Mercury had come to one of The Roommates movie nights back in August. He and KSL were old friends and Mercury just gone through a breakup. He had "escaped" back home to get perspective, and seemed like such a sweet guy that she did her best to cheer him up throughout the evening.
Even though they'd just met that night, he seemed different. She could feel him paying attention even when she was talking to other people. She could tell he was taking notes in his head, trying to figure her out. She dismissed it. He was going through a breakup and needed a weirdo like her to concentrate on, most likely.
At the end of the evening they exchanged social media, and he went back home, which was north about 5 hours. After some time Mercury gave her his number and they texted for awhile, but it seemed to run it's course.
Then he posted that he would be back in town. Her heart did a flip and then she checked herself. He was just coming into town, it had nothing to do with her. But they texted each other at the same time about getting together for a drink on the Friday night that he was in town.
There was a miscommunication and she assumed he had wanted it to be a group hang, so she scrambled to find other people to join them. Ultimately she was unsuccessful, save for KSL who joined them for a drink before heading to another social gathering.
Once they were alone, she felt the energy change. He had "turned up" and her empathetic self turned up as well. She hadn't had fun in so long, or a good conversation in so long, and it was electric. She was actually happy. She forgot what it was like, to laugh and enjoy a moment in time. She allowed herself to get lost in it.
Getting lost in it led to more drinks, dragging out the evening. The conversation got more flirty, and didn't stop. Just before midnight, he kissed her. It was sweet, and soft. And completely unexpected.
Later, he would tell her that he came in with a plan. They were going to go for drinks, flirt, walk around downtown, he would make the first move, and it would end at sex at her place. She admired that he had been a man with a plan, even if it hadn't gone exactly that way. First of all, he ended up making the first move at the bar.
This was done, he explained, because she had been flirting physically. How exactly, she asked. Her body pointed towards him, open, she had a comfort and ease touching and hugging, and had exaggerated gestures while making contact with him.
Meanwhile, she'd just been happy living in the moment. Who knew that her happiness translated into flirting? A power she would have to work on harnessing at a later date.
