One Life at a Time
“May I have this dance?”
Mid-text to the wedding planner thanking her for a beautifully curated event, she glanced up from her phone to see a familiar outstretched hand. Almost instantaneously, without thinking, she responded by meeting him with her free one. Brushing a rugged, calloused palm against her smooth manicured fingers, he firmly gripped the body part he had stared at most since he first laid eyes on her. Adorned with a simple rose gold ring, the three-link-chain of oval diamonds glittered more noticeably than ever in the moonlight - taken. Although this was the first time he felt its physical presence, the barrier, between them. Unable to resist his preoccupation with the object, he traced its circumference with his thumb. Sensing a shift in his focus, she held his gaze to reassure him that his question was not a completely inappropriate one. In the eyes of many, the occasion may even call for such an interaction. Mother-of-the-bride and father-of-the-groom synchronizing their steps as an inaugural act in the merging of two families. The temperature had cooled as the evening progressed and her periwinkle satin slip dress went from a practical yet elegant end-of-the-summer choice to one that left her feeling bare.