You Catch My Eye.

“You catch my eye across the dance floor. I raise an eyebrow then turn and talk to my friend; I know what I am doing. I see your childish smile falter out of the corner of my eyes and my heart flutters faster than the thunder of the bass.”

“ I think maybe I’ve blown it. Then you stride through the crowd, with your shoulders square and bulging out of your shrunken suit. Your hair has been gelled back in a hurry, It’s all wonky, and it makes me chuckle. You think I’m smiling at you, and your chest puffs up with confidence.”

"Then you say something funny and I stop messing around. We dance and our limbs are lithe and strong. My arms stretch out smoothly; under the UV lights they look like polished marble. I teach you how to waltz but don’t tell you that really you’re the one who should be leading. All around us people are gyrating, and flecks of spittle hang from their drunken faces as they fail to sing along to the music that blares so loudly.”

“But I don’t care if it’s old fashioned, I like to waltz. I think you do too behind that embarrassed look you throw to your friends at the bar. Mine are laughing at us from a table in the corner. But I don’t care, I can’t hear them, all I can hear is the music and your voice as you whisper trivialities into my ear. It makes me smile because it shows me that you are new to this game. I feel like I’m playing it for the first time with you, and I guess perhaps I am.”

“ With your strong arms around me and your silly hair bouncing around I feel like I can let myself be as silly as you.”

"Our feet are blurring together, forward and back, side to side. We barely say a word, I don't even know your name, but I know you. I know you through the way you look at me only in snatches, nervous of what a long gaze might do. I know you through the way your hand holds mine, squeezing it whenever you misstep. But most of all I know you through that ridiculous smile. I know you, and I think I might just like you."

“We dance until the club closes and the lights come on. By then our friends have stopped laughing and we are the last ones dancing. The song slows and like the receding tide of a wave it drops us off on shore. We go outside, and I wear your jacket because my dress wasn’t made for these cold nights. Up above the stars glisten, and I wonder how many others have looked up on night's like this and seen an old sky anew beside a different face. ”

“The road splits in two and we stop. I can see you want to say something, but suddenly your quick tongue is tripping up over itself, and your confident smile is wavering. So I lean in and kiss you.”

“And that my love was how it all happened.”

I lean in now and kiss you on your leathery forehead. Your skin is hot to touch despite the thick snow that is piling up outside the hospital window. You don’t say anything. You don’t remember me. But that’s okay because I will come here every day to remember for the both of us.

Your eyes are wandering vacantly about the room. The lamp-stand, the sink, pictures of us smiling and laughing. Pictures of our house, our children, our long life lived together. All of them you brush over uncomprehendingly.

Then you turn and you catch my eye. I raise my eyebrow and this time I don’t look away. You smile.

END.