In the meantime, how about a little sample of something I did a long time ago.... enjoy.
The Ballroom
When she walked into the
ballroom, Tim did not immediately see her.
He was standing near the center of the enormous room among a group of
men and women in black-tie tuxedos and brightly colored cocktail dresses. The loud resonance of muffled conversations
nearly drowned out the soft jazz from the band.
He stood, arms folded across his chest, trying to appear interested in
the boring story being told for the fourth time in an hour by his boss, Richard
Chaney. Tim laughed on cue and smiled,
and attempted to keep eye contact with his boss and the circle of clients
gathered around him. However, his gaze drifted off between outbursts of
laughter, searching for any kind of distraction from the boredom. That was when he saw her. And everything changed.
~~~
She stood near the front
entrance, her back to him, being introduced to a small group of clients, when
she glanced over her shoulder with the most beautiful smile he could ever
remember seeing. She wore a simple, elegant
red dress, fitted very well, all the way to the floor. It was open in the back, revealing perfectly
smooth and tanned shoulders and a curving shadow running down the middle of her
back. Her lips flashed the same color as
her dress for the briefest of instants until she turned back towards the group
in front of her. Her hair was light
brown, flowing just over her shoulders as she turned her head. The soft lights from the chandeliers
reflected softly from her hair and back.
Tim’s gaze was instantly locked onto her as the manufactured smile on
his face melted away slowly, like a sunset.
His face was frozen in utter amazement; lips parted the slightest bit,
and his eyes opened wide taking in her every move.
“Tim!” A hand slapped him on the back, jarring his
teeth, and breaking the trance.
“How’ve you been son?”
Mr. Chaney had finished
telling his story, and his audience had started prowling for other
opportunities to mingle. Ralph Mendor
stood with his arm draped around Tim’s back reaching for Tim’s free right hand.
Startled, Tim leaned away
saying, “Good, uh, Mr. Mendor...”
“Looks like you forgot
where you was there for a second, Timmy.”
He roared with laughter at his own attempt at humor, while vigorously
shaking Tim’s hand.
Ralph Mendor was Tim’s
former boss, and the man who had hired him to come to work for Campbell and
Locke. For that, Tim owed Mr. Mendor a
great deal, and tried his best to be cordial to the behemoth of a man. Ralph Mendor, in turn, acted like Tim’s
mentor even though he had not taught him a darn thing. And it belittled Tim to no end when Mendor
called him Timmy, or son. It was just
Mendor’s way of showing his level of power in their organization, and at this
point, Tim could do little about it.
“Yes sir,” Tim replied, “I
did lose track there for a second.” Tim
stared at the Jack Daniels spilling out of Mr. Mendor’s glass as he turned from
side to side, greeting people as they passed by.
“Well, son, you’d better
pay attention to Chaney,” he said pointing in the general direction of Tim’s boss,
“cause he’s your ticket to the big game.”
He winked at Tim and leaned in close to Tim and whispered loudly, “But
you didn’t hear that from me!” Again he
roared with laughter, obviously influenced greatly by Mr. Jack Daniels. Slapping Tim on the back once again, he
strolled off into the crowd, spilling his drink from side to side. Tim shook his head in disgust as he watched
the slovenly man slap his next victim on the back, spilling their drink. Immediately, he spun back towards the front
of the ballroom, looking for her.
Gone.
He glanced around in all
directions in the ballroom scanning the crowd quickly hoping to find her not
far away. Not a trace of red
anywhere. Up on the second tier of the
bi-level ball room, Tim saw Chandler Stevens, his best friend from school. Quickly, he made his way through the crowd to
the steps connecting the two levels of the ballroom.
“Chandler!” Tim waved to his friend as he saw him
finishing a conversation with a junior partner from Campbell and Locke. He trotted up the few steps towards the huge
second tier of the ballroom. It was not
a second story, but merely a raised section near the windows with French doors
leading to the outside garden area.
“Hey Tim, how’s life
treating you at C and L?”
Chandler hugged Tim and shook his hand.
“Aw man, it’s going
great. Staying really busy right now,”
replied Tim.
Just a year earlier, Tim
had been Chandler’s best man in his wedding to Rachel. Tim was sometimes jealous of the two, having
met at school and getting married just a year after graduating. It was really great to be such good friends
with them both, since they had all been in school together. Tim had been with Chandler the night when
they had met. And he had seen their
relationship grow during their junior and senior years. Rachel had become a great friend of Tim’s as
well.
“So how’s Rachel? Is she excited about this move you’re
making?”
“Hmm. Let’s see, what do you think?”
They both laughed, knowing
she’d be thrilled with the new responsibility and huge increase in pay.
Composing himself, Tim
said, “Listen, did you see the girl in red that came in about ten minutes ago?”
Chandler flinched in mock
surprise. “Uh oh.” He grinned. “Tim Riker’s in love again!” he said,
laughing at Tim.
Tim smiled and shook his
head. “Alright, alright, calm down. I’m just asking if you saw her.” His face flushed slightly with embarrassment.
“Well, well, you’re really
serious aren’t you?” asked Chandler, becoming slightly more serious.
“Yeah,” said Tim, shaking
his head again and looking around the ballroom, “She got here about ten minutes
ago, and...” he sighed, “... and I almost stopped breathing when I saw
her.” He looked back at Chandler. “I didn’t even get a good look at her,
Chandler.” He paused. “I only saw her from the back.”
Chandler regarded Tim like
a museum patron analyzing an intricate painting. Tim seemed nervous and excited at the same
time, with a sense of urgency that he’d seen in his friend very rarely. Tim continued scanning the room turning his
head back and forth. “Well,” Chandler’s
gaze hung on Tim for just another moment before turning towards the crowd
below, “we’d better find her.”
Tim looked back at
Chandler and then dropped his eyes to the floor and chuckled under his
breath. “This is crazy,” he said shaking
his head. “What am I doing?”
“What do you mean,
crazy? This is definitely not
crazy.” Chandler paused for Tim to look
up. “In fact, this is as real as it gets
buddy. You have no choice but to act on
something like this.”
Tim rubbed his
clean-shaven face and looked out over the ballroom full of Campbell and Locke
associates mingling with clients. “She’s
gone.”
Chandler threw his head
back and laughed. “Oh ye of little faith
my friend. Dare you give up so easily?”
asked Chandler in his best theatrical voice.
Tim laughed and replied,
“Alright, so what do you suggest?”
Looking over Tim’s
shoulder toward the open French doors, Chandler lifted his glass of wine and
half pointed with the glass. “Well, I
suppose you could go over and talk to her.”
Tim stared blankly at
Chandler. Slowly, he asked “She’s behind
me?”
“Well, a beautiful girl in
a red dress just walked in from out in the garden area.” He looked back at Tim. “And…” he paused, smiled a huge grin, and
looked back at her, “I see what you mean.”
~~~
When Tim turned around,
she was walking near the large glass windows separating the garden area from
the inside of the ballroom. She was
holding onto the arm of Carl Redmond, President and CEO of Redmond
International, one of Campbell and Locke’s most prestigious clients. Carl Redmond was speaking to Richard Locke,
one of the two senior partners in their small consulting firm. Tim and Chandler watched as the three
strolled directly towards them for a few steps and then turned and began
walking down the steps to the first level.
She was gorgeous. No doubt.
Tim’s heart raced and his thoughts ran together. For those precious few steps, she had been
facing him directly. She wore a single
strand of pearls around her neck, just above the high neckline of the amazing
red dress he had seen earlier. When she
walked, it reminded him of warm honey oozing from a jar. She was fluid and graceful, and he could not
take his eyes off of her.
Tim heard Chandler’s
distant voice and it brought him back to reality. He broke his gaze for an instant and turned
back towards Chandler.
“...know who the young
woman in the red dress is walking with Carl Redmond?” Chandler had turned around and was talking
to Gary Simms, another junior partner at Campbell and Locke.
“Oh yeah, that’s Sarah
Redmond, Mr. Redmond’s daughter.”
“Oh really?” Chandler grinned watching her and her father
on the lower level now.
“Thanks.” He turned back to Tim and put a hand on Tim’s
shoulder.
“Sarah Redmond?” Tim repeated.
“Oh yes my friend.” Chandler looked back down to the lower
level and grinned ear to ear, “You certainly know how to
pick’em.”
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