A memory came of the night all those years ago, when Harold had danced and spotted Maureen watching him across the crowd. He remembered how it felt to fling his arms and legs, as if shaking off all that had come before, while witnessed by such a beautiful young woman. Emboldened, he had danced more, even more crazily, feet kicking the air, hands like slippery eels. He had stopped and checked again. She was still watching. This time she had caught his eye and laughed. She was so full of it, her shoulders shaking, her hair slipping over her face, that for the first occasion in his life he had not been able to resist the temptation to stride through a crowd and touch a stranger. Beneath her velvet hair, the cushion of skin was pale and soft. She had not flinched.

“Hello, you,” he had said. His childhood was shorn away and there was nothing but himself and her. He knew that whatever happened next, their paths were linked. He would do anything for her. Remembering, Harold was filled with lightness, as if he were warm again, somewhere deep inside.

♦

Maureen pulled her collar up to her ears against the night. The town lights shone in the background. “Shall we turn back?” she said. “Are you ready?”

In answer, Harold sneezed. She turned, wanting to offer a handkerchief, but was met with a short gasp that was almost without sound. He smacked his hand to his face. The noise came again. It wasn’t a sneeze or a gasp. It was a snort. A snicker.

“Are you all right?” said Maureen. He seemed to be trying very hard to hold something inside his mouth. She tugged at his sleeve. “Harold?”

He shook his head. The hand was still plastered against his mouth. Out shot another snort.

“Harold?” she said again.

He held his hands either side of his mouth, as if attempting to straighten it. He said, “I shouldn’t be laughing. I don’t want to. It’s just – ” He let out a full-blown guffaw.

She didn’t understand, but a smile was tugging on the corners of her mouth too. “Maybe we need to laugh,” she said. “What is it that’s funny?”

Harold took a deep breath to steady himself. He turned to her with those beautiful eyes of his and they seemed to shine through the dark. “I’ve no idea why I’m remembering this. But that night at the dance?”

“When we first met?” Her smile was beginning to make a noise.

“And we laughed like kids?”

“Oh, what was it you said, Harold?”

A roar of laughter bowled out of him with such force he had to grip his stomach. She watched, her smile all bubbly now, ready to erupt; so nearly with him but not quite there yet. He had to bend over with it. He actually looked in pain.