Later that evening, at the jazz club…


Torrie smiled at Maria and said, "Maria, wait until you meet your date! I promise you'll love him!"

Maria smiled weakly and nodded, feigning anticipation as best she could. For Maria, the ride to the club was almost excruciating as she couldn't take her eyes off of Billy, who was sat in the seat in front of her.

When they entered the smoky, dimly-lit club, Maria found that she still couldn't take her eyes off of Billy. Billy took Torrie's coat and placed it around the back of her chair and then sat down at the table to listen to the band, Torrie went to the ladies' room to freshen up, and Maria slowly walked over a few feet behind where Billy was seated and just stared at him.

She stared and pondered about how she could possibly find out if he felt the same way about her as she does about him. Those same confusing emotions from earlier returned in a second wave as she stood there silently. For as deep in thought as she was, it was like the band wasn't even playing and it was just herself and the man of her desires…just sitting in front of her in an empty room.

At that moment, Torrie came back with Maria's date.

"Maria, there's someone I want you to meet!"

Maria turned around and out of the shadows came her date--Christopher Daniels.

He smiled and extended his hand toward her and said, "Hi, I'm Chris. I assume, then, that you're Maria?"

Maria quickly fabricated a smile and shook his hand. She nodded and said, "Yes, that would be me. It's nice to meet you."

Chris smiled and said, "Ah, it's nice to meet you, too."

Torrie cheerfully said, "Ok guys, let's all sit down so that we can order something."

So they all sat down at the table that Billy was at. Maria thought quickly and casually sat herself down beside Billy while Torrie sat on the other side of him.

Billy smiled and said, "Hey Chris, glad you could join us, man."

Chris sipped his water and replied, "Hey bro, I'm always glad to go out on dates."

He coyly glanced over at Maria and continued, "Especially with women as lovely as Maria, here."

Maria smiled slightly and glanced downward. Billy furrowed his brow and asked, "Hey Maria, everything ok?"

Maria's eyes widened for a second and she smiled and replied, "Um, yes of course."

She smiled slyly at him and said, "Thank you for asking, Billy."

Billy, oblivious to Maria's subtle advance, smiled and glanced at Torrie, who smiled back.

Just then, the waitress walked up to their table. She handed out the menus, smiled, and said, "Good evening, my name is Angela and I'll be your waitress this evening. Can I maybe start you out with something to drink?"

Billy motioned to Torrie, and she smiled and said, "Um, yeah…lemme' have a gin and tonic—on the rocks, please."

As Torrie ordered, Maria looked at Billy smiling and waiting to place his order. Just in those few moments, another pulsation of emotion came over her. She loved the way he smiled, his posture when he was seated, and his manners—opening Torrie's car door when they arrived at the bar, taking Torrie's jacket off of her when they were seated, and letting Torrie order first. Although they were seemingly small things, they impressed her, nonetheless.

In fact, Maria was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear Billy's order.

Next, it was her turn to order. Slightly startled, she said, "Yes, uuh…I'll have a Bacardi and Coke, please."

Chris smiled and said, "And I'll just have a Ginger ale for now, thanks."

The waitress smiled and nodded, "Ok, I'll be back with your drinks shortly."

Just then, the band started playing a slow song—"Just the Two of Us", by Grover Washington, Jr.

Torrie smiled at Billy and he smiled back. Chris saw his friend smiling and snickered to himself. Maria looked on with envy and slight sadness, which led to a worried look on her face. She was worried that he'd ask Torrie to dance…and not her.

Billy smiled and said, "Torrie, would you like to dance?"

Torrie kissed him on his cheek and, in a low voice, she said, "Of course baby, let's go."

Maria glanced downward at her lap momentarily, she could feel tears about to form in her eyes. Logically, she knew that it wouldn't make any sense for Billy to ask her to dance instead of his own wife, but her own wishful thinking was just that strong that it made sense enough to her.

A slight laugh escaped Billy's lips and he walked Torrie over to the dance floor. Maria remained seated at the table beside Chris.

The waitress brought their drinks to the table and asked, "Ok, is there anything else I can get you?"

Chris spoke up and said, "Uh, no thanks--not right now, anyway."

Maria took a sip of her drink and never took her eyes off of Billy and Torrie. She sat immersed in her own thoughts, in her own little world. She thought to herself, "It should be me dancing with him. It should be my body that gets to feel his arms around it."

She turned and shot a glance at Chris. He smiled, as did she before she turned back around and took another sip of her drink. She furrowed her brow and thought to herself, "Chris seems like a nice guy, and yes, he is kind of cute…but I want Billy. I feel an unexplainable connection every time I'm around him."

Maria was truly in her own world right now. For every time Billy dipped Torrie on that dance floor, that was just one more time that he wasn'tdipping her. Just then, her world came to a screeching halt for a moment when Chris smiled and asked, "So, how long have you wanted Billy?"

Maria's head snapped around to face Chris, who was smiling and calmly sipping on his drink. Maria, mouth slightly agape, quickly glanced over at Billy and Torrie--who were still dancing—and then back at Chris.

So many thoughts raced through her head at one time. So many, in fact, that the only facial expression she could muster up was one of total shock and surprise. Chris sipped his drink and asked again, "So…how long has it been?"

Maria felt her stomach sink down into her bowels—as if she just heard that she only had six months left to live. She furrowed her brow and stammered out, "Uh…I-I don't know what you're, um, talking about."

Chris smiled and shook his head, "Well, I don't mean to pry, but I've seen the way you look at Billy. You've been preoccupied with him all night so far."

Maria just stared at Chris, she tried to form a complete thought in an attempt to explain or rebut, but just couldn't. She sighed and glanced downward, totally aghast that she'd been so obvious. Chris rubbed her back gently and said, "Eh, it's ok. Billy's a cool guy. But as you can see, he's taken."

Chris pointed toward the dance floor where Billy and Torrie were slow dancing. Chris offers, "Hey, I'll tell you what…"

Maria slowly looks at Chris and quietly asks, "Yes?"

Chris smiles and asks, "How about I tell Billy how you feel and you can talk to him privately?"

When he mentioned that, a sudden pain shot through Maria's chest. Her eyes widened out of sheer shock and she rubbed her chest gently. She quickly replied, "No! No, please don't. I-I'm not sure if I want him to know this."

Chris raised an eyebrow and explained, "I'm sorry to be so audacious about this, but from the looks of things, you and I both know you've obviously been wanting to get this out of your system—now's your chance! I can keep Torrie occupied up at the bar. All you need to do is just take your time and explain how you feel. Billy's a pretty understanding guy. I'm sure he'll be able to put all of this in perspective for you."

Maria took a couple moments to let all of this information sink in. She glanced over at the dance floor and saw Torrie kissing Billy slowly and passionately. When she saw this, she could've sworn she felt her heart stop beating momentarily. She watched them kiss, albeit for a couple moments, but to her, it may as well have been a couple hours.

Chris asked again, "So, do you think you'd be interested?"

Maria had a lump in her throat as if she felt like crying a bit. She turned to Chris and relented. She hesitated and finally replied somberly, "Yeah…go ahead. I need to use the ladies' room, excuse me for a bit."

She got up from the table and quickly made her way toward the bathroom in the rear of the building. Tears began to form in her eyes and she felt that she had to get away. Billy was out on the dance floor kissing Torrie and not her. Billy didn't even seem to notice that she wore his favorite color dress…or the perfume Torrie usually wore.

She looked back at that dance floor and, through slightly blurred vision, saw Torrie and Billy slowly dancing with a look of utter pleasure and mutual longing on both of their faces.


To be continued…