His eyelids suddenly have an autonomous life. Impossible to raise his eyes to meet her gaze. He had dreamed of this moment, waited for it, hoped for it. He would have so many things to say to her, but no sound comes out of his mouth. His vocal cords are as paralyzed as all his muscular fibers.
So as not to rush him, she remains silent, smiles softly by tasting his presence, brings a glass to her lips, puts it back and calmly advances her hand on the table as an invitation. The panic invades him. It wouldn't take much for him to get up and run away. It is almost with the energy of despair that his hand eventually finds the courage to move slightly in her direction.
She puts delicately her fingers on his, and still says nothing. Little by little the heat rises in his arm which finally relaxes. They remain like that during long minutes, while their bodies create knowledge for the first time, peacefully. The appeasement continues its way under the skin, gaining soon the corner of the eyelids which quiver.
He finally looks up at her, and their worlds meet.
Time continues to flow at an indefinable speed.
When suddenly, they open the mouth both at the same time, stop, astonished, and exchange a complicit smile.
From that moment on, the ice is broken. The shyness disappears.
They won't stop talking all night long, hand in hand.