After Olivia

32

The sun had already set but the day's heat still lingered in the air. Bill had taken Matilda's hand and was guiding her towards the music that blanketed the dance floor with soft flowing rhythms. She repositioned her body to wrap herself around his right arm and leaned into his side. She could feel the heat of his presence flowing into her.

A break in the music played host to an announcement while Bill and Matilda waited just beyond the tent. The area had filled with partygoers while the person that was expected to be talking made their way towards the microphone.

"I thought about it. The resort." Matilda gazed into Bill's eyes. "I'd love to go with you."

"Really?" Bill replied with an almost giddy flair in his voice.

"And, we can share a room." Her eyes could no longer remain engaged with his. Her head tilted forward, and her gaze settled into the middle of his chest.

"Oh, perfect!"

Matilda turned her eyes upward and without a word being spoken said, "Excuse me?"

"Emily already called and booked two rooms. There aren't any more available. I was a little afraid I might be bunking with Marcello."

"Oh, ahhh, no." She giggled. "I messaged Emily and told her I would love to go to the party as well. It's to celebrate her promotion, right? Didn't that happen a long time ago?"

"Yeah, we were going to celebrate earlier, but with everything going on with her ex... it just didn't happen."

"Oh. Okay. She said I can bring you if you promise not to comment about her cooking."

"Really? Sorry, I guess you will be going by yourself," he laughed, and earned a swat across the chest.

The announcement had come to an end, and slow music once again filled the air. The crowd had dispersed, leaving the dance floor to a dozen swaying couples. Bill took Matilda's hand, once again, and guided her towards the tent.

Her right hand was comfortably nestled within the fingers of his left while her other hand came to rest on his shoulder. Bill's right hand had taken its place on her side and the soft red fabric of her dress had settled against her skin. As his feet started to move, leading her in time with the music, she erased the void between their bodies and let her head rest comfortably against his shoulder. Bill's hand moved from Matilda's side, venturing towards the middle of her lower back as nervous tension threatened to invade his frame.

Something about the intimacy of their embrace seemed foreign and new; something Bill hadn't experienced before. He had danced with Olivia from the time she could first walk. At celebrations and parties, there was no escaping her, not that he ever tried. She loved to dance, and he always obliged.

The first time a teenage boy takes a certain girl onto the floor for a slow song at a school dance, he'll feel his heart skip a beat or two as nervous excitement, drawn from her proximity, sweeps through his body. As his hands fall against her waist, or if he dares pull her in close and his hands settle on her back, the feeling of her form will be etched into his memory. If he's lucky enough, it will linger there for a life time or two.

Even as their relationship evolved and matured, from childhood friendship to lovers, Olivia was always familiar. Years of love and affection that led to the intimacy of marriage, had all felt evolutionary; something that had built upon itself over the span of her life. Bill had been in love, but had never experienced the excitement of falling in love, and the happy little surprises it brings along the way. Like the feeling of his first slow dance with a certain girl.

Bills fingers moved with hesitation and the softest touch against the bare skin of Matilda's back until they finally settled into place at the small of her back. They bathed in an energy that radiated from her body and electrified his soul. She looked up at his eyes, briefly, when the sound of his breathing was no longer mixed with the hammering of his heart within his chest. Just that look alone could have set his mind adrift if it wasn't already lost in a beautiful fog.