SilveryChris
New Member
In all fairness I feel that I must post a warning at the top of this post. This original short story is a romance as all of mine are and most romances seem to cause the male gender to break out in hives 
hence, THE WARNING! Chris
____________________________________________________
He wondered why he had come. A socializer was the last place in the world he needed or wanted to be. He had deliberately sat down at the empty table which was the most isolated from the group of bright, hopeful men and women across the room who were chatting and flirting, striving to connect with a special someone.
Again the man wondered why in the world he had come – here of all places and on this night of all nights. He wasn’t cheerful or hopeful anymore. In fact he had become comfortably accustomed to his life alone or so he had thought. He had a satisfying career, a beautiful home, a new car, two wonderful kids, and a few reliable friends. What else could he possibly need or want? Just as he was about to leave he felt again the tug of something else that he had – the huge empty space in his heart that seemed to be growing larger with each passing year. He had tried desperately to ignore that gnawing space because past relationships with women had only brought him pain. And he neither needed nor wanted more pain. But once he acknowledged the existence of that demanding empty space he also had to admit why he had come. SHE might be here.
He had no idea what she looked like on the outside, but he knew her feelings, her longings, her pains as well as his own. The fact that hers were almost identical to his own both scared and fascinated him. He knew in his soul that this woman could make life a wondrous thing for him again, and he desperately desired that and her. If he could erase her pain and fulfill her longings then his own would be abated as well. The empty space would disappear. Dear God, how he needed to feel whole again. Since finding her he had strangely felt as if life were passing him by. When he was young he’d thought that he had forever to live, but now he knew better. Nobody had forever; and for whatever tomorrows he had left he wanted to wake each morning holding her close. He was too frightened to look up from the table. SHE might be here.
As he stared at the dish of chocolate creams sitting in front of him he reflected on the first time he had heard her voice. It had been a business call – nothing more – but a vague, melancholy tone in her voice had reached deep inside and latched onto him. He couldn’t shake it even though he had tried. Her voice even floated through his dreams. Due to the demands of business their calls had continued until he had found himself looking forward to them, needing them, needing to hear her voice, needing to hear her laugh. For in these conversations he had taken great care to evoke laughter from her because in her laughter he heard hope. As time progressed they had extended the conversations beyond business into the personal realms of likes and desires and dreams. It seemed as if her dreams had become his and his hers; all tangled together. That was how he saw them now – voices tangled together, dreams tangled together, bodies tangled together. He felt like a fool, yet he was compelled to see her. SHE might be here.
That was why he had come. The business no longer required him to call her, but the empty space in his heart did. Since most of these carefree people were business connections she could easily be among them. He needed to meet her; needed to see the face that went with that melancholy voice; needed to look into her eyes and see them light with laughter. What would she feel like when he held her? What did she taste like? What sort of sound would she make when he entered her? Would she enjoy lying spoon-shaped afterward or prefer her head on his chest with her knee on his thigh? The questions swirled in his mind relentlessly.
What if she didn’t like him? What if he saw rejection in her eyes? He wasn’t a young man anymore and had never been particularly handsome. What would he do with the empty space in his heart if she didn’t want to fill it with her love? The taunting questions ceased as a single sound tickled the edge of his mind. Laughter – her laughter- her voice. Chills ran over his body; the hair on the back of his neck seemed to tingle with the electricity; his hands which ached to caress her face were clenched tightly together in front of the candy dish. All other sound dimmed for him. His senses focused totally on that one sound - her laughter. Slowly, but not slowly enough, the sound of her laughter drifted toward him. SHE was here. She was coming toward him. Waiting he stared at his hands wondering what the lips that made that laughter would feel like when he brushed them with his fingertips. What would her cheek feel like when he pressed his against it? Could she possibly be feeling the same things as he? Finally he could stand it no longer. Slowly he stood and raised his eyes.
Part 1