The guests came. So did Richard. She saw the woman he was with. She was a vision. She seemed to be a mixture of white and Mexican, and this resulted in a gorgeous, golden skin color. It resulted in the kind of skin color that most normal people would only be able to acquire after a great deal of hard work baking themselves in the sun. She had black, deep eyes and her hair was equally black. It was like a pitch black curtain, and shiny to boot. Angie couldn’t help but feel jealous of this woman that had Richard at her arm. She wanted to be the one on Richard’s arm.

Angie greeted Richard cordially enough. She didn’t let him feel like she was upset, because she knew that there would be no point in doing anything like this. She knew that she would only end up harming the rather tenuous relationship that they currently had if she tried to talk to his date and act hostile in any way towards her. She had to be adult about this. She had to be mature. She was mature, it was just that she was having a difficult time acting that way because of the fact that she and Richard were so attracted to each other, and that coming back to this city and this country after so long was making her feel the way she had felt when she had left it.

She wanted everything to be normal. She wanted everything to be stable. But, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel like she had a right to feel this way. After so long, she had a right to happiness. She had a right to feel the way she was feeling, because the way she was feeling was real and raw and she had been utterly divorced from feelings of this kind for a very long time indeed.

They had dinner. Her dad’s chef had prepared delicious pork chops with roasted potatoes, and everyone was very well satisfied by the meal to the point where they all clapped for the chef when they were done. They talked about a lot of things, and after dinner they enjoyed digestives which were sweet alcoholic drinks that were meant to be drunk after eating a heavy meal.

They talked, and Angie went around and talked to everyone. She spotted a number of handsome young lawyers that were eyeing her but she did not reciprocate for two reasons. Firstly, she had realized that wanting to fu*k one of the younger attorneys at her father’s law firm would be a little difficult right now. All of them were probably feeling extremely self conscious right now because they were at the home of their boss, the manager of the law firm that they were working at. Besides, this wasn’t really a party. It was more of a formal dinner. Chatting up young and handsome boys was not something that would be commonplace at a dinner party of this caliber.

The second reason was that she was really not interested at all. She wanted Richard. She wanted to talk to him. She didn’t really get the chance, however, because his date was all over him. She was clearly very attracted to him, but he didn’t seem to be reciprocating. Perhaps he was not the kind of person that engaged in public displays of affection. Or, perhaps, he just wasn’t into the woman, and had just brought her along as a friendly date. Angie hoped that this was the case. She hoped that he wasn’t actually seeing this woman because that would mean that there was no chance whatsoever for her to have anything whatsoever with Richard.

All of a sudden, Richard’s date turned and went to get some drinks. Angie saw her chance. She went up to Richard and talked to him.

“Hey,” said Angie. “What’s up?”

“Hey Angie,” said Richard. “You look great! I can’t believe how stunning you look.”

“Thanks,” said Angie, pleased that he was complimenting her so much. “You look really nice too you know. So, you have a date. Is it serious?’

“Not at all,” said Richard. “She’s just a friend, a very good friend but nothing more. I don’t want anything with her at all. I just wanted to come here with somebody, I wanted to be here with someone so that I…”

“So that… what?” asked Angie.

“It’s just that… I feel extremely attracted to you,” said Richard. “But I know that nothing can happen you know? I know that your father is extremely protective of you and that he is really not going to appreciate his best friend having something with his daughter. He is not going to like that at all. And I don’t want to have to put him in that extremely awkward position, you know?”

“I guess I know what you mean,” said Angie. “But I’m attracted to you too, I hope you know that. I am very, very attracted to you in fact, and I know that you feel exactly the same way about me. I know that the attraction you feel is more than just… basic attraction, if you know what I mean. It’s a lot more advanced than that. It’s a lot more than just the simple attraction that two people feel towards each other. I just figured that… I don’t know. I don’t really know what to think. But I think I want to stop worrying about what my father thinks. I want to stop worrying that he might disapprove about what I am doing. I want to be an adult, I want to do what I want.”

They were in a corner, and they had gotten quite close to each other. “We should continue this conversation somewhere more private…” said Angie. She felt really turned on. She and Richard had both had a lot to drink, and they were starting to feel extremely attracted to each other. They were starting to feel positively horny.

They snuck into the bathroom and continued to talk. “I think that we should try it,” said Angie. “I mean, both of us are attracted to each other, we are both compatible. This I know from how we have interacted with each other. And just… I think that we should give it a shot. I feel like we would be missing out if we don’t at least try to date. If we don’t at least try to have a relationship with each other. I just feel like opportunities like this don’t come along very often, and now that I have the opportunity to be with somebody that I am extremely attracted to I don’t want to waste any more time on it.”

“I understand,” said Richard. “I agree. I never thought that I would end up feeling this way about anybody. I never thought that I would feel so attracted to someone that they would consume my thoughts. That’s what you have done. You have consumed my thoughts. Completely and utterly. And now I don’t really know how to feel about anything. So I agree. Let’s give it a shot.”

Angie looked at the door. She had thought that someone might have been knocking but it had only been her imagination. “Let’s meet tomorrow night,” said Angie. “At your place?”

“Yes,” said Richard, “That would be… lovely.”