“So that’s what you call it, eh? Don’t worry about it, I won’t say a word.” She let out a little snicker of a laugh answering my question without needing to, then smiled again as she walked along the opposite wall, past the matching Kenmore laundry set and toward the clear plastic keg in the corner, deep-welled sink. It was a balmy 55 and the sun shining through the square window of the kitchen cast its four o’clock rays toward the beauty in the corner tipping her glass to the Moose Drool tap we had borrowed from Charlie’s bar downtown. I couldn’t move, didn’t want to move. Her freshly washed bouquet mixed with stale evening kitchen air made my stomach growl like it was clearing room for some unknown dessert.

“Hungry?” she’d asked.

Starving.

She was standing in front of me again, full pint in hand, spilling the head slightly over the rim. She sipped at the foam leaving the impression of her lips to melt into the glass. “You’ve got something.” I put down my glass and gestured toward my top lip. She dropped her glass to her side and brushed a runaway hair from the corner of her mouth “No…there”. I moved a little closer and tried the motion again. She looked down to see what else might be hanging out of place and wiped the right side of her mouth. “Left…” She brushed the right side of her face again taming a few more wild strands. “Here, let me…” I reached out and wiped the dampness from her lip with my thumb.

My mind swam in a lost dream. She hadn’t moved. Her eyes sparkled of emerald pools on a stormy evening. I was surrounded by enticement and knew already I intended to succumb. I wanted to soak up as much detail as I could for as long as my mind would function. The dream quickened. A lily surfaced, bloomed. The sky in her eyes reflected wispy cumulus-stratus clouds, lightning flashed in the distance, and a slow rolling thunder spilled down the canyon from the snowy peak above. Across the pond a jaguar lapped the surface, drops of water fell as it lifted its head. The pond’s surface, broken by fang-released rain, echoed concentric circles toward the opposite shore. I could hear the rush of fire and feel the hush of warm wind creeping slowly through the brush under the darkening sky. The jaguar melted into the shadows of surrounding trees.

“Thanks.” A smile was again pressed against her lips and I could feel warmth emanating from her simply yet strangely dressed frame. I returned the smile and watched as she turned for the door trailing her perfume, like some unforgiving track onto which I was to be hitched as the next passenger car to the unforgiving locomotive. I returned to my task, staring at the setting sun.

”You coming or what? I’m starving.” There she was at the bottom of the stairs in her bright banana-orange tights holding the door. It was already getting cool outside. Evenings here, once the sun goes, get cool fast. I could see the reaction of her perk little nipples as I descended the final stair. “Come on, let’s go.”

“You want a jacket?” I have plenty of extras that could remind me of you long after this encounter has ended. I could even let you keep it overnight so you could think of me when you get home tonight.

“That’s OK, we’re heading back to my apartment so I can change real quick before we head out. I may wear this stuff every once in a while, but not in public.” I laughed.