Chasing Memories

Two

I scan the crowded bar, looking for my friends who have seemingly moved from the spot where I’d left them when I took a trip to the restroom. On stage, a band is doing an impressive job of covering a Pitbull song. The bodies on the dance floor are jumping enthusiastically to the beat.

This place is packed. One wouldn’t guess from the turnout in here that a winter storm is raging outside, bringing high winds and snow, lots and lots of snow. The predicted accumulation of white stuff is supposedly going to be more than this area has seen in ten years. They’re calling it Snowmageddon.

I laugh to myself. Every time I think of the storm’s name, it makes me chuckle. I mean, really, Snowmageddon?

I suppose, if the end of time is going to come courtesy of snow, at least it had the graciousness to let the flakes fall on a night of celebration. If I’m going to say good-bye to life as I know it, I might as well do it with a sugary alcoholic beverage in hand while I’m dancing.

I continue to gaze around the room, but I see no sign of my friends anywhere. I’m sure they have each found guys and are lip-locked in some dark corner even though we all agreed we were going to bring in the New Year together, united in our single status. I contemplate going to the bar to snatch up another five-dollar Long Island special before thinking better of it. Three of those babies, and I would most likely need to be picked up off the restroom floor. That’s not how I want to start the New Year.

“Looking for me?” a voice that I can only describe as smooth and sexy asks from behind me.

Please have a face to match that voice, I think as I turn around.

I’m met with the most striking green eyes and gorgeous smile I’ve ever seen. In a forever that fits into the space of several heartbeats, my entire life flashes before my eyes. The details move too fast for me to register, but I’m left with an all-encompassing warm sensation of happiness and a paralyzing desire. The catalyst to all that goodness is standing before me.

Chalk it up to the two Long Islands I’ve drunk or the mesmerizing way in which his emerald eyes capture mine, but I’m now a part of a classic tale of love at first sight. Regardless of the initial driving force, the end result is the same. I need to know this guy. Maybe it’s not love but l**t. If that is the case, I’m okay with it, too. Deep down, my soul is telling me that, if this guy gives me a piece of himself, no matter how small, I will never want to let him go.

“In fact, I was. You are exactly whom I’ve been looking for,” I answer with a flirty smile.

“Aiden,” he offers by way of introduction.

“Mia.”

“Dance with me, Mia?”

I nod, and he grabs my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. We wind our way through the densely filled space until we come to a small opening, big enough for the two of us. I entwine my arms around his neck. His strong hands grab my hips and hold my body against his as we sway to the music.

This experience with Aiden is unlike previous times when I’ve danced with others. It is so much more. No words are spoken, but I hear everything. Each caress of a hand is a love note. Every time his fingers press into my skin, it’s a hope-filled whisper. Our connection is visceral, undeniable.

He feels it, too. I can tell in the way his lips part, allowing his breaths to come out in heavy gusts. The way his hands roam my body, as if they are starved for contact, is tantalizing. Our chests press together, and I might be imagining it, but I swear, I can feel his heartbeat rapidly pounding against me, and its cadence matches my own.

He’s so beautiful. Although virtually a stranger, he’s so familiar.

My drinks must have been laced with extra shots of dopamine and oxytocin because my needy obsession for this man is hovering around the border of insane and insatiable. I barely know him, yet I can’t remember ever wanting someone more.

I’m pulled from my Aiden fog when I hear the excitement around us.

“Ten! Nine!” the crowd chants. “Eight!”

I look to Aiden in question.

“Seven!”

I know what comes after one.

“Six!”

The possibility for awkwardness is imminent.

“Five!”

But Aiden simply smiles at me in the most delicious of ways as he joins in with the others, “Four!”

I take a deep breath before saying, “Three.”

I inhale again.

“Two.”

His eyes fall to my lips.

“One.”

The number has barely left my lips before Aiden crashes his mouth against mine. The kiss is intense and seamless, from the way our lips glide against one another’s to the desperate dance of our tongues, and it’s sweet yet so needy all at once. The combination is contradictory and just magical.

Confetti shoots around us, and balloons fall from the net above. Noisemakers shriek as the bar fills with ecstatic celebration. The joyous chaos surrounding us is white noise to the main attraction—Aiden.

He pulls away too soon, and I’m left wanting. The heady look in his eyes tells me he’s feeling the same way.

Lifting a hand up to my face, he tucks my hair behind my ear. His voice is quiet, almost a whisper, as he says, “Happy New Year, Mia.”

“Happy New Year, Aiden.”

“Make a wish.”

I raise an eyebrow in question. “But it’s not my birthday.”

“I like to start off each New Year with a wish. That’s the beauty of this night. You can change anything in your life for the better and make a fresh start.”

“So, like a resolution?”

“Yeah, pretty much. How do you want to change your life for the better, Mia?”

“What if I don’t want anything to change? What if I love my life exactly the way it is?” The question is hypothetical, and before it has even left my mouth, I know it’s irrelevant. I definitely want a change, and the precipitating factor for change is standing before me.

Aiden shakes his head in disappointment. “That’s not going to work for me.”

“Why not?”

“Because your life staying the same would interfere with my wish.”

I can’t stop the smile that creeps across my face. “How so?”

“Well, I can’t tell you, obviously. Then, it won’t come true. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” His words are a formal declaration, and I’m praying that his wish comes true.

I’m thinking of a witty response, but before I can formulate one, his lips are on mine again, and everything else fades away.