Sitting around a table at O'Malley's Garret and his morgue family raised their glasses to their friend.
"Happy Birthday!" they wished their colleague in unison. From the head of the table, Nigel flashed a wide smile and thanked them. They had been in the bar for most of the evening; most of them had drunken enough to embarrass themselves and as the night wore on the table got louder and louder. Garret had intentionally sat beside Audrey but tired to convince himself that it had been a coincidence. When she wasn't leaning over the table hollering something to someone at the other end, they talked privately about nothing and everything. Although Garret was surrounded by his dearest friends, tonight the only one on his mind was Audrey. He smiled to himself when she downed the last of her drink just in time for another to be placed in front of her. She clinked her glass against Garret's and took a long pull on it. Her expression changed half way through her swallow as one song faded away on the jukebox and another started. She slammed her glass down on the table a little harder than necessary and turned to him.
"I love this song!" she yelled over the din. She leaned down the table and when Garret followed her gaze, he found Jordan jumping out of her chair and heading towards them. "Excuse me, this is our song," Audrey smiled and pushed away from the table. She and Jordan made their way to the dance floor. With smiles plastered on their faces, they sang every lyric to and danced like a couple of teenagers.
Garret quietly wondered why it was that women always found that popular song of the month and claimed it as their own. And as the song played on he wondered how his friends could stand in the middle of a room full of strangers and not care if they were making fools of themselves. He secretly wished he could be more like them. Of course, he had no desire to dance in a bar, but he had seen his own confidence fade lately. He'd always kept mostly to himself, but more and more he found himself intimidated by the things he loved. He hadn't written in ages and had given up drumming almost completely. It was almost as if he were afraid of his own creativity, afraid of what might come out of him if he fed his passions. Somewhere in the back of his mind Garret knew why he'd stopped writing and playing. Although he tried vehemently to deny it, it was because of Audrey. He knew if he wrote, he'd write about her and if he played his drums, she'd be the only thing he heard. So for months he had done neither, reminded him self that she was married and tried to repress every romantic feeling he had for Audrey Jackson.
A minute later the song Jordan and Audrey loved so much faded into a slow number and both women headed back to the table. Audrey stopped behind her chair and looked down at Garret with a crooked smile.
"Dance with me," she said, half asking, half telling.
"I don't dance," Garret said, shaking his head
"Don't or won't," she challenged with a sly arch of her eyebrow.
"Both."
"C'mon, just let your hair down for once in your life," she urged and then erupted in laughter when she realized what she'd said. Garret blushed and ran his hand self consciously over his balding head as he turned back to his drink, but Audrey wasn't giving up. She grabbed his hand and tugged him out of his chair. "C'mon," she said once more and led him onto the dance floor. Once there, she hooked her left elbow around his neck and pressed her left side into his right. Garret smiled as their hands joined in the small space between them. Audrey let the quiet exist between them for only a second before she let her talkative nature get the better of her. She blathered on about every thought that popped into her head and made jokes about the couples dancing around them. Somewhere amid her ramblings Garret stopped listening and instead lost himself in the smell of her hair and the feel of her in his arms.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Garret asked when he realized that Audrey was laughing without him. Audrey tore her hand from his and slapped him playfully.
"You weren't even listening," she said, pretending to be angry. Garret apologized again and slipped his now empty hand around her so it met his other at the small of her back. Audrey laid her palm flat on his chest and was quiet for the first time all night. Garret smiled to himself and pulled her a little closer. Her hand slid over his shoulder and with both of her arms wrapped around his neck Garret's breath caught for just a beat when her chest pressed against his. As they spun on the dance floor, the song fading to quiet in the background, the rest of the world slipped away. For a few precious moments the only thing that existed for Garret was the brush of her breath against his neck and the heat radiating from under his fingertips on the small of her back.
When the song was replaced by some popular rock song Garret didn't recognize, he reluctantly let Audrey untangle herself from his arms. When she pulled back far enough for him to see her face Garret noticed immediately something had changed. The smile she usually wore so proudly had faded and her face was painted with an emotion that Garret was surprised to see. Having only known Audrey a short time, he couldn't be sure, but she looked scared, as if something in his touch had frightened her. She took another tentative step back and when she was a safe distance away her smile reappeared. She thanked him for the dance and returned to her seat at the table.
Garret was only a few steps behind her and when he sat down beside her she dove right into conversation with Woody across the table as if she hadn't even noticed Garret's presence. Deep inside of him Garret sensed that something had been irrevocably altered during their dance. He didn't know exactly what had changed or precisely how, only that it had. He knew Audrey felt it too, but if she was at all concerned by it, she was hiding it well. After a few long minutes of sitting beside Audrey and wishing he could hold her again, Garret claimed exhaustion, wished Nigel a happy birthday and made his way home.
Later, tucked into a bed that was far too big for only one person Garret tried in vain to dispel the thoughts of Audrey that had been playing on his mind for hours. When the memory of their dance earlier that night flooded him, he was transported back in time. He could feel every contour of her body pressed against his and smell the lingering scent of her shampoo in her hair mixed with the smoke of the bar. Staring up at the ceiling, Garret could see a familiar pair of green eyes looking back at him. He blinked twice and tried to forget the way those eyes made his heart race and stomach twist in knots. He struggled to remember a woman who had ever made him feel the way Audrey Jackson did. When he couldn't, he quietly wished that she had been lying to him when she claimed to be married all those nights ago on the roof of the morgue. When the thought crossed his mind he cursed himself for being so ridiculous, rolled over onto his side an willed himself to sleep.