Chapter 7: Courage
The following is a work of fiction, and a continuation of the previous posts, Chapters 1-6: Companionship has a funny way of lingering. Even hours after someone is gone, you can still hear their laugh, smell their sweet cologne, or see lip marks on the rim of their wine glass. I left the party after literally saying the exact and simple phrase, "hello, how are you?" to two other individuals. That was my quota for the evening. I left the party and immediately took off the tall shoes I was wearing when I walked into my bungalow. I hadn't worn any type of wedge or heals in what felt like decades, when my feet used to endure the pain of heels for hours while dancing. I was walking the short distance to my back deck barefoot, already with a lit cigarette in my hand. I told myself I had earned it after this evening. The companionship of talking with the sweet girl lingered in my head. Sure, I had interacted with strangers these past few months - waiters at restaurants...