Be-fore play!

 

 

Barely a foot away, impatiently waiting for that signal to touch. An hour had passed since the eyes had found their rendezvous. The wait was getting increasingly agonising.

A teeming lounge, two solitaries looking for a mate through the swarm, a pair of eyes in quest of another – a perfect setting for the exciting interplay to follow. It is that opportune moment for a subtle attempt by my eyes to briefly engage her eyes – precisely what happened.

And as is the wont, it was countered by the eyebrows arching to widen the eyes, the lids hastily lowering, averting the gaze only to meet a second time – an unspoken hint of interest; promptly followed by giggles and the sensuous hair twirling and head-tossing.

My body arched in an instinctive reaction, a relaxed lean on the chair placing the arms behind the head, a signal of masculine dominance. The eyebrow flashed to signal a ‘long-distance greeting’.

Slowly but surely the distance reduced, the eyes still engaging in a frolicsome duel. Within four feet from each other the effort to ‘break the ice’ started.

I’ve heard a few funny opening lines – but this one, coming after much contemplation and apparently from a colloquially challenged being, took the cake – “Hi”. Yet, often the simplest of one-liners turn out to be the most effective. This one sparked off a conversation instantly- though not as smooth as we would have imagined! The grind we were going through scrambling for words was astounding. These gaffes of the gab never cease to embarrass me.

During the entire confabulation we had subconsciously adopted a postural echo – my right side faithfully and instinctively matching the posture of her left – a sign of concord. The conversation magically remodeled itself into a coherent and pretentiously witty tête-à-tête – me trying to show my new-found gift of the gab and she tilting her head to show rapt attention. The rapport had been struck!

An hour later and a foot apart, the signal to touch was due anytime. But I had to wait. After all my hand listens to what its master, says. It is said that after the hands touch, the lips get to work. But then, foreplays are hard to forecast!