In Public

She had never crossed the threshold of a circle like that, but that afternoon, her skin covered in oil and salt, Daniela understood that some desires exist only when shared.

I booked two seats in an almost empty theater and gave one to a stranger who read me. I didn’t know if she’d come until I saw her find her seat in the dark.

The mirror in the dressing room reflected a woman she didn’t recognize. In a few minutes, dozens of strangers would see her naked. And still, she chose to step through the curtain.

I know I shouldn’t, but whenever I walk home alone after dark, I look for him: the stranger who will pin me against the wall without asking permission.

I walked onto the stage without thinking, in front of a room full of strangers and a man who no longer looked at me. That night I stopped begging and started feeling.

The moment I cast off I knew that afternoon wouldn’t end with a simple sail: she was already looking at me differently, with that half-smile promising much more.

For months, I’ve repeated the same scene in my head on the ride home. Today, when the seat beside me was taken, I almost stopped breathing.

I rode out on my bike without underwear, my phone buzzing with messages I should never have opened. The road was empty, but I felt watched by everyone.

I closed my eyes for a second and, when I opened them, a huge shadow was blocking the sun. What happened next only existed in my imagination… until that afternoon.

You looked both ways, certain you were alone, when you hiked up your dress in the middle of the garage. You didn’t see that someone two spaces away had been watching you.

There’s a bathroom no one uses at the back of the garage. I’ve spent days imagining you there, against the mirror, while I whisper everything I want to do to you.

I sat between an older man and a guy who was to die for. Then the train braked hard, the lights went out, and a hand found mine.

She wasn’t looking for love or company. She wanted to be watched, desired, imagined naked beneath her dress. That night she chose to be pure fire.

I had spent weeks imagining a night without names or promises. What I hadn’t imagined was him watching me from the bar as if he already knew everything.

I gave him two kisses in front of his mother and, without anyone noticing, decided to play along until neither of us expected to go that far that morning.

He barely reached my elbow when he took my hand. In six minutes, I discovered that my body didn’t understand the rules I had imposed on myself.

She arrives at ten-thirty, leans against the shelter, and crosses her legs. She doesn’t know it, but in my head we’ve already done everything we’d never dare.

I’d spent hours searching for a spark in other people’s eyes and found nothing. Until I decided to cross the room and put the whole game in his hands.

I used to hide everything. That night I entered the theater without underwear, in a short skirt and certain someone would look. And I wanted him to.

When the train left without me, I thought the night was lost. Then I saw him at the other end of the platform, motionless, looking at me as if he’d always been waiting.