Re: Hallway / Lia & Alexander
It was always a secret point of pride for Lia to appear with Samuel on her arm. He cleaned up beautifully, and personally, she thought they were really aesthetically compatible. The unseasonable coolness hadn't affected her choice of attire too much -- she'd opted for a minidress with full three-quarter-length sleeves that gathered in a pleated cuff in gold champagne silk georgette. It was a deep but tasteful v-neck with dropped shoulders, gathered at the waist to let the fabric drape a bit. Her hair was down, her spirits were up, and her Jimmy Choo sandals were built with broad black patent leather.
In general, Lia loved a party, but she was looking particularly forward to seeing Alexander, though some wiser part of her might have felt some sense of trepidation of introducing him to Samuel -- or introducing Samuel to him. Somewhere, she held the delusional hope that they were all adults, and it might have been that she'd been evasive about the nature of her relationship with her old friend, but that was all in the past. Today, he was an old, dear friend throwing a party, and reconciling these two parts of her lives peacefully -- or at least something like it -- was foremost in her mind.
As Samuel kissed her, she smiled, closing her eyes briefly. But when she opened them, she spotted Alexander, standing in the doorway of his apartment, looking rakish and writerly with his cigarette and his perfect outfit, and instantly, without thinking, she smiled brilliantly.
"Wait, bello," she told him, putting her hand on his arm. "I want you to meet Alexander first."
Taking his hand, she led him to where Alexander stood smoking, where she released it.
"The great author joins us, finally, in the land of plenty," she grinned. "And in such a gorgeous new home!"
She reached out to give him a hug whose duration and bodily distance were carefully calculated for propriety. When she pulled away, she said,
"This is my magnificent other, Samuel Wolfe. Samuel, this is Alexander Dahlin."
Watching both men, she smiled as though she had no concern about any possibility of disaster at all.