I’m going to dance,” and then she was in his arms, moving with him and talking close to his ear so he could hear above the music.
“Thank God you came along. I didn’t even know his name, but he was really persistent, even though I kept dropping hints that I wanted to go and talk to my friends.”
“Is that the only reason you’re dancing with me?” He pulled her in tighter. The perfume she wore was subtle but intoxicating.
“No.” She smiled up at him. “I thought you were never going to ask me.”
He danced with her to a slow tune and when he held her close, he knew he hadn’t imagined the longing she’d provoked in him over all these years. He resolved to tell her how he felt. Tonight.
They’d dance some more, then he’d call a taxi, and deliver her home, but first he’d see if she wanted to stroll along the waterfront with him, and they could talk.
A Father at Last
When the music finished, he deposited her with a group of mutual friends, while he went to the find the sober‐driver mate he’d arranged to get a lift home with, to tell him there’d been a change of plan. He did a quick reconnaissance of the main rooms of the venue, but couldn’t find his friend, so he headed downstairs and outside where some of the guests relaxed in the cool air in the wide boulevard area. He quickly spotted his mate, delivered his message and was heading back when he noticed an altercation between the bar’s security guard and two young men.
Obviously gate crashers, they wouldn’t be getting in. Sure enough, they soon gave up, sauntering away as Ben approached the bar entrance. He recognised them as the losers who’d spent a large part of their high school years peddling marijuana and party pills to the other students. Experience told him they’d have moved on to much harder stuff now.
They recognised him too, and keen to talk, they moved away from the brightness of the streetlights. Ben followed. This could be interesting.
Five minutes later, back upstairs, he put his arm around Kelly. Her body was warm and her eyes trusting.
And now, nearly seven years later, he held her again, her body still warm but the trust gone from her eyes. And who could blame her?
Kelly listened to the tui singing in the cool green bush, and let Ben’s strength flow through her. She started counting in her head. For thirty more seconds she’d give herself up to the safe haven his arms—his body—represented, and then she’d pull herself together. God, how had this simple visit to these lovely gardens turned so quickly into a total emotional roller coaster? He’d dragged her down to the black depths with all his talk about her father.
She didn’t want to go there again, ever.
Then, in a heartbeat, he’d whisked her up to the golden light of that night they’d spent together.
‘You wore your hair like this on the night we made love.’
He remembered that tiny detail! That day in the lift—less than two weeks ago, but it seemed like a lifetime—he said he remembered a lot. Well, she remembered, too.
That was the night she’d crossed the line from girl to woman, the night she’d learnt the true meaning of the words ‘making love’. She was glad he remembered it that way, too.
He could have said ‘the night we slept together’ or ‘the night we had sex.’ But he hadn’t; he’d said ‘the night we made love.’
That night, the night they’d made love, they’d walked along the waterfront, holding hands, laughing and talking, and then Ben had taken her in his arms and kissed her.
Somehow, they’d ended up at his little studio apartment in a new block not far from the waterfront.
Julie Mac
When he asked if she’d like to stay, she answered by unbuttoning his shirt and plying little kisses from his neck to the waistband of his trousers, and when he could stand it no longer he took her hand and led her to his bed.
Nothing could mar the beauty of the night.
In the morning, she’d
“Thank God you came along. I didn’t even know his name, but he was really persistent, even though I kept dropping hints that I wanted to go and talk to my friends.”
“Is that the only reason you’re dancing with me?” He pulled her in tighter. The perfume she wore was subtle but intoxicating.
“No.” She smiled up at him. “I thought you were never going to ask me.”
He danced with her to a slow tune and when he held her close, he knew he hadn’t imagined the longing she’d provoked in him over all these years. He resolved to tell her how he felt. Tonight.
They’d dance some more, then he’d call a taxi, and deliver her home, but first he’d see if she wanted to stroll along the waterfront with him, and they could talk.
A Father at Last
When the music finished, he deposited her with a group of mutual friends, while he went to the find the sober‐driver mate he’d arranged to get a lift home with, to tell him there’d been a change of plan. He did a quick reconnaissance of the main rooms of the venue, but couldn’t find his friend, so he headed downstairs and outside where some of the guests relaxed in the cool air in the wide boulevard area. He quickly spotted his mate, delivered his message and was heading back when he noticed an altercation between the bar’s security guard and two young men.
Obviously gate crashers, they wouldn’t be getting in. Sure enough, they soon gave up, sauntering away as Ben approached the bar entrance. He recognised them as the losers who’d spent a large part of their high school years peddling marijuana and party pills to the other students. Experience told him they’d have moved on to much harder stuff now.
They recognised him too, and keen to talk, they moved away from the brightness of the streetlights. Ben followed. This could be interesting.
Five minutes later, back upstairs, he put his arm around Kelly. Her body was warm and her eyes trusting.
And now, nearly seven years later, he held her again, her body still warm but the trust gone from her eyes. And who could blame her?
Kelly listened to the tui singing in the cool green bush, and let Ben’s strength flow through her. She started counting in her head. For thirty more seconds she’d give herself up to the safe haven his arms—his body—represented, and then she’d pull herself together. God, how had this simple visit to these lovely gardens turned so quickly into a total emotional roller coaster? He’d dragged her down to the black depths with all his talk about her father.
She didn’t want to go there again, ever.
Then, in a heartbeat, he’d whisked her up to the golden light of that night they’d spent together.
‘You wore your hair like this on the night we made love.’
He remembered that tiny detail! That day in the lift—less than two weeks ago, but it seemed like a lifetime—he said he remembered a lot. Well, she remembered, too.
That was the night she’d crossed the line from girl to woman, the night she’d learnt the true meaning of the words ‘making love’. She was glad he remembered it that way, too.
He could have said ‘the night we slept together’ or ‘the night we had sex.’ But he hadn’t; he’d said ‘the night we made love.’
That night, the night they’d made love, they’d walked along the waterfront, holding hands, laughing and talking, and then Ben had taken her in his arms and kissed her.
Somehow, they’d ended up at his little studio apartment in a new block not far from the waterfront.
Julie Mac
When he asked if she’d like to stay, she answered by unbuttoning his shirt and plying little kisses from his neck to the waistband of his trousers, and when he could stand it no longer he took her hand and led her to his bed.
Nothing could mar the beauty of the night.
In the morning, she’d
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