Here is a scene from my short story Redemption:
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A short time later, while mingling and chatting with the gathered guests, Howard noticed a woman sitting off in a corner of the large living room watching him intently with a half-smile. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, dressed in a simple black dress and black shawl, her long, lustrous vantablack hair flowing in generous undulating curls all about her. He gravitated towards her and asked her “Can I get you a drink?” taking a sip from his champagne flute.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ228ImH6UdW
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“I’m fine, thanks,” she responded with a smile.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvPCGkWyjk
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“Do I know you,” he asked, genuinely curious.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVqmMVPI9D
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“No, but I know you,” she replied, in a vaguely feral voice dipped in honey, her large, black eyes looking at him intently, reading him.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3Kl2K11qF
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“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he chuckled, taking a seat beside her.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXaS1UQsby
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“I only believe what I see, and read,” she responded, her voice wrapping itself around him, drawing him to her like a moth to a flame.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbR9uZ6nKE
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“So, you’ve read about me, have you? The Time Magazine piece? Forbes?”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhFtrSsdmD
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She laughed, in response, a slightly disquieting sound, like pan pipes blown off-key. “Not that kind of reading,” she said, crossing her legs and broadening her smile.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWH8GPVCIY
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“What other kind is there?” He asked, puzzled.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSas4nY82q
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“Oh, lots of other kinds,” she sighed in response.” Auras. Eyes. Body language. Souls.”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw36ukA7xn
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“So, you read souls, do you?” He said, amused.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8Gd2Zej8H
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“I read a great many things, souls among them, yes.”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5kibHB9Ji
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“So, oh most alluringly mysterious one, what do you read in mine?”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIXJaLo8ee
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“Darkness. Light. Ambivalence. Complexity. You are an enigma.”112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bMrIFdrP7
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“Well thank you. I do try,” he said grinning. He had no idea what game she was playing but was enthralled by her approach and drawn to her for reasons he would not have been able to articulate. She was lovely, true, but not as lovely as some of the other women he had been speaking to when he noticed her. There was just something about her. Maybe Chuck would need to take an Uber home after all if this played out right.112Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTT8xD1mI1
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