We’re not out the club five minutes and I can already feel Deb shivering in my arms. A wave of guilt washed over me – it’s because of my temper we’re here in the first place. I’m allowed to be a little overprotective though, right?
Not really. She’s a young woman and she has her own right to do as she pleases; but inside I can’t suppress the feeling I’ve realised after all those nights of wondering who she was, and whether she was as beautiful up close as she was from where I saw her. I was more than prepared to find out if she was much more than a music-induced delusion; even though I had more than a suspicion of the fortunate truth that she was.
“Deb,” I start up slowly. “I want to ask you a question-”
“Oh God.” She mutters. This doesn’t reassure me, and so I stop and turn to her in the middle of the street, completely ignorant of anyone who might be watching.
“No,” I reply, a little too enthusiastically. “It’s not bad, well I don’t think so. It all depends on your view of things.”
She looks at me inquisitively, and I bite my lip. Instead of answering I pull her hand and we walk on. I want to get her somewhere warm before I do anything. “C’mon.”
The silence while we walk is too conspicuous to cope with, and so I find myself explaining just to avoid it.
The night sky could be orange through the glow of the streetlamps, and as I talk I notice that the gentle light makes her skin look even softer than it does in the club. She’s silent, looking at the ground in front of her as she walks. Her expression could be mistaken for normality, but I’ve seen that face before, she’s thinking something. The path steadily winds around to a taxi rank near the centre of town.

“Listen,” I had begun my confession. “I... This isn’t the first time I’ve been hand-in-hand with a girl – that’s not to say I do this all the time so please don’t get the wrong impression – and I realised before just how protective of you I... Want to be. And, in a sense, always have been since I saw you the first time. I want to know more about you, Deb. I want to make up for all the times I’ve ever wanted to talk to you...”

I squeeze her hand gently as we reach the taxi rank. From inside, an overweight Italian man with unwashed facial hair smokes a cigar and looks at the two of us expectantly. He can wait.
Turning to her, I take both of her hands in mine and look directly into her eyes which are sparkling in a shaft of moonlight. After a deep breath, I make the final leap:
“My question is... Deb, I like you. I feel like I know so little about the breathtaking mystery you are, you’ve always been just ‘that girl’, but what I do know makes me smile every time I think about it. I... I can’t get you out my head, Deb. I don’t know how you feel about this-” I squeeze her hands. “-any of this... But... I’d like to?”
For the next few moments, my heart is in my throat. It’s one thing dancing with a girl who might be using you to pull a guy but...
It’s quite another to ask her out.
Without a word, Deb emerged from her slightly stunned and pensive state by slipping her arms around my waist as they were before, only this time she pulls me in tighter. After a couple of precious seconds, I lean back a little to see if she’s okay...
And that’s when it happened. Her whisper is soft in my ear, and her warm breath in the cold night air makes me shiver. “My girl.”
Instinctively I wrap my arms around her to try and keep her warm, and she tilts her head a little, pulling me in. Her lips are so close to mine, full and pale in the driven chill, it’s enough to more than push me over the edge of decorum.
Softly, slowly, she leans in and presses her lips against mine. The kiss is gentle, caring, yet in the way she moves I can tell it’s a long-awaited release of emotion. I press my lips a little harder against hers in return and I feel her whole body succumb as she relaxes in my arms.

Pulling away to leave, Deb smiles bashfully, handing me a piece of paper with her number clearly written on it. I slip it in my back pocket, internally bouncing with delight.
Just as she’s about to get into the cab, I touch her arm and she stops, turning to look at me with one foot in the taxi and one foot on the road. I suddenly feel extremely confident.
“Hey, baby? Can I take you out to dinner?”
She smiles and nods, squeezing my hand. We say goodnight, and as the taxi drives away to take her home, I just can’t believe my luck.