The Fall

Do You Trust Me?

XAVIER POV

It had been hours. Our table was littered with glasses, and Romeo Santos music was reverberating around the bar.

Despite the hiccup at the beginning where Claire unknowingly invoked the rule of threes and our relationship was nearly thrown into a quick drop with a sudden stop...The evening was going better than I had expected.

Claire obviously felt as drawn to me as I did to her. But without any frame of reference as to why, she kept pulling back, then falling deeper, then pulling back. Like two magnets drawn together irresistibly, but on the cusp of the moment we were to fall irrevocably into each other's arms, she jerked away.

One minute she would be sucking sauce off her fingers, letting me enjoy the devilish skill of her tongue swirling up and down each finger... The next minute she was all business. Physically closed off and studying a drink menu, or grilling Diego for information on his intentions with her best friend.

It was frustrating to no end. I didn't want to spook her but I craved her. My hands balled into fists to prevent the urge to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. My tongue bore marks of restraint as I bit back romanticisms that would seem insincere.

One of the bar staff, Diego, had joined us when we moved to a booth to eat. From thick black hair in a casually coiffed wave, to olive skin tones highlighting mascuine beauty and a voice wrapped with a thick Colombian accent, he looked like he was fresh off the set of a telenovela. Apparently he was the mastermind behind the dishes served, and quite obviously devoted to Sally.

I wonder how long it would take Sally to figure out he was a werewolf.

The girls had met while teaching english in Africa, and had been inseparable ever since. The fact that they lived in the same apartment building was apparently a serendipitous seal, confirming that the relationship was fated. When they got excited there was an intermingling of voices and ideas as they finished off each other's sentences, the mark of true best friends.

Their most recent adventure was a wild six months in Latin America. Diego came alive at the mere suggestion that Sally could dance salsa, and Claire insisted that her heart beat to latin drums. With a roguish laugh and a crooked smile Diego swept Sally up and threw her into a cruel salsa song.

It began slowly and progressed faster and faster. I watched in awe as Sally not only kept up, but out danced the poor man through the ten minute song. Throwing in afro fusion moves between his carefully led patterns that opened Diego's eyes like saucers.

He collapsed into the booth with stars in his eyes. "That woman." Not chastened one little bit, but inspired.

I offered hand and heart to Claire for the next song."Quieres bailar conmigo?" I knew my accent was terrible, but anyone would score me with ten points for effort.

"Vamos!" She chimed, taking my hand and following me onto the floor, alternating flashes of neon lighting highlighting different aspects of her face like a modern art dream.

I spun her into close hold to connect before the song really took off, as salsa songs have the tendency of doing. Every tiny shift of her weight began to mimic and mirror my movements, down to my inability to catch a full breath. Afraid that the moment would shatter into wakefulness and the entire evening would slip away. Simultaneously afraid that this was the reality we were presented with...I only had two days to save her life.

The montuno section began and so did we. It was like she could tell where I wanted to move her, before I decided to do it. We became one physical expression of the music as it moved through us and we moved through it. Trumpets blared and she spun in a flurry.