#fff 60: Distraction

She hated herself for wanting it, so she pretended not to want it at all. But no matter how far she roamed, fingers flitting lightly over colorful shirts hung with perfect precision, her mind kept running back to it. And her feet kept carrying her back.

Everything else was mere distraction.

“Do you like what you see?”

He was several feet away, but she could feel the red heat creep up the back of her neck, spreading like wings to the tips of her ears, as if mere inches separated his breath from her skin. She cocked her head without turning.

“Is it that obvious?” she replied. Her voice sounded husky, almost unrecognizable.

“I can spot desire from a mile away.”

She snickered and blushed at the same time — was that even possible? — but her forward gaze never wavered. She raked her eyes up the shiny black stem, the way it went on forever, peaking in a sensuous curve, flashing into red, curling downward. 

She really shouldn’t.

“I really shouldn’t.”

“You really should,” he said, reaching around her and lifting it off of its pedestal, measuring its heft.

“Sit.”

She sat compliantly on a nearby seat designed for occasions such as this. He knelt, wrapping his warm hands around her Achilles, lifting her feet easily, left then right, then slipped off her black flats. She felt so vulnerable sitting there, so bare. He reached down and guided it on and pressed it on the bottom, then again. He stood quickly and stepped back.

She was breathless.

She rose to her feet, towering over him, and looked down. He cocked his brow. 

“Yes,” she said. “Yes.”

He nodded wordlessly as she settled again and offered her feet to him. 

He wrapped the heels carefully, tucked them into the box and offered them up. “For the lady,” he said. 

She smiled. “Yes, but for the man, too.”


This is a work of fiction. Flash Fiction Friday is a weekly writing prompt exercise led by Elisha Bartels. She posts them on Fridays to her blog and social media and writers use the trigger words to write a short piece of fiction. They post to their space and share with Elisha, tagging others in the group where possible. Feel free to join in!