Red

The girls all gathered at the top floor of some swanky hotel. I don’t remember the name and, really, it doesn’t matter. It’s Vegas - that’s the only important fact. The entire floor was lit in red lights. Everything was leather and fur and all the girls were lace-covered in lingerie and lazily lounging, watching the city out the windows. Nothing had started yet. The music was a quiet hum in the background, but the beats still hit your chest hard. It might’ve just been my heart pounding. But, it was easier to pretend that I wasn’t nervous. I walked in through the doorway by myself. I still wasn’t quite sure what had encouraged me to go. I didn’t know what I was doing here. I felt so out of place, but it was as if no one was aware of me - or each other. Everyone was in their own bubbles.

Champagne glasses were sitting on a table at the back of the room. It was very stereotypically classy, with a white, floor length table cloth and rose petals scattered across it. I walked across the room in what felt like slow motion. Suddenly, it seemed like everyone was watching me. I felt like I’d broken some unspoken rule - everyone was off to the sides of the room. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to walk through the center for some reason. But, I was too anxious to change my path in front of everyone watching. So, I drew up whatever small amount of confidence I had and tried to let it break my anxiety-filled surface. I was sure it was no use, but hey, at least I tried.

As I approached the table, I reached my hand out - still in slow motion - to pick up a glass of the champagne. As, I turned around and sipped up the bubbles, I could see everyone staring at me still, but their eyes slowly left mine and moved to the center of the room, where two of the girls were walking towards each other from opposite sides of the floor.

When they reached each other, they stood calmly staring at each other and, impossibly slowly, their lips grew closer. When their lips touched, the mood in the room suddenly shifted. All the girls started to move towards each other now. It was an intricate, erotic dance I was viewing from the audience.

The bubbles of the champagne popped in my mouth along to the rhythm of my heart beat. It was too fast a rhythm for this dance. I felt as if everyone should be able to hear it, but I was invisible again.

Or so I thought.

I felt a pair of eyes staring at me from the left. My brown eyes met a pair of green ones, just as anxious as mine. Suddenly, my heart beat changed. I knew it matched hers.

We slowly approached each other - a mirror of the first two girls who began the dance. At some point, I’d set my glass of champagne down on the table, but I wasn’t sure when that had happened. Her eyes grew brighter as I grew closer. Time seemed to skip, and suddenly I was kissing her.

Everything looked so blurry except her. She was so clear and sharp, but my memories don't reflect that. I don’t remember anything else around me. I just remember that her skin felt like silk and fire. I’d never felt so warm.

A few months later, I was walking to work on the streets of New York,when I saw a pair of bright green eyes walking in my direction. She looked up at the same time I did, and I know she remembered me from the way her lips curved slightly up. Our eyes stayed locked until we passed each other.

I glanced behind me and watched her walk away for a moment. Everything around me looked red again. But, I knew it was just a trick of my eyes.