By Stephen Murtough
He took me by the hand and led me through the throng. Said it would just be one drink, but here we were.
The room throbbed to the unrelenting beat and he stepped close, his fingers interlaced with mine. Infinitesimal electric sounds teased my brain, and I arched my back.
A woman to my right looked like my wife on our wedding day.
The electric noises climbed higher, bringing me right to the brink, and a flashing strobe illuminated his face: my boss from work.
Then the electric released, and I arched my back further. And the dark room concealed everything.
This is really good. I love the twists and the reveal.
To me, this hero feels he’s crossed into what he considers taboo territory by going to a club with a man, his boss. At stake for him is his marriage to a woman. He agrees to go for one drink; finds pleasure in the dark.
I’m confused: while dancing in a dark that conceals “everything” the hero’s does, how he can see a woman that looks like his wife on their wedding day? Does the woman wear a veil? Or is there something specific about her manner that reminds the hero of this wife?
Of course, I want to know exactly what the hero is doing. But, I think it a great choice to let me, the reader, let my imagination to fill in those details.
I’m curious about the hero’s relationship to his wife. Does he love her? Has he been wanting to leave her? Is this moment his first step into (what he considers) taboo behavior? Or has he done this before? What about this moment makes this unique to this hero’s life?
I’ve enjoyed reading this moment.
OR, was this a woman, married to another woman and enjoying the moment with her boss? The way I read it, could be either one.