Here is a scene from my short story Redemption:
*. *. *
A short time later, while mingling and chatting with the gathered guests, Howard noticed a woman sitting off in a corner of the large living room watching him intently with a half-smile. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, dressed in a simple black dress and black shawl, her long, lustrous vantablack hair flowing in generous undulating curls all about her. He gravitated towards her and asked her “Can I get you a drink?” taking a sip from his champagne flute.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2aGBRdlwf
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvrY6E1Fb9
“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zFwx9BoSL
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgipq31F0n
“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVY0Is5L6s
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7fW4Zcri2
“No, but I know you,” she replied, in a vaguely feral voice dipped in honey, her large, black eyes looking at him intently, reading him.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zb30hpR5r
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGJWBnZpRH
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkupou5u1yd
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdv0aaAEfgl
“I only believe what I see, and read,” she responded, her voice wrapping itself around him, drawing him to her like a moth to a flame.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwek8q3Hwu
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgjFwOAFpg
“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XYJMdQ3iE
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWigLq4pDW
She laughed, in response, a slightly disquieting sound, like pan pipes blown off-key. “Not that kind of reading,” she said, crossing her legs and broadening her smile.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXyXuAx1qB
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy8ong9O9l
“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZrTKMlSX3
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCgHrGAREB
“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrcZisL6lr
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzy2xFAQ4pg
“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8tad4Ed9I
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixG4LPqMoY
“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDh4rIXV9B
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QmP8OFO6y
“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BBiILlaL4
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NDuxAfGI3
“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNgbruDQZP
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMCC2oG4gs
“Well thank you. I do try,” he said grinning. He had no idea what game she was playing but was enthralled by her approach and drawn to her for reasons he would not have been able to articulate. She was lovely, true, but not as lovely as some of the other women he had been speaking to when he noticed her. There was just something about her. Maybe Chuck would need to take an Uber home after all if this played out right.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57aXovN5m0
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkREOX4Auo
171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDdUMh5uPZ
and then Add to home screen.