Bech had never been taken aback by seeing the human male
species like she was that night. She had seen him from across the forecourt of
the conference hall as she joined the queue patiently waiting their turn to
enter the auditorium. Their eyes met briefly, there was a sudden gust of wind,
and oh she felt the chill run up and down her arms and a warm shiver down her
back. She had felt that way only once in the entire twenty-four years of her
life. Bech shook her head to clear the memory; no, she didn’t want to go down that
lane. The man had
disappeared by the time she got herself together. Bech had wanted to check
again to see if she had truly felt what she felt, not a hallucination. Now she
wondered if she had even seen any man across the hall at all. She shook her
head again. What was happening to her?
Fortunately,
it was her turn to validate her ticket. She quickly pushed the foggy mystery
man to the back of her mind. After entering, she went straight to the front row
where her bosom friend Lily had reserved a seat for her.
“Where’s Jade?” Bech asked Lily.
Lily shrugged. It was customary for him to miss shows that he termed feminine; however,
he was fond of hovering over Lily and made it a habit of dropping her off at
the plays.
As soon as
Bech settled in her seat, she engaged Lily in their usual chit-chat and
predictions and anticipations of the cast and characters of the play. That was
the only conversation she had with her friend because, just when the curtains
rose for the start of the play, she received a note from an anonymous person. Someone
making their way behind her dropped the note carelessly into her laps. Bech had
no way of knowing whether the person was man or woman; so many people were
milling into the auditorium.
Upon opening
the square sheet, she was mesmerized by the neat handwriting with a specific
instruction: Meet me after the show. Front of Court. Could it be from
the man whose eyes she had met earlier? No, she shook her head. Lily nudged
her, “Bech, what’s that?”
“I don’t
know, Lily. I don’t know.” The confusion was visible on Bech’s face.
“I’m
curious,” Lily responded. “What does the note say?”
Bech showed
the note to Lily and Lily’s eyes widened. It was all they could do to focus on
the play.
“Who is he?”
Lily whispered to her friend.
“Lily,” Bech
responded in equal whisper, “I have no idea. It could be the man whose eyes met
mine outside…” Bech shrugged. “You know me. I don’t attract men easily like you
do.”
“Pinch me!”
she whispered back, her excitement bubbling further to the surface. “You met a
man outside, and you didn’t tell me?!”
“Oh don’t be
silly, Lily.” Bech shot back with a smile. “Does this”, gesturing to her
outfit, “look attractive to you?”
Lily gently
slapped her friend’s hand. “Oh come on, Bech! You don’t even try to attract
them. You’re always hiding behind your baggy trousers and T-shirts. You hardly
use any make-up at all. I wonder why you hide all of you. Whom are you afraid
of?” she humphed and turned in her seat to focus on the play. Bech knew Lily
had thrown her hands in despair in her mind and she hugged her friend sideways.
Lily cared.
Soon, the
play ended and Lily just couldn’t keep still. “Come on,” she dragged Bech,
“let’s not keep our MM waiting forever.” The last bit was said with her
characteristic roll of her eyes. Bech laughed. But as they approached the exit
of the auditorium, she became apprehensive. The questions rushed back: who was
meeting with her? Why? What did they want?
Finally, the
pair made it out of the auditorium into the airy foyer. Bech saw Lily scanning
the crowd for any handsome man looking their way. “Lily, stop it.”
“Stop what?”
she looked surprised.
“We look
desperate. Just stop searching. If he knows me, he’s going to find his way to
us.”
Just then, a
group of young men and women accosted them and invited them to a game in the
foyer. They were short of one team member. Could Lily join them? Lily jumped in
and went with them. She began interacting with them as if she had known them
from Primary School. Now Bech was left alone in the foyer, with so many people
milling around, and wondering which one wanted to see her.
She didn’t
have to wonder long, for just as she turned to find a seat, she bumped into a
solid wall of rippling muscles. The hands that reached out to steady her
were smooth yet solid, the kind of hands that could strangle a dog while making
it feel at home. The voice that reached her ears when the wall spoke… it was
all she could do not to crumble like a pile of cards into his steady arms. Instinctively,
she knew he was the one she was waiting for.
“You alright?”
he asked, the rich baritone flowing from his throat into her eardrums. “Hello? Are
you okay?”
“I am,” she
responded, standing upright to look fully at the face of the muscles and her knees
felt weak again. When last had she felt that way, she couldn’t recall. It had
been so long since she felt like that.
“Can we take
a walk?” he offered.
“I’m sorry. I’m
waiting for my friend…” Bech began to explain and saw a small smile play on his
lips.
“Wow, we’re
friends already?” He laughed at the confusion on her face, not caring about the
curious stares beginning to flow in their direction. When Bech looked around,
she saw that some of the ladies were green with envy. Indeed, the man standing before
her was quite a catch. “Well, if we are, then let’s get walking.” He took her right
hand in his and they strolled out of the foyer into the night.
It was a cool
night, the sky so clear that the stars were twinkling in the sky. The moon gave
off her brightness, not allowing to be outdone by the stars. It was a full
moon, and the brightness lit up the dark sidewalk where Bech and her man
walked. They strolled silently for a long time, her hand firmly in his. It felt
very natural to walk with him. It was as though they had been together some
time past and were reconnecting. Bech sighed. What did he want? Where were they
going to? When she looked back, the only indication of the theatre was its
pinnacle. They had gone really far off her bearing.
Just then, he
stopped, making her stop too. Then he turned her towards the street and
whispered in his husky voice, “Do you see the moon? She’s out for you. As bright
as your eyes the stars twinkle. I wanted to show you how naturally beautiful
you are.”
Indeed, the
sky was beautiful. He made her feel beautiful too, and she turned around to tell
him that, only to find his face mere inches from hers.
“You’re tall,”
he commented appreciatively. She could feel her breath taking in his slowly and
steadily till she didn’t know which was hers. “Would you permit me…” he
whispered, his nose nearly touching hers. At that point, even if she would not,
she didn’t have the strength to decline. Her eyes fluttered close, and, taking
that as permission, he touched her lips with his, ever so softly, testing,
tasting, then taking it all in.
Bech responded
with similar passion, sucking his lower lip as if her life depended on it. She held
his head down to hers and slid her tongue in, intertwining her tongue with his in that steamy dance. He gripped her waist firmly, gently aligning her hip
to his. She felt his masculinity below his waist rock-hard against her abdomen,
driving her crazy with need. Instinctively, she ground against his hardness. He let out a feral groan deep in his throat as an
indication of how affected he also was by the fire they had lit, and drew her
closer to him, as if he could make her a part of him in that moment.
Her hands
snaked up the back of his head for a deeper connection. She had never felt so
bold, so brazen with a man, talk less of a complete stranger. Stranger! Oh
goodness! Bech froze suddenly. He sensed the change in her and pulled back,
looking quizzically into her eyes. Bech had to blink several times so that she
would not be hypnotized by those dark pools.
“We can’t do
this!” Bech finally said, the words rushing out before she lost the courage and
fell back in. “We can’t continue…”
“Why?” he cut
in hotly. “You feel what I feel. You know what we both feel. You have
done. You can do it. Come…”
“No,” Bech
stepped back once, twice, a third. Then she turned around and run, tears
streaming down her cheeks. No… she couldn’t have kissed a stranger with such
recklessness. She didn’t even know his name! But she ran, putting in the
distance as much as she could. She could hear him call her faintly but she kept
running. She couldn’t. She couldn’t. She…
“Bech!” the
voice finally broke through the distance. Jade?
“Wake up,
Bech. We’re running late for the concert.”
Bech came to
slowly, scanning her room. She was in bed, the sheets entangled around her
feet. She felt cold but she was sweating. Where had she been before?
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