Ria, a party and her mysterious Greek dance partner

Ria was walking down a 1st floor hallway staring at her phone. The map in her mailbox seemed straight forward when she first started off. She'd decided to go to the banquet room to get a bite to eat. She had backtracked once after missing a turn in this enormous house and had her nose glued to her cell screen determined not to do that again. Stopping at the latest intersection she took a right as the map indicated and came to an open door. She slipped her phone into the clutch she was carrying and stepped inside.

The room was rectangular in shape with polished tile floors and cream walls like the rest of the place. The did have low pile, dark runner rugs strategically placed in high traffic areas, likely to prevent slips. Two men in white suits were setting trays carefully on a long table in the middle of the room. They appeared to mostly be ignoring her. This was probably a good thing since the music blaring from the adjoining room made it too loud for conversation anyway. She grabbed a small plate from the end of the table and walked down the length filling it with some cheese and crackers. The third server in white walked up, offered a glass of wine, and wordlessly pointed her towards the far doorway to exit. She walked through and was taken with the hustle and bustle. It seemed she'd finally found a party.

The room was big and it was rocking. There were perimeter lights along one wall with small tables set up for people to sit and eat at but Ria's eyes were drawn to the dance floor. A large hardwood platform took up the majority of the room. It looked like a temporary addition specially constructed for the party. Except for a few flashing globes hanging from the ceiling, the only light on the floor came from a huge screen filling a large chunk of the far wall. It was a DJ live streaming the music and judging by his comments he could see the dancing people just fine, there were at least a dozen of them.

Ria found an empty table, sat down, and sipped her wine. Then she turned her attention to the show in front of her. The energetic music really spoke to her and the fact that most of the dancers were male brought a grin to her face. She pulled a small mirror from her bag, adjusted her makeup a bit, and ran fingers through her hair trying to wave it out some. Time to see what kind of fish I can reel in, she thought as she stood. Gulping the rest of her wine down, she draped her bag over her shoulder and stepped up onto the platform to join the dancers.

It didn't take long at all before Ria fell into the beat. The almost hypnotic rhythm had her hips swaying and feet moving. It also did not take long before she attracted the attention of her fellow revelers. For the next half hour, she cycled from dancer to dancer, feeling her way through the crowd while searching for someone that fit her mood right.

It was a weird sensation, outside the glow from the screen and the twinkle of the ceiling lights there was little illumination on the platform. It was like she was dancing with shadows. She felt, heard, and reacted to the music with whatever person she happened to be with at the moment. A few of her partners got a bit grabby but she'd just spin-off to another leaving them alone. She'd find someone with the right energy, the right vibe, the right. . . something. She was sure of it. She just had to keep dancing.

Then almost as if by magic, someone grabbed her arm and spun her towards him. Ria found herself dancing in front of the man 6 or 7 inches away from his chest. She could barely make out the shape of his body against the video screen when they occasionally passed it. He was a bit taller than her, muscular but not a huge man. His presence was comfortable and compelling in ways that attracted her, everything seemed to beckon her onward. They both fell easily into the other's flow. She found herself matching his movements as they gyrated around each other. As the song ended, he pulled her into him, her upper back nestled against his chest. Ria thought she caught a whiff of his cologne, spicy with a hint of clove. She smiled when she felt his bulge resting against her lower back. The night was getting lively in all the right ways.

They stepped down off the dance floor and walked back towards an empty table. The man ducked into the kitchen after holding a finger up gesturing for her to wait there. She'd finally caught a good glimpse of her suitor though. He was wearing gray slacks and a white shirt covered with an open denim sleeveless jacket. He had an attractive olive complexion and black hair cut neatly and away from his ears. She was sold. He was hot, a good dancer, and had a nice ass she observed as he disappeared into the kitchen. Yes, I can work with this, she decided and checked her phone really quickly. 75 minutes until check-in she realized as she looked at the time. Ria glanced toward the kitchen as her smile widened at thoughts of how to fill those minutes.

He vaguely reminded her of someone but the thought quickly fled her mind as he came out of the other room and offered her a glass of wine. She accepted it with a smile, took a deep swallow, and put it down on the table. She then took his hand and led him out a side door onto a balcony. They hurried through the door then she turned and shut it. She took a moment to steady herself and turned toward her partner.

"I'm so sorry if this seems forward of me but that room is just way too loud to think let alone talk in."

He took her hand and pulled her over toward the rail where he was standing.

"You can be as forward as you like, beautiful. My name is Nicholas and I'm grateful my karma has been so good as to lead me to you."

"I'm Ria and I know nothing of karma but I suspect I'll be happy to have made your acquaintance before too long."

Nicholas smiled as he gently placed both hands on her waist, lifted her off the ground, and sat Ria on the stone rail. He wrapped his arms around her and slid his palms down to the bottom of her back. He then leaned in and looked into her eyes.

"I could stare into your bottomless brown eyes forever Miss Ria."

"No you can't," she smiled as she leaned in to kiss him.

His arms held her tightly and her palms rubbed up and down his back for what felt like hours as they kissed. Finally, she disengaged and pulled back, looking at him with an eager smile.

He returned her smile, "The only thing more perfect than your flawless features is how delicious your lips taste."

"I'd always heard Greek men could flatter!"

"Any man could with such impeccable inspiration!"

Ria hopped off the rail and offered a smile.

"I bet a man as resourceful as you knows of a more. . . secluded place we could slip off to?"

He took her hand.

"Come with me, Ria."