To my delight, my friend E took me to a formal jazz club. We first dined on a terrace with a view of the sea, the salty air seeming to flavour the large, aromatic rib-eye steak and corn. We drank red wine, a dark garnet-colored spicy wine tasting of blackberries and plum. It was amusing how the couple sitting at the table across from us was a lesbian couple, not that I find homosexuality amusing, but the situation itself.

The dance floor was more crowded than I had expected, covered in a dark red carpet with large rose patterns, which I thought was tacky. Nevertheless, the crowd was quite interesting and multinational, though we were not surprisingly the only Asians. All of the men were wearing tuxedos except for E, looking dashing in a black suit and black necktie. I don’t like bowties, so it was nice. Besides, didn’t Norma Desmond say that tuxedos are for waiters?

The only empty space was smack in the middle, and we tried a waltz, but couldn’t reallly coordinate beyond the first few steps. Finally, we spotted an opening in the rear, and skirted over next to the wall. Fortunately, the band started playing a series of slow, bluesy songs, with a lot of mellow saxophone. The wine and the music were intoxicating, my head becoming light, I buried my face in E’s shoulder as we wrapped our arms around each other in a slow dance.

The most wonderful thing about E is that he doesn’t feel obligated to fill every second with conversation (or maybe he is just multitasking). The dance script is beautiful- sometimes we untangle ourselves to hold hands, and it is delicious how my hand fits into his huge palm like a baby’s, making me feel secure.

Of all the dates with E, this was certainly one of the best and so romantic, despite the fact that we were surrounded by other couples, we felt so alone and in our own world.
-I wish time would stop right now, I said.
-Just looking at you is making me drunk, he said.
-It’s the wine, I said.
-No, its the music and being here with you, he said.

That last line was sort of a glitch for the short role-playing session, because you see, I didn’t have my speakers on.