either students or very young and somewhat drunk professionals, were bouncing their heads to the rhythms of an old Bon Jovi song. We, 20-30 years older than most of the regular patrons, took the table we cautiously reserved before hand, sat comfortably and ordered our drinks. It felt odd in the beginning, but soon enough memories of other parties since long ago came back. I started dancing and a fun, good feeling flooded my mind. He, while 54, fit well with that young group. While dancing, our bodies touched and waved together a couple of times, as if talking to each other, showing off: “See what I can do? Look, look! Feel me!”. We laughed as we parted. It was easy, so easy to feel good with him.

After we left the club we went for a couple more drinks in a bar, a few streets away. Outside in the fresh air I took his hand; he held mine well.
- Do I risk anything, walking hand in hand like this, shall we bump into an ex-boyfriend or something?
I laughed and thought “ex boyfriends? What about current husband?” I should have been single.
I liked the way we walked together and how alert he was, holding my arm when I stepped over a water puddle, balancing my weight when the sidewalk seemed slippery, as if I was doing a big acrobatic act and he had to make sure I should not fall. It was probably his athletic education or coaching technique showing through involuntarily, but I still enjoyed his precise and attentive support.

Down at the bar we talked about our families, kids, parents, weddings and funerals. Amidst all this, I almost choked when he said:
-Would you go to bed with me?
I took a deep breath and my mind raced for the right answer when I realized it was a line from the song that was playing. We had one more drink and left.

Kissing me good night, he told me I was a wonderful woman. I wish I was inspired enough to answer with more than “..and you are a great man”, but too many things came to my mind: all the reasons I had for liking him. It would have taken too long to tell them all. I hoped the tone of voice would make him know it was more to that simple statement. He promised he’d write, send pictures and his new e-mail and that he will invite me to dinner when back in town. He did not. Till today.