Mild

"Good Lord, Jenkins! What happened?" Dr. Kent had just stepped into the lab and was alarmed by the condition of one of his lab rats. And rightly so. Dr. William Jenkins was supposed to be running another battery of tests, and it looked like one got out of hand. The lab assistants were scurrying around trying to make themselves useful. And getting only mixed results. Fortunately, Jenkins remained calm, which was surprising when one considered that, just a few feet away, was a rodent that had been inflated past four feet in diameter that had floated up to the ceiling.

"What's the matter, you don't have the Christmas spirit?"

I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Holly answered the phones at work. I spent most of my time down in the lab, but I'd see her every time I had to deliver a status report or a presentation on one of my projects. I'd have to pass the front desk to get to the meeting room, and she'd always deliberately make eye contact. If I was alone, we'd exchange small talk, though she'd rarely say anything if other people were around. But she'd always peek out from behind those auburn locks to give me...the look.

Uncorking a bottle of wine isn't really that hard. But despite my usual bravado, I was bit nervous. And nervousness gives the faintest air of uncertainty to even the simplest of tasks. One way or another the chianti would wind up opened, so it shouldn't have cause me any anxiety. I should have been concerned about the glasses, and I was, but I was also concerned about everything else because of them. I shook my head as I chuckled to myself. Knowing the perils of the human condition did almost nothing to alleviate them. I finally freed the cork.

We sit together on the couch now. The date is over, has been for a good thirty minutes. She smiles, I laugh. We talk. I can tell that we are going somewhere though... brushing hands, we giggle, then brush some more. She is beautiful, and I am moved as she pulls near, and we embrace for a long passionate kiss. Her lips are full and moist. It is both long and sweet.