Eternal Lovers in a Fat Cat's Den

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the smell. It was a smell that could only be found in a place such as this, it hit you like a mallet to the back of the head, pushing your senses in all directions, forcing your mind to re-think itself. The smell was so thick it had weight, and it was sticky.

"God damn it," I thought to myself, "I'm gonna sweat so much today."

"So what do you think?" Cari asked. She wore a dress I had never seen before, and looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing lipstick and eye shadow, something she hadn't done for months. Her hair was down, and I couldn't help but notice how soft it looked as she turned her head to look at me. Everything about her seemed soft.

"It smells like sex," I said.

She smiled at me and then leaned over and kissed my ear through my hair, softly biting my earlobe, sending shivers down my spine.

We took our seats on the other side of the bar and waited to be approached by the bartender. We had made plans to meet here an hour ago, but I got caught up at work. I was running late because of an emergency meeting with my boss - he had said that this would be a 'very important meeting', which is usually just corporate-speak for being an 'interminable bullshit session'. He talked about his son's soccer game in excruciating detail for nearly half an hour. Then he talked about his daughter's horseback riding lesson for another twenty minutes; I'm pretty sure he even forgot about his meeting with me at one point because he kept looking out the window into his backyard where his kids were playing with their pets (his dog and their cats). At some point during all of this I began to feel dizzy from staring at him in silence. So yeah, late by about forty-five minutes or so.

I guess it couldn't have been that bad though, because now we were here at Fat Cats having drinks with each other; a little unusual since neither of us like bars much anymore (or at least I don't), but tonight was special so we might as well get in some quality drinking time together before heading back home to engage in passionate lovemaking (and eat spaghetti).

A waiter dressed in black slacks and a white shirt approached us carrying two glasses of wine on a silver tray. He set them down on coasters in front of us without saying a word and walked away without looking back. Cari picked up her glass and took a sip while I examined mine closer - it was red wine, very dark red wine, almost black. And there was something else odd about it: the pour was perfect - not too high or too short - and the bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass were completely still; it looked almost like someone had poured water into a glass full of gelatin powder instead of wine; all movement ceased inside the drink itself - which is pretty strange when you think about it because wine is supposed to react with air every time it's poured into a glass causing all sorts of bubbles to form around the liquid itself (done properly of course).

"What kind is this?" I asked Cari as we clinked our glasses together before taking sips from them both simultaneously. The taste was similar to what you would expect from most Merlots or Pinot Noirs; sweet yet somehow bitter at the same time; smooth on your tongue but rough on your throat - which is funny because usually people describe wines as 'raspy' or 'biting' or whatever when they are dryish (whatever that means) or astringent or acidic... whatever that means either... anyway... this wasn't any kind of wine I had ever tasted before and yet it tasted familiar somehow... weird... maybe my palate has changed or something...?

Cari shrugged her shoulders at me with a concerned look on her face, "It's just wine," she said simply while staring into my eyes with unwavering intensity, moving her gaze from my eyes down across my chin line towards my neck then back up again towards my lips until finally dropping her eyes slightly downward towards my chest area right above where her hand had been resting lightly on top of mine since we sat down over thirty seconds ago. She certainly knew how to get my blood boiling without even trying!

As we continued exchanging sultry gazes and tempted by flirtatious impulses, I couldn't help but think about our evening ahead. Dinner would surely be followed by dessert and perhaps some dancing before we made our way back home. It was easy for me to get lost in thoughts of us together, planning the night as it unfolded.

But returning to reality, I realized we had limited funds for our extravagant desires. With only ten dollars to spare, ordering steak may not be an option. However, we refused to let this damper our spirits and decided to make the