Chapter Twenty-One
The Ladies Turn
As a light shined on the stage a man stood in the center. He was wearing an all leather ensemble: tight leather pants that showed off his muscular legs and a tight leather vest that showed off his ripped chest. The light slowly went up the body until it rested on the biceps of the man showing off his tattoos of four squares. It continued up his body exposing his face. It was Max with a sexy closely shaved goatee and long brown hair that rested on his shoulders.
To the majority of the audience it was just a sexy, dangerous looking man dressed in leather. However, to two people in the audience it was just Max (i.e. Belle and Michael).
As Michael sat in the audience he was baffled as to what was going on and getting a little suspicious. What the hell is Max doing up there? And why does he look like Zan? Those were the questions Michael asked himself as the music started.
The light on the stage split into five separate beams located around the stage. One of the beams to Max's nearest left brightened. A woman began to walk towards him as "Kiss" by Prince played in the background.
As the woman moved closer the beam moved up her body slowly. First showcasing the great well-toned legs in the strappy three-inch heels. Then, the tight leather skirt that ended mid-thigh to the sleeveless satin royal blue button down wrap shirt, to the woman's magnificent long brown hair that moved as she walked to her brilliant blue eyes. She walked towards Max in a fluid motion that went along seductively to the beat of the song until she was standing in front of him.
Chloe placed her hands on his shoulders; she looked back at Philip her hair swinging as she tilted her head. She gazed into his (Philip's) eyes as she swayed her hip in such a way that her leg rose and Max clutched it to him.
After seeing that movement with the man who had his hands on Chloe, Philip got annoyed and began to rise from his seat. However, Brady noticed this and pulled him back down before he could go anywhere.
"Dude, you need to clam down it's just a dance. See… it's over now, so just relax." Brady said as he pointed to the stage where Chloe's leg was sliding down Max's side and he was spinning her away from him as another light brightened.
As Max spun Chloe away from him, he grabbed another hand and brought someone else into the light. Mimi walked into his arms; she was dressed identically to Chloe except her shirt was a darker shade of blue, almost purple. They stood with Mimi's back to Max's front. Max crisscrossed his arms around Mimi pulling her more securely into his arms. As they came together, sensuously following the beat of the music they swayed down.
Then, as they rose back up together Max uncrossed his arms from around her and placed his hands on either side of her hips. Once they were up, she did a partial spilt on the floor and they rose again. This time as he glided back up he lifted her and allowing her body to slide down his until her feet touched the floor.
Brady jumped up and started to move to the stage after he saw the split maneuver, only to have Michael pull him back to sit down. Brady followed him back grinding his teeth all of the way there. Once he sat back down he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
"It's just a dance man, relax." Philip said repeated what Brady had said to him a few minutes early and laughed at the irony of it.
"I can't relax. I want to know who is that dead man with is hands all over my wife!" Brady asked through his teeth.
"Don't worry he won't do anything out of line. She's in good hands, besides, if Mimi didn't want him touching her then she would put a stop to it. If she's okay with it then you should be too." Michael said calmly defining Max.
Brady relaxed enough to let it go as Mimi moved to the right of Max and Chloe came up on his left. Max wrapped his arms around both of them. Mimi and Chloe came close to Max almost kissing him then they turned to the audience and blew kisses at their husbands, respectively.
Shawn sat back and watched as Mimi and Chloe sauntered away from Max. He couldn't believe it; he looked at his brother-in-law and uncle. They both had that fierce Kiriakis look of determination on their faces. Man, were they mad. They were more than annoyed they were downright pissed. Even though, Shawn knew if he were in their place he would be just as mad, too. But, he had to admit that it was really funny. Just as he was about to laugh, Belle pinched his thigh under the table. He looked over at her. She gave him her knock it off look and urged him to keep quiet. His laughter died down as another woman walked into the spotlight.
This time it was Maria who walked onto the stage; the lighting made her straightened long blonde hair gleam. She wore a flowing black spandex skirt with a classy emerald green wraparound shirt. Maria walked up behind Max as Chloe and Mimi walked back into the shadows. She placed her hand on his shoulder to turn him around. Once he faced her she began to push him back with one finger on his chest walking him back to the beat of the music. Max grabbed her hand and spun her into a dip that left one of her legs propped on his hip. While leaning backwards, Maria tilted her head back and mouthed "Yeah," looking at Michael.
Michael gave Max a knowing look, before Max brought Maria upright then slid his hands up the length of her body. From her the sides of her breasts to the upper curve of thighs, Michael arched his eyebrow at this as he spoke to Max in his mind. Hands off the goods, Maxwell. In response, Max simply smiled and moved his hands back up her thighs and grabbed her butt, as he turned and spun her off to the side.
Michael became irate and nearly melted the glass in his hands. The other men at the table hardly noticed this, Brady and Philip were too busy thanking God that the guy didn't grab their wives' asses. Meanwhile, Shawn sat back by Belle trying desperately to hard to contain his laughter.
"Well, if we all jump him-," Philip started off saying smiling at the thought when Miguel interrupted him.
"Guys, I think you should just cool it. It's really not that bad, I mean this is a Latin dance contest. You have to expect them to be a little risqué otherwise it wouldn't be worth it. Would it? Besides it's for charity." Miguel said attempting to be the voice of reason.
"Shut up, L-F. You're only saying that because you haven't seen your wife up there yet. I guarantee you won't be as free and calm with your comments when it's her turn and she does something like our wives' did." Brady responded as he watched Maria walk away from Max.
"Look, I have nothing to worry about. Even if Kay does do something, I'm sure I won't get mad over some stupid little dance move. Besides, my wife would never do something too scandalous. It would be something very classy and tasteful." Miguel said.
"Based on what we've seen so far, I doubt that will be the case." Michael said.
"Hey, I'm totally okay with Kay doing this. I'm sure I won't have any problems." Miguel answered back ignoring the other men shaking their heads at him in doubt. They all watched for the next lady.
As Maria exited Kay sauntered up behind Max, she wore a skirt identical to Maria's and a wraparound shirt that was jade. She placed her hands on his shoulders. From there they slid down to his muscled chest where she pulled a part his vest exposing Max's well-sculpted chest. She touched his body feeling his chest, masculine shoulders and biceps as she pulled the vest off. Once then they returned to his shoulders, Max grabbed a hand and spun her around so that her back was to his front. Taking the hand he held, he placed her arm around his neck, and then he gently glided his fingertips down her side until he found her hand resting about her waist (similar to the move Johnny does to Baby in Dirty Dancing). He grabs her hand and spun her back around so she was facing him.
Once she faced him she reached up and caressed his face. Max caught both of her hands and placed them around his neck loosely. She leaned on him until she was leaning completely on him. He leaned back then forward, as he leaned forward the hand that had once been placed on the small of Kay's back moved down to her butt, her thigh, then finally lifting her leg into the air and over his shoulder. As he stood up he lifted Kay over his shoulder so that she slid down his back and landed gracefully in a split on the stage. Then she maneuvered herself into a position where she sat on her knees. Max turned around grabbed her hand and lifted her up on to her feet. Once he sat her on her feet, Kay turned and strutted away to the beat of the music. Stopping halfway back she turned and winked flirtatiously at Miguel before continuing her strut.
Miguel rose from the table and began to head towards the stage. Michael, Philip, Shawn, and Brady jumped to their feet and ran after him. They grabbed his arms and pulled him back to his seat. He began to struggle a little with them as they held him; Michael and Brady had one side while Philip and Shawn had the other.
"What happened to 'It's just a dance'?" Brady asked.
"Yeah, and what about we should expect it after all it is Latin, it has to be a little risqué?" Philip asked.
"He touched her… her leg was on his shoulder. That bastard had his hands all over my wife. Wait till I get my hands on him. Look, if you guys let me go, I'll make sure that you get a chance with him too." Miguel said as he tried to reason with them. "Come on, just think about, we could sneak up and attack him. That would teach him to touch our wives." All of the men thought about it and they were willing to let him go because they all wanted a piece of him. They released him, yet he never got very far because as he started to rise a surprisingly strong grip pulled him back into his seat.
"Uh, I don't think so. You are not going to ruin this performance." Belle said releasing him as she sat back down.
"Why not?' Brady asked only to have Belle turn to him and stare at him with her death ray eyes.
"Well, first of all this is Theresa's show. Think how it would look if her own brother caused a disturbance. I don't think she would appreciate that." Belle said looking pointedly at Miguel. "And I don't think your cousin would appreciate you beating up her husband."
They all looked a little shocked at finding out the man they wanted to beat up was Max, all except for Michael. They couldn't believe a guy who was a nice and reasonable like him would do this. Shawn sat back and watched the looks of confusion pass through the men's heads. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed.
"Oh, this is great. You guys were all jealous of … Max." Shawn laughed and he probably would have continued laughing at the guys if it hadn't have been for Belle elbowing him in the stomach, he looked at her and grimaced.
"Well, I just don't see why he had to do this with my wife. I mean couldn't he do that with his own wife." Miguel said pouting before he saw his cousin on the stage.
While the men were dealing with their problems, the ladies on the stage had gone through an entire verse. Now they were in the process of wrapping up their last parts.
The girls came around Max from all sides. Chloe was first; she twirled in front of him before moving to her left. Kay repeated the action except she moved to his right. Maria twirled to the right and Mimi to the left. The four ladies then sauntered to the front of the stage and then to the back. When they returned to Max's side, they spilt two girls going to the right and two to the left off stage, leaving Max standing alone with Liz.
Liz walked backward as Max approached her until she was up against the wall with his arms barricading her. She then dipped under his arms and attempted to strut towards the center of the stage only to be stopped by Max as he grabbed her by the waist and turned her back to him. He held her tightly against him. They looked into each other's eyes, and then she broke contact with hind to look at the audience and say "Yeah" as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She loosened her hold on his neck and allowed herself a little space. They moved quickly into a salsa as the other women walked back onto the stage this time with their husbands, respectively, following them. She had spun around three full times before Max stopped her and brought her back into his arms. All the while the other ladies were making their presence known as they walked up on the sides of Max and Liz, who stood center place on the stage.
As soon as they got up to where Max was standing with Liz, each of the ladies took their positions next to him. Maria and Mimi moved to the right and left, respectively, clutching his biceps. Chloe and Kay on the other hand, moved to the stand behind him on the left and right, respectively, with both their hands on his shoulders. Max tilted Liz's chin up as if he were going kiss her, he began to lean down toward her. But, then all of the sudden he lifted his head and turned toward the audience and smiled.
From the audiences perspective the scene on the stage was pretty funny. In the center of the stage was the long dark-haired, vest less, well-toned man smiling, Max in disguise, with his wife Liz in his arms. She stood out from all of the other women because of her outfit and thigh-high black boots. She looked like she was going to kiss him. But, she wasn't the only one. The other four women who had their long straightened hair about their shoulders were just wrapped around him also looking at him as if they were going to kiss.
However, the funny thing was that there were four men standing on the stage in the back just off the center. They were sort of surrounding the other four women, side by side they stood with their white t-shirts and black pants making them gleam in the background. They had their arms crossed with their biceps bulging and were sort of frowning at the group before them. The thing about it was that they looked just like the group of men sat at the table in front of the stage and practically charging at the stage after every lady danced with Max.
They figured that, that was probably choreographed into the performance to make it seem as if they were really mad. Well again, this was a hell of a way to introduce a new chapter of the ball. Obviously, if the beginning was just this good then the other performances were going to be better, they thought as the applauded the performance.
As the audience applauded Max and the girls, the other four women left the stage with their husbands, leaving Max and Liz center stage.
Alright, are you ready to do this? Liz asked Max silently in his mind to which he nodded. The music started, Max released Liz and she took a few steps away to get into position.
Liz now stood in character, she pointed at him and motioned 'No,' with one leg arched out stretching her short leather skirt to a maximum point and moving her hips seductively with the beat of the music.
Liz began a seductive walk towards Max swinging her hips in tune with the beat of the song. As she stopped in front of him with her 4-inch stiletto knee high boots, he crossed his arms over his massive chest. As if pondering her actions. As the chorus came on she moved her body close to his, got up to his face as if to kiss him. Her hands framed his face.
Her hands slid down from his face to his shoulders and then fell away as she did four basic cha-cha steps. On what would be the fifth step she moved in back of him.
Once she was in back of him she placed her hands upon his shoulders and moved them to his raveled arms which she pulled apart and allowed one hand to grasp hers as he spun her around to stand in front of him.
When she was in front of Max again she released his hand and shimmed to the beat of the music and slowly she used her hips to pronounce each movement as she glided down.
She then rose back up repeated the exact same movements and took Max's hand again. Together they eased into a smooth rhythmic dance together as if their bodies had been made to dance with one another. Then as the song changed Max spun Liz out and then pulled her back in as she let her dance erotically in the frame of his arms.
As Max held Liz's hands he moved down her body so that his eyes were level with her thighs. Liz moved her leg in between his. She raised her leg until the stiletto heel rested upon his thigh. Max released her hand to stare at her legs. When his gaze reached her hips she moved to the right then the left like the song said. After those two seductive movements, Max positioned one hand on her boot-clad calve and began to move it up her leg.
As Max's hand began to slide up Liz's leg, she trapped it on her knee and shimmied down to him. She kissed his hand letting her tongue slide erotically between his fingers, winking at him and then shimmying back up. She tossed her hair back and arched her brow as if she had asked him a question.
His hand continued the journey up her leg edging up till his hand was under her skirt and on her thigh, where he felt a garter belt. He then slid his hand back out to the edge of the skirt.
Max rose still holding Liz's leg, he propped it on his hip so that it could slide down his leg. After her foot hit the floor Max pulled Liz into his arms and moved into a quick cha-cha rhythm before spinning her around in front of him.
Liz stood facing the audience, her back to his front, as she held his hands she pull him behind her to lean on him. She grabbed each of his hands and slowly guided them down her body from the sides of her breasts to her hips. Once she got them there she left them. Her hands moved to Max's hair and she brought his head down towards her neck. As his lips traveled up her neck she turned her head and met his lips in a kiss.
And that was all the audience saw as the curtain closed on the couple. Behind the curtain Liz had turned around in Max's arms and she kissed him breathless. Once she got her breath back she spoke to him. "Did I ever tell you what we did instead of going to the Gomez concert that night?" She asked him as she played with his still long hair. Since he hadn't morphed back into himself yet, there were too many people around.
"No, you didn't." Max said as he touched her bare back below the ties of her shirt.
"Well, I think that it's about time that I did. Come on, I want to show you something." Liz said coming out of his arms to leave him on the stage. When she noticed he hadn't followed her yet, she went back to him and pulled him behind her forgetting all about the other couples and leaving the charity ball.
Michael and Maria were pulled onto the dance floor by the coordinator of the dancers as the next couple to perform. They were wearing coordinating outfits, to some extent. Before they got into position Maria fixed Michael's tie.
"Maria, I can't believe you did this. It was bad enough watching Max get freaky with you on stage. But, now you pulled me into this and I have to perform. You know I hate dancing." Michael said as he grabbed her hands and held them fast. He looked rather dashing and distinguished in his all black attire. Maria had made him change into another solid black shirt, added a black tie and a black vest to his wardrobe. Maria, on the other hand, had on a black dress that had blood red roses on it. It was a filmy layered dress with her back bare with a slim rhinestone tipped ties and ended a with inches above her knees with a pair of black, strappy, open toed shoes.
"Michael, consider this payback. Besides, we've done this dance before and it will be loads of fun." She finished fixing his tie and removed her hands from him. "It was Belle's idea for us to do this and we all thought that it would be fun. Max wasn't originally in the dance. But, he offered to be in it and then he morphed into Zan. The rest as they say is history. Man, the look on your face was priceless when," Michael interrupted her.
"Okay, so you got us back good. But, why did you sign me up for this? You know that I can't dance."
"Michael you have nothing to worry about. I made sure to pick something that you've done before. Now, just relax and have some fun." She said as she moved into position as the curtain opened.
Michael took a deep breath and remained in the spot Maria left him in. As the music started with a violin playing a tango beat, "Dance With Me" by Debelah Morgan. As soon as he heard it, he knew exactly what to do.
Maria took steps walking over to him until she stood in front of him. She moved in back of him spreading his legs apart with her foot. Michael placed his hands his pockets. Only placing his thumps in the corners. She spun around until she was in front of him. Her long blonde hair accentuated her movements swiftly making them more pronounced (it was in a low ponytail). She grabbed his hands out pockets placed one on her bare back and positioned the other with her hand. She pulled him to her and did a step for him to mimic.
They moved in sync with each other in easy tango steps. Michael mimicked Maria steps perfectly. As the last verse of the chorus ended Michael released Maria and spun her out of his arms. When she moved out of his arms, she placed one leg ahead of the other.
She held her hand out to him; he took it and pulled her body to his. She put her arms down by her side. Michael swept his hands down her body until he reached her hands hanging by her sides. He maneuvered them into a fast pace salsa, then slow paced salsa steps. Their hands never moved from being clasped by her sides as they moved in synchronized movements expertly executing the steps. She looked up at him and he held her gaze for the a while. Then, she broke her gaze from his as she placed her hands on his shoulders while his moved to the small of her back.
Michael, still looking down into Maria's eyes, reached up and grabbed one of her hands off his shoulder to spin her around. After two spins he brought her back to him and they moved together at an ease with smooth salsa steps.
Still holding one hand he swung her out in front of him and let her salsa toward the audience then turn back to him. They moved into a fast paced tango. He spun her once again before they began the tango.
As they moved into a fast-paced tango, Maria felt her hair start to come down, tendrils of her hair were hanging down out of the black band she had surrounding it. Michael stopped to dip Maria back while doing so he propped one of her legs around his waist. When he brought her back up, he placed her other leg on his waist thereby bring her chest level with his face.
Maria placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up and onto Michael's shoulders before turning herself around. She then slid down his back until she was on her feet again. Once she was on her feet she turned and kicked a leg out over Michael's thigh to have him spin her around to stand in front of him once again and they moved into a fast paced salsa.
As they salsa around the floor, Michael spun Maria around numerous times. After doing a double spin, he pulled her back to him and brought her in close before he dipped her back. But, this time instead of bringing her up, he leaned her down and placed his head on hers. Maria wrapped her arms around his neck; her fingers touched his slicked back hair. "So how was I?"
"You were perfect, spaceboy. Just perfect." Maria answered before meeting Michael's lips in a kiss behind the closed curtain.
Maria and Michael had made their way back to the table to see Belle and Shawn talking. Maria wondered where Liz and Max had gone. So as soon as she sat down she asked.
"I don't know. She said something about Gomez. And then she and Max took off." Belle shrugged. "Whatever, that means. So Michael, tell me did you like your surprise?"
"Like is not a word I would use." He answered only to have Maria look at him questioningly. "What? You know I hate dancing and besides that I wanted to kill Max."
"Yeah, Maria you should have seen it. The guys all got steaming mad when they saw Max with you and the other women. I had to practically cover Shawn's mouth so he wouldn't laugh." Belle said looking over at her still amused husband.
"Hey, if you would have told me what was going on I wouldn't have reacted the way I did. But, it's not my fault they were so amusing. I didn't laugh at all of them. But, I did laugh especially at Miguel. First, he was like to voice of reason with you guys then, Max and Kay danced. I'm surprised that we were able to hold him back considering how mad he was. He was practically flying out of his seat with his anger. It was so funny." Shawn said placing his arm around Belle's chair.
"Even, I have to admit that was funny. Because, he was Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected until Kay was up there with Max. He was so pissed." Michael said as he and Shawn laughingly high-fived each other.
"You guys are so immature." Maria said rolling her eyes as the curtain opened for the next performance.
Author's Note: As of 4/29/05 I have taken out the lyrics Kiss by Prince, It's All About Me by Mya featuring Sisco, and Dance with Me by Debelah Morgan,as per the request of the management anywhere the lyrics appeared there is now an . So please take note if you wish to see the chapter in it's entirety with the lyrics please check my website.
