They walked out into the Parisian night, feeling a breeze cooling their skins but not their desires.  Marina circled an arm around Jenny’s waist.  “Let’s go home,” she whispered.

The drive seemed short.  Marina slipped the key into the latch and the lock rasped open.  She held the door for Jenny, who slipped out of her shoes, turned around, and draped her arms around Marina’s neck.  “This was the most amazing night of my life,” she said slowly, after a long time of looking, only looking, and losing herself in what she saw. 

Marina stroked her head, dropping a hand to caress her cheek, and looked at her in long silence, as if memorizing every feature.  “Thank you,” she murmured hoarsely.  “Do you want a nightcap?”

Jenny could still feel the effects of the absinthe.  Her mind and senses seemed so crystal clear, but there was just the faintest shimmer to everything, as if she was seeing both the physical essence and something else besides to all that she looked at.  On the back of her tongue, she could still almost exactly recall that distinctive blend – the flared sweetness of the aniseed, the hint of menthol, mint, eucalyptus, a faint bitter aftertaste of the wormwood, other herbs she couldn’t identify, each one sparking a sensory response in some different part of her mouth.  In spite of the high alcohol content, she didn’t feel the least bit intoxicated, though.  “Strange,” she said out loud.

“What is?”

Jenny tilted her head and looked off, “I can still taste it.  I feel as though….”

“The Green Fairy has taken you,” Marina said, almost in a whisper.  “You are very fortunate.  Some absinthe drinkers can go a lifetime without seeing her.”

“Really?  I thought it was some beautiful mystery woman from West Hollywood,” Jenny looked into Marina’s eyes.  “Do you see her too?”

It was only a look.  But there was more wanting, more desire, more passion in that one look between them than some people achieve with all the words and the looking and the touching in a lifetime.  “Marina, I…” she closed her eyes, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to say it, “I think I —-.”