Here is a scene from my short story Redemption:14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09UB5zpPbv
*. *. *14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIlu7kDaWA
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XzaYREtqJ
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEhA72QtiU
“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmrOvxZV9D
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6usiuTvjEH
“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfSzSe3sNa
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMdiiG5HJ6
“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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPh4B7EXiDT
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pA8jumzdy
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEx8Hz2r2p3
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9iELxHtmR
“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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblDzIc2B9Z
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7Vnn23szG
“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEagbloLxX
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFb2xrVBH7
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lQJEnObKy
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsM96lCRn6b
“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5yrSzjFvn
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK53FDBkvKY
“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlu8G8KuVfw
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9esPaIbqN
“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVJpbTpK4C
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyRgjUMHbL
“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY56WlGwgqX
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QbytdgtzI
“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpFlVp4AIK
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9sTgvtut4
“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfjmPyi27E
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3p9f48gjV
“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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwO5kdKhwLx
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL6zuq5wMs
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLV94ioa4UG
