… a curl of secret mischief on the lip… a certain bounce to the step. A disheveled whimsy has overtaken the individual’s demeanor. They are not telling but you know… or at least have a strong inkling that a line was crossed recently… and crossed willingly. The first flush of romance at this stage of infancy could amount to more than just an opportunistic fling. The period of feeling out and guessing games have played out and the safe divide that was has now closed.
You ask but they don’t volunteer anything. The secret has to remain precious for a little longer. You can’t help but smile because you have been there before. There are pauses in the conversation as they become momentarily lost in thought. They return betraying a sweet flash of a recent memory with a shy smirk and attempt continuing the discourse. Sometimes re-engagement is successful. More often than not the topic shifts as if to deflect away from the obvious.
Even at a distance… across the world through correspondence via snail or cyber means one can tell. Especially if regular contact is broken for a while and just as suddenly reconnected. The words or at least the usage of language is different. It is either stilted or lyrical… or both. In a chat or messaging situation you can feel that certain distance… a reticence to say too much. Not that they have abdicated the friendship but their desire is to savor it selfishly for just a little longer rules. If you suspect and ask the obvious there is a pause or a change in subject. You let it go just to be courteous. They still are processing and wafting in the land of float.
I know of those who get irritated by this demenor of the love dance… one that incorporates the sidestep when confronted by the real world. I for one find it sweetly entertaining as an observer. The flush of their face and the glow of their being reveals so much… more than they’ll ever admit to… for the moment. The wonderment of this new world they have entered and are tightly keeping to themselves is theirs and only theirs for now. Their grasp on it is unyielding lest the one they recently came from… the one that you are a part of should rudely intrude. I appreciate that need to protect this place where the light is soft. I bear them no resentment for wanting to choosing to. Soon enough that world within will merge with the world without… but for a while longer and for as long as possible it will remain their exclusive domain.