The Dating Chronicles – The Outing

The Dating Chronicles

The Outing

Mark had been watching her, and he could tell she was watching him.  She was beautiful in a white dress that flowed behind her as she walked through the party.  She had been walking back and forth by him for the last hour.

The room was full and the crowd was eclectic.  As Mark scanned the packed dance floor, he was reminded of how long it had been since he’d been out.  He used to love to dance, but he hadn’t danced since the accident.

He had come out only because it was his best friend Bill’s birthday party.  Since his injury, he had hidden in the house away from the stares and questions and learned to content himself with being alone.

As he turned to look for Bill, the girl in the white dress passed him again and this time she looked boldly at his missing arm and then into his eyes.  She smiled warmly, nodded toward the dance floor, and then posed expectantly for his response.

Mark turned away quickly as she walked away, his head suddenly reeling with forgotten feelings.  He was struck by her beauty and her mischievous smile, but he felt pitied and unqualified to return the flirtation.  He moved from his seat to search the crowd for a sign of his friend Bill to tell him he was ready to go.  A woman in a red dress stopped in front of him with the drink in her hand explaining her slur.

“Hey Cutie, what happened to your arm?” she asked with a frown on her face. However, before he could answer, the woman in the white dress appeared again and pulled him aside.

“Why have you ignored me all evening?  I’ve done everything, but hold up a sign, and you run away.” Her smile was wide and friendly.

“Are you married or just shy?” she asked with a wink of her eye.

“No, I’m not married,” he replied in a shaky voice.

“Good,” she said, as she pulled him toward the dance floor.

“Let’s dance!”

Mark moved forth awkwardly but suddenly came alive with the thought of dancing for the first time in two years.  He heard Bill call his name, but he kept following the white dress.  It was the best evening he’d had in a long time and one he would never forget.

Two years later, he married the girl in the white dress on a yacht in Jamaica…where she wore yet another white dress.