"Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff… Are we still going to the party?"
Through the pants, my words leave my mouth in a murmur rather than anything else, in the steamy corner Emmie and I have carved in the coldness of the winter. Her breath is just as hot as mine, as she regains control of it and looks at me.
"Hah… Hah… Hah… No…"
If not for the bad conditions, we might have gone further into the darkness of the park, and done something more exciting instead of stopping short when the temperature has risen enough.
Emmie's charged whisper voices all the electricity coursing through us. Our glowing eyes linger on each for a moment, falling on each other's lips, before we separate. But only to tidy ourselves up, me, my sweater, and her, her jacket.
We smile at each other through the dim light struggling to penetrate the darkness from the small paths we have left, then link our hands. Upon leaving the shroud of the large tree, we walk with less leisure than before. Our steps reflect all the impatience we are feeling.
We don't exchange any word, but our pounding hearts that are making our pulses clash at our wrists say it all. The rest of the park remains unchanged, the other couples, or families, just as leisurely as before. That makes us stand out, but only so much. Nobody cares, not even in their thoughts.
When we get to the road however, we are forced to temper our excitement. Before flagging a cab, I turn to Emmie.
"Where to?"
The simple question makes her think for less than a second. With barely a tilt of her head, a thoughtful look flashes across her face, then she smiles brightly.
"Helene will not be home early today."
And that is all I need. I flag the cab, though, the first one that passes by does not notice me. Before I can call the second one, Emmie voices her curiosity.
"Is Liz home?"
I pause. If Liz had not been at home, I would not have even bothered to ask where to go. The answer is quite obvious on my face, because Emmie laughs, and stops the cab that slows down as it passes by.
We sit in the rear, still hand in hand, and almost pasted against each other, but my mind is not totally here anymore. A part of it has flown away as I recall the exchange with my sister yesterday, and today.
She is hiding something, trying to be discreet about it. That is the only reason why she could have spoken those words that seemed eager to see me stay outside for the day, or rather, the afternoon, and maybe the evening. And the only thing I can think of being the reason for that is something that is usually done at those times of the day, especially on a festive day. It is not work. It is what I'm doing right now, what I have left the house to do today.
I frown slightly, but that thought that has been floating behind a veil over my mind since yesterday, only tentatively taking form now, barely manages to solidify before the warmth from the side pulls me back to reality, and the heart-pounding sweetness of… my girlfriend.
I gulp, as the cab moves.
Anticipation and calm swirl in my mind like twins taking a stroll on a breezy beach. As time passes, the latter takes more space, but without really burying the former.
The sight outside pulls our attention, and calms our minds. The passers-by, the bright lights, the joy, and even the sorrow.
It is like a parade of life, with all its aspects, or at least, much of it. It is sobering when the world is seen from beyond a barrier that brings with it enough detachment to make the outside seem unrelated, maybe far away, along with its inherent weight. It makes it seem easier to breathe, as if the burden of living, of life itself is far away, along with its troubles.
Even now, in some corners, homelesses can be sported, either making themselves discreet, or begging for scrap to celebrate in their own ways.
I feel my breath, becoming conscious of it in the silence, and I feel the rises and falls of Emmie's chest against me.
The driver does well by keeping silent, leaving Emmie and I in our world, in the calm of our warm isolation. Even his thoughts are not loud, and focused on the road. Nevertheless, it starts to slow down at some point, because we have arrived in the vicinity of our destination, and it pulls over before the apartment building where Emmie lives with Helene, and maybe no one else, if not now, then later.
The driver's hoarse voice shatters the small bubble of calm, and pulls us out of our thoughts.
"Girls, we have arrived!"
"Have a good night~!"
After I pay the fare, Emmie brightly waves at the driver, pulling a smile out of his serious face maybe thin due to genetics, but certainly dry due to life itself. He waves at us, his eyes and thoughts lingering on us for a moment.
'It's good to be young. Are they a couple?'
Outwardly, he waves at us, well, mostly at the bundle of energy in a dark and red jacket behind me. Only then does the weight on my back retreat, and I turn around. She jumps, her excitement coming back now that we have arrived, almost arrived.
This time, she does care about the bit of skin she is exposing to the cold below her neck. She grins brightly, and takes me by the hand.
"Come on, Max! Let's go!!"
She pulls me without giving me the time to let my excitement climb back to the same level. She is like an engine, highly sensitive and capable of heating up after revving only once or twice.
I smile wryly, but don't resist. Far from resistance, it is actually eagerness that rises in my chest, and, by the time we reach the doorway amidst Emmie's impatient display, heat too, raw, passionate, lustful heat.
We don't say a word. We barely register the empty apartment after the door is unlocked. We clash, like two planets out of orbit, fuse, merge, in a swirl of passion and blinding desire.
Our kiss that starts as the prelude of what will follow brings out an intensity that we have shown, or felt, never before, and in that passionate fire, we don't resist, we let ourselves drown, we let ourselves burn, as our hearts pound.
Ba-Dump~ Ba-Dump~ Ba-Dump~