Mr Philosophy And His Feet

Your anxious toes lingered around the leg of the grand mahogany dining table, like the graceful, calculated steps of a preying tarantula, and then reached out and with one sudden, powerful pounce, held on to mine in a tight knot.

Well below the cacophony of clanking cutleries and wine glasses and excited conversations, I fought your relentless need to reiterate the lurid passion of our first session. Your mischievous glances fell like broken arrows before reaching their target, yet between staring down at my food and up at the glittering chandelier that hung low above us, I thought I had caught sight of that perfect crescent of your lips yet again.

Entangled in a lurid passion of interlocking toes, I acted against every instinct of my nature, and suffered pangs after pangs of guilt as you continued your impish assaults on my leg with increasing fervor and courage.

Right below the eyes of your partner.

So it seems the assurance of the perfect open relationship (interpreted as ‘business partners’ in your explanation) justified this rampant display of disregard of him. A muted nod of approval from him would open up a floodgate of unhinged, uncontrollable expression of admiration for everyone else except him, and unleashed now, a torrent of irreversible damage, that seemed so much less perfect than the love story that he has treasured throughout the twenty over years.

Humming along his favourite Thai music piping in from the living room, he busied himself with serving food and entertaining four other guests. I watched, from across the dining table, his rather listless expressions and muted responses which laid in contrast with the colourful and tasteful deco of the warm dwelling. His eyes told of a distant loneliness void of happiness and contentment, was he echoing the same rich emotions as the singer?

I caught your longing eyes when bidding goodbye. He avoided mine.

● ● ●

He opened the door and invited me in. Immediately, the sight of the gleaming mahogany table with the glittery chandelier hanging low above it flooded my eyes for the next few minutes. That evening when I met him, it was exactly one year back before I met you.

“Nice place!” I fingered the mini crucifixes hanging down from the chandelier. “Your partner’s not in?”

BRAVEHEART ^[101]