Out of the Black - Lee Doty [181]
"So, I'm not going to be seeing any diaper-related pictures on the net?" Ping asked.
"Don't worry, Detective." Jerry's wife said, "I'll never let them out of my sight."
"It's been the cause of much marital strife." Jerry gave a solemn nod.
Ping rolled his eyes.
"Tell us about the demon fight again, Uncle Ping!" the younger of Jerry's kids pleaded from his seat across the table.
"Which one?" Ping replied, preparing for yet another rendition.
"Library of doom older boy said in ominous tones.
"Hellevator surprise!" the younger boy shouted.
"Care for another dance?" Anne said from over Ping's shoulder.
"This time, I lead." Ping said assertively.
"Get used to disappointment." her eyes sparkled... that cute dimple flashed with her smile.
As they re-entered the dance-floor, Rae heard her twelfth "Right on dude!" from a twenty-something student. This one had the meticulously messy hair of the coffee house crowd, and had opted for shaking Alex's hand- most of the others had gone for either the high or low five. She smiled as the kid disappeared into the crowd. "You know, if you were a vocabulary TA, I'd say you were a miserable failure... dude."
Alex didn't respond. He just kept up the disturbingly direct stare he'd been giving her all night. "What?" She said for the twelfth time tonight.
His smile broadened. "You look absolutely gorgeous."
"Aw stop."
"Ravishing... Sensational."
"Ok, more."
He let his eyes wander across her, savoring the experience. Her dress was white with scintillant thread woven through. It was simple, elegant, and hung on her at all the right places. Her earrings were simple titanium studs. Her necklace was an elegant titanium weave. Her new ring was a simple titanium band. The jewels were in her smile, in her eyes. She shone like daybreak in Antarctica.
"You are the love of my life."
Unconsciously, her hand went to her necklace. Alex watched her do it.
She noticed him noticing and smiled. "I still miss it." She admitted with one of her dazzling smiles. "It was a real confidence booster."
"You look the same to me."
"Yeah, but you've always been weird."
"And now it's gone," Alex looked at the crowd around them, "what do they see?"
She thought a moment as they resumed the slow spiral of their dance.
"I guess they see what they want," she said, lips near his ear. "But I'm still gonna miss it the next time I need to fight off a mess of disco zombies."
"No you won't" Alex said, stepping back and taking her hand. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it just above the knuckles.
"Oh yes I will." She said with a playful grin.
Alex kissed her wedding ring then gave her that unnerving stare. "No," he said, lips brushing across the cool metal of the ring, "You won't."
Her smile broadened with understanding.
"I had a feeling you'd still want the Amp," he said, moving in closer, "and no one gets to mess with my baby." Their arms slipped around each other.
"You know the best thing though..." He said, looking into her eyes.
She dropped her eyelids slightly, giving him a suspicious look. "The ring makes me fly, too?"
"We're down to one rule now." His smile stretched slowly across his face.
She felt the heat spread across her face. "And which one is that?" she said, wondering how much longer before they could leave the party.
"Yes, now we get to lie... I've been waiting so long." Alex said with a mostly straight face, "I may even be open to the idea of hanging out in the bedroom now and again."
"You're a sick man, Ahmed."
"And you're a beautiful woman, Ahmed." He laughed, "But now is the time for dancing!" Alex seemed distracted for a moment, as if he'd heard his name mentioned close at hand, then the music stopped and their song started.
"Show-off."
"Impressed?"
"Eh." She shrugged, but then they were dancing and the world seemed to fade until it was only them and Frank Sinatra, spinning through the faceless crowd in slow circles.
Every now and then, their reverie