"Storm - Soaked Night. A Door Opens. Two women. One House. One Game"
Student:
(Standing on her porch, drenched, shivering)
I didn't expect the sky to open
Not like this
A flood like shame on skin.
Shoes ruined, blouse translucent
Clinging like my thoughts
To the woman whose voice
I'd memorized before her name.
Her door opened
Before I could knock
"Come in," she said.
And I did
Into her world
Her scentless air, clean and sharp
Like snow melting on a steel blade.
I said, "I didn't know where else to go."
She didn't laugh.
She took my coat,
Took her time.
Let her fingers graze me
Like a warning she knew I'd ignore.
We didn't speak
Not in full sentences.
I watched her brew tea
Watched her hips move like secrets
And wanted nothing more
Than to be poured
Into her hands.
I dried off in her guest bathroom
But my heart stayed soaked.
When I returned
She had candles lit,
As if shadows could be curated,
As if she wasn't one herself.
"Sit," she said.
And I sat,
Willingly.
Danger has never looked so soft.
Or smelled so clean.
And I I was a body
Pretending not to beg.
Teacher:
(Sipping her tea, watching the girl melt into her home)
She didn't know
That I'd checked the forecast
Three days ago.
Or that I chose this night
To leave the window cracked
Just enough to hear the storm
Swallow the city
And bring her to my door.
She looked ruined.
Delicious.
Like something drowned
But still breathing
Still tender.
I did not rush.
Seduction thrives
In time stretched taut.
She didn't ask why the fire was lit
Why the tea was already steeped
Or why I had towels folded
On the edge of the couch.
She's innocent still
But her eyes betray her.
She wants me to ask her to stay.
To taste.
To press my lips
To the part of her neck
She tries to cover
With soaked strands of hair.
And I will.
But not tonight.
Tonight, I want her restless.
Wet in more ways
Than the sky could manage.
I want her to dream
Of what I almost did.
To crave the moment
My voice drops an octave
And she finally stops pretending
That she's not mine.
She doesn't know
That I won't kiss her yet.
That letting her go
Back into the storm
Will be my first touch.
Because when she comes back
And she will
She'll beg to stay.