logo by chick

"Can I have a kiss?" she said.

I turned and looked at her. I had just walked up to the bar to get a drink, and she was sitting on a stool to the right of me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you'd give me a kiss," she said, pointing over to my left. I looked over to where she was pointing and noticed a bowl of Hershey's Kisses.

"Ah," I said, "I see." I began to reach over to the bowl...

"No," she said, "I'm just kidding. I don't really want one. It's just that there's no mistletoe around here, you know?"

"Right," I said, pulling my hand back away from the bowl and looking around the room as if to confirm that there was indeed a lack of mistletoe, "That's an interesting line, though. I'll have to remember that. Except that it's not every day you find a bowl of kisses on the bar."

Several moments passed while I flagged down the bartender and ordered my drink.

"I'm serious about the kiss, though," she said.

"Have you been upstairs yet?" I asked, wondering if anyone had started dancing yet.

"No, but I'm going up as soon as my friends arrive. Are you going up too?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm gonna head up there now. If you'd like to dance, track me down when you get up there," I offered.

"Actually, I don't dance much," she said, "But I'm sure I'll still be up for that kiss."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, "OK...we'll see." I smiled at her, took my beer, and headed for the staircase.