The keys

The shiny silver basket lay between them. The filigree looked like lace. It rested on the mat and felt like a great big stone on the table. The weight of their actions certainly felt as heavy as the marble statuette proudly gracing the middle of the long table. It would be a naked cherub, it just had to be. Typical of this kind of thing.

They eyed each other up, not wanting to be the first to speak. Embarrassment or sheer madness clamping ther lips shut. The car keys resting in the bottom of the dish were the last set. How could they be here and how could this happen ... what were they doing ... she saw fear running through his eyes and knew her own mirrored something similar.

Everyone had chosen and paired off, this was the last set ... it was meant to be. Neither could face doing this again. They had chosen each other and there was no going back.

Maybe it was God's way of telling them or their guardian angel delivering them from the lion's den.
What was left in the bowl, the set of keys nestling snugly, belonged to the vauxhall Vectra parked in the driveway of the swinging party .... relieved they laughed ... he picked up the keys, and reached for her hand. Smiling, she sighed happily and followed him home. To their home.