Grooving to Life's Beat

Cloud Nine : A Dangerous Kind of Happiness

I plopped myself onto the plush green sofa in the middle of Bloomingdale's, with a heavy sigh. Angela flitted from shelf to shelf, her enthusiasm for shoe shopping reaching near-manic levels. Meanwhile, I sat there, floating on some strange combination of giddiness and guilt, a goofy grin plastered on my face that I couldn't seem to wipe away.

Marshall. His name alone made my stomach flip in a way that was both exhilarating and terrifying. My thoughts spiraled back to last night; his hands on my body, his voice, the way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the world. It was like my heart had found a new rhythm, one that only responded to him.

Sleep? Overrated.
Food? Optional.
Marshall? Absolutely essential.

I've been in love before, with Alexander. But not like this! Not in this all-consuming, can't-eat, can't-sleep kind of way. Love used to seem so overrated to me, just a concept invented by Hollywood to sell movie tickets. But now, here I was, a living cliche, with Marshall stuck in my head, replaying every detail of our night together, completely smitten with him.

But the tricky part about floating on cloud nine, though, is that you eventually have to come down. And my landing was looming just a few feet away in the form of Angela, who, of course, couldn't stand the idea of me being with Marshall.

"This place is heaven on earth!" Angela exclaimed, snapping me out of my reverie. She was blissfully unaware of the internal turmoil churning inside me. After all, the last time we spoke, I'd promised, sworn on my life, to stay away from Marshall. And now, look at me, daydreaming about the night I spent with him, a stupid, satisfied grin plastered on my face, one I apparently couldn't hide.

God, help me find an easy way to confess everything!

"Totally!" I replied, my voice too cheerful, my smile too obvious. No matter how hard I tried to play it cool, I couldn't. I was just too damn happy.

"Come on, pick one!" she urged, spinning toward me in a graceful motion. Her silky dress twirled around her legs as she held up two pairs of stunning Saint Laurent sandals. "Can you believe these are on sale? It's like destiny." Her eyes glittering with joy.

"Hmm..." I tapped my lower lip, pretending to deliberate even though my mind was miles away. Shopping was the last thing on my radar. "When in doubt, stick with the classic," I said, pointing to the strappy sandals in her left hand.

"Great minds think alike!" She giggled, and I smiled, but in my mind, I just kind of raced backwards and thought of Marshall, of the fact that no amount of shopping therapy could push him away from my head.

And undeniably, the memory of the lust in his eyes when we kissed. The quiet vulnerability in his expression as he stood there in my living room, almost as if he didn't know what to do next. The way his touch both gentle and urgent, left me feeling breathless and craving more.

"Hello!" I flinched, jolted from my thoughts by a cheerful voice. A shop assistant stood nearby, her smile wide, intense red lipstick trapped between shiny white teeth."Would you like to try those on?" she asked Angela with the enthusiasm of someone new to the job, completely overlooking my presence.

"Yeah, that would be great!" Angela beamed, her caramel-brown hair cascading gently over her face as she took a seat beside me. "They seem like the right size!" She bent to unclog her flat sandals, radiating excitement like a modern-day Cinderella holding glass slippers.

"Certainly, madam. Let me know if you need anything else!" the shop assistant chirped, bustling away with a spring in her step, leaving Angela grinning at the shoes in her hands.

Meanwhile, I seized the moment, pulling out my phone with a nonchalance I didn't feel. My thumb hovered over the screen for a split second before I opened the photo I'd taken of Marshall after our first night together. The picture filled the screen, and instantly, a dopey grin spread across my face.