3WW

It's 3WW! Is it crazy that I have been waiting for today since Sunday?

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At the Start

I'm trying very hard not to fall in love with him. We go out for drinks, I laugh and our faces almost touch. I tell myself it's dim in here, hard to see. I lean closer. He touches my leg while talking about his boat, and I tell myself it's too soft, it's the feeble glancing touch of an old man. Because he is. Old enough to be my father, at least. I don't know how old, but I've got a good guess.

He throws a hundred down on the bar and helps me put my coat on. When we step out onto the pavement, I thank him for the drinks and say I'll see him tomorrow at work. He frowns.

"You're shivering," he says. "That coat isn't keeping you warm."

"It's fine."

He reaches to pull the collar together; my exposed neck warms. He buttons the very top button, and I think I must look silly. Not glamorous at all like this.

"I'm going to buy you a new coat," he says. "Tomorrow. A warm one."

"Absolutely not! Don't be ridiculous."

He grins, and I see the boy he must've been. Mischievous. Sure of himself. He brushes the hair from my ear, his leather gloves on my skin giving me new shivers. He leans in and whispers, "I predict that tomorrow, you will be wearing a new coat."

He walks me to my car, and I hope he mistakes my blush for the effects of cold air. His kiss on my cheek is chaste, his breath heat and brandy.

"Goodnight, Lauren."

I watch him go, wondering what sort of coat his wife wears.

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Thanks for reading! The words this week were: drink, feeble (the trippin' up word!), and predict. I've got a piece up tomorrow at Six Sentences, if you are so inclined.