Elaine & Me

As she set the tray down, I noticed that she was playing with her long nails and was obviously unaccustomed to the longer length as she grasped her soup spoon.

"Your nails look like they were made for scratching a man's back what possessed you to get them that long." I asked her.

"Oh I wanted to show that I was a lady of leisure while I was away. They do take some getting used to and even some basic functions such as putting on clothes are much harder to achieve. Do you like them?" she asked flashing them in front of my face like a cat with its claws.

"I think they look terrific, if my back needs scratching I'll know who to ask," I laughed. I also noticed that her simple wedding band was missing but that her hand including one thumb was full of rings of all types. She also wore several gold rope bracelets including a gold slave bracelet.

Studying her nails closely, she added. "They are virtually unbreakable and should last the time we are away. I'll have to trim them back before I get back to work, I don't think I could operate a keyboard with these."

We ate the soup and didn't speak much until we finished. Lorraine jumped up and disappeared with the empty plates.

Elaine surprised me by getting up from her chair and sat down beside me on the sofa. "I like you a lot John. Do think that we might see each other again after your exams and our holiday," she said looking demure with her eyes framed in dark eyeliner and long lashes.

"I haven't thought about anything or anybody else since last night. I even dreamt about you last night" I lied.

"I hope that it wasn't a nightmare," she laughed.

"No I have had plenty of those lately but I just dreamt that we were walking through the park holding hands and feeding the ducks," I said quickly inventing the first romantic thing that came into my mind.

"That sounds sweet, maybe we can do that this afternoon," she said and then she leaned over and kissed me tenderly with her creamy red lips. I kept my eyes open and could see the shock on Lorraine's face as she returned from the kitchen to see our embrace and she shook her head slightly.