My arm-holding phone was getting tired and I was struggling to keep it up as the kiss intensified again. Our tongues met in one magical moment and suddenly, as they massaged each other, glided over each other, I felt like I was floating on air. My feet were no longer in contact with the ground. His arms were on my hips now, pulling at them. Pulling them closer until they slammed into him. I opened my hand and my phone tumbled to the ground, I didn’t care. I brought my hand down to the side of his face, running my thumb over his lips, pulling at them as our tongues explored the depths of each other’s mouths.
“Oh fuck,” I whimpered in total mind-numbing ecstasy as his tongue left my mouth and his teeth came down on my lip and tugged. I pulled away teasingly, and he grabbed my lip between his teeth again. I giggled this time, as I bit him back. Hard.Oh. My. God.I felt like my I was losing myself in this kiss. I’d never kissed anyone like this before, ever. Not even Matt in the lift. The kiss overwhelmed and overpowered all my senses and I wanted more, more, more of it . . .him.
But nothing seemed like it was enough. No matter how much I sucked, and licked and nibbled and how deeply I explored his mouth, I was still totally unsatisfied. I wanted so much more,of him. I was drowning and he was the oxygen I needed. I was burning and he was the water. I was lost and he was the way. I felt some strange bubble come over us. A hazy, thick, dreamy space that surrounded us and wrapped us up in it. I melted into the space, into him, and I never wanted to leave—
The sound of a car horn suddenly cut through all that and made us both jump backwards from each other in shock. Our eyes met and we stared at each other. I was out of breath, my heart was thumping in my chest and it felt like I had lava pulsing through my veins. Alex looked out of breath and dazed too. His cheeks were flushed and his hair was messy from where my hands had been. We simply stood there and stared at each other for the longest time. Finally, I spoke.
“Wow. Okay,” I said, swaying from side to side. The intoxicating kiss had only made me feel even more stoned now.
“Wow,” Alex repeated, a slow, giddy smile sweeping over his face.
“Wow,” I said again, smiling back at him.
“You already said that,” he chuckled. A deep, low chuckle.
“I know,” I said. I looked down and noticed my phone was on the ground. I picked it up, dusted it off and put it in my pocket.
“Soooo . . .” Alex asked, stretching the word out slowly, languidly, fluidly. So it sounded like liquid letters spilling from his mouth. For some reason this made me giggle.
“Where to now?” he asked.
“We just kissed each other,” I said with a giggle in my voice.
“I know.” Alex smiled at me. “We did. And it was hot.” He looked me up and down and I felt a little giddy. I stumbled on my feet and then spun around again, sticking my finger out once more. I came to a stop, my finger pointing upwards. “That way!” I declared.
Alex nodded at me, slipped his arm through mine and the two of us started walking across the road to the quaint shopping street in front of us. The streets and the shops and buildings looked even brighter and more colorful now.
We walked in total silence for a while, and I felt so in tune and in touch with Alex that I was sure I could read his thoughts. This was confirmed when we both suddenly stopped walking and stared straight ahead . . .
A revelation revealed itself unto us. Like the magical hand of fate swooping down. I’m sure the heavens were busy opening, angels were polishing their trumpets ready to sing and blow and dance and any moment now, a grand ethereal light would no doubt break through the clouds and bathe this place in its glistening glow of glowiness.
We both turned and looked at each other slowly. And then, we started nodding at the same time. Slowly up, slowly down. There was no need for words. No! We didn’t need such pedestrian things as words, this transcended words. This transcended sentences and paragraphs and entire encyclopedias. No words needed. We both knew what the other one was thinking.
“Yes,” I whispered over to Alex. This hallowed moment felt like it needed whispers.
“I agree,” Alex whispered back.
“Then it’s decided?” I asked dreamily.
“Wait,” Alex said. “We need to read it first.” He looked at me with a serious deadpan look plastered across his face. “Reading it makes it real.”
I nodded at him. Of course this made total sense at the time. I dug in my handbag and pulled the magazine out. It was so well read that the pages automatically opened at the right spot. I scanned the page, trying to bring my heavy eyes into focus, and started reading.
“ ‘Number Nine. Get Lit, AF! Get a makeover. Get a cut; there’s nothing better than stepping out with a brand-new hairdo when feeling down in the dumps. But make sure you take your BFF, in case you go full breakup mode and decide to shave your head or dye it mermaid. Splash out on new make-up, experiment with colors you’ve never used before. Nothing makes you feel better than sexy red lips.’ ”
I rolled the magazine up and slipped it into my bag again. We gave each other one more nod and started walking to the shop in front of us.
Salon Très Chic.
We’d almost reached the door when I heard that voice again. I stopped. I looked around once more to see if I could find the source of it. But there was no one near us.
“VAL!” it screamed at me. “Step away from the salon. Do not, I repeat, do not go inside. You are high as a kite. Do not get a makeover when high! Do not do this.”
But as soon as she’d finished, another voice joined in.
“VAL!” it screamed. “Don’t worry! Do it! It will be fun. Besides, you are at your most creative right now. Do it.”
The other voice answered back. It was almost pleading with me now not to do it. But I wasn’t having any of it—
