The First Dance
"You will?" Sam jumped up his face glowing as Emma stood in front of him shaking her head
"Yes I will" she giggled as he grabbed her lips and stayed there for what seemed like forever
"I don't want a long engagement can we set a date for like 4 weeks from now?" he asked as they stood under the Eiffel Tower in France, Emma was in Paris performing at the National Dance Awards, she was a dancer specialised in the Tango, he was flying through and stayed the night specially for the proposal.
"We'll make that happen, I'll do everything" she smiled back at him "This is the best day" she hugged him saying as they walked back to the venue "It's sad you're off again so soon, last night was great by the way" she grabbed his arm smiling across at him "And I promise to slow things down when we get married" she looked at him saying
"Okay" he said dryly
"And you?" she asked
"I can't promise to slow things down, I can promise to try harder but you know Pilots don't choose their shifts babe"
"I know but .. maybe I should become an air hostess and we could raise a family up there"
"Not a bad idea" he laughed, as she hit his chest for the jibe
"Or you could learn to dance and we could keep our feet firmly on the ground"
He laughed "You know me, two left feet and I'm proud of them, really not my thing babe"
"I know" she rested her head on his shoulder as they took the last few steps to her venue, kissed goodbye before he was gone again for another two plus weeks
Sam
He stood watching her walk inside, he wasn't getting half as much time as he needed, these impromptu hook ups were for teenagers not 32 year olds who needed to be thinking about families, home and marriage.
He loved his job it was rewarding both financially and in job satisfaction, he'd put a lot into getting there, intensive training, finding the right company, negotiating a Salary that would benefit him in the future and of course a great staff travel package meant he generally went anywhere in the world he wanted, for free. There were sacrifices for him to afford these perks; he missed family celebrations, relationships were stretched at times and of course making a family of his own was something that, over the years, had been pushed lower and lower on his bucket list.
Emma had come around just 6 months ago, they'd met on a flight, she'd made a complaint about a passenger in the first class section, Sam had gone through to talk to them to calm things down and she just seemed to need to speak to him a thousand times throughout the flight. Then she hung around when they landed, they had a meal and hit it off, she wasn't demanding about their hook ups, in fact it was all amicable and his heart was light whenever she was around.
He'd spoken to his friend Brad about her and decided that 6 months was long enough to keep a girl waiting, with his track record 6 months was practically a marriage anyway, so he was going to grab her while she was still interested, and maybe think about putting down some roots, the love would come.
He was off on a 12 hour short haul flight with two days rest in Cape Town and then he was off on a 43 hour flight to Shanghai where he'd stay for the 4 days because there was no point in coming back, he was taking that flight back. There were two things to do in Shanghai; visit places and eat and he'd already done both so he liked walking around looking of quirky places and bringing things back for his parents
Shanghai
Of course like the passengers and the rest of the crew he was tired when he landed he just about called his parents, who constantly worried, and Emma before falling into bed and staying there for the rest of the evening. He woke up quite early and sat around watching the sunrise, the hotel get busy and food arrive "Anything new in town Mr Chi?" he asked as he passed through the familiar reception
"No Sam" Mr Chi; the hotel owner, smiled waving for the bell boy to open the door
Sam smiled as the familiar smells hit is nose before rubbing his hands together and stepping off to see where the morning would send him. He walked for about a mile before he decided to take a bus ride and see what, if anything was of interest. After just two stops he decided he couldn't take the heat, babies crying or the closeness and jumped off walking down a narrow alley off the main road "A shop" he smiled walking faster to look in the window of this shop he'd not remembered seeing before
"Come in" he heard an American accent tell him, and looked up smiling
"American?" he opened the door asking with a smile on his face "Hello Conrad" he walked towards this man saying
"Hello friend" the man shook his hand saying "What brings you to these parts?"
"I'm a pilot, I have a fight in a few days and there was no point in going back home before it, so I sight see"
"Please see" he man offered for Sam to browse his shop "I'm Alan by the way"
"Sam" he said offering his hand before walking round the shop "What's going on upstairs?" he asked when he heard footsteps banging around
"Oh that's that's my daughter taking dance lessons" he rolled his eyes telling him "She wants to be a ballerina"
"My girlfriends a dancer, she's pretty famous about it"
"Don't it get on your nerves all that damn banging"
"Not really she rarely does it around me, and she has a sort of dance studio thing"
"So you dance too?"
"No" he laughed "Two left feet"
"You'd dance well with my daughter then, she's been learning for 6 weeks and nothing seems to have changed " he laughed looking up at he ceiling
"She'll get there I'm sure" Sam laughed looking up with him
"She won't, I've brought one of the best teachers in and if she hasn't been able to move her in 6 weeks" he shook his head "I know when she's lost the war, I'm just waiting for her to realise she's lost it"
"So what brings you to these parts?"
"My wife, she's from these parts and of course we've lived 14 years in America so she insists we do a few years here, plus her parents aren't well we're duty bound" he smiled "This is the family business so I'm fronting at the moment"
"Actually I just had a thought" Sam looked at Alan telling him "I think I might surprise my girlfriend and learn to dance, she loves that tango, if I could get even the basics she'd be happy for how much notice I take of what she does, do you have a card for the teacher upstairs?"
"I do, I have several" Alan told him walking back to the counter to fetch him one
"Oh there's classes at MTPA?" he read the card asking "And it's within walking distance from where I'm staying" he smiled checking the address
"I think those are mainly for adults" Alan told him, Sam walked about the shop, grabbed a couple of things, paid said bye to Alan and left the shop smiling 'This was going to be the best present' he chuckled at the sight of Emma's face when he started breaking his moves
Lesson 1 – The Music
After lunch Sam took a walk to the building, where his hopefully new teacher would find some hope in him and scratch some rhythm out of him, even have an attempt at making one of his feet a right one. He'd put his comfortable sneakers on, a light, loose sweatshirt and jogging bottoms, he was ready for any challenge. He walked into the building and heard 'Naked' by James Arthur flowing out the room, he got scared this really wasn't his type of thing. He stood wondering if he really needed to do this, the fact that nobody knew he was going to do it, meant he could turn around and leave. He looked through the small window to see what was going on and saw couples stepping around the floor concentrating on their moves as a woman clapped and counted them in and out of different moved "I can do that" he smiled as he watched them come to an elegant pause and they bowed and curtsied, before he walked into the room
He stood waiting for the Teacher to finish giving instruction to the class, looking at his watch, he'd thought he was maybe ten minutes or so early but obviously he'd got the time wrong because they were finishing, but he was going to wait anyway and see if there was any hope in just 4 days "Hi" she finally came to greet him saying as he stood looking at some photo's on the wall of dancers
"Hi" he spun round smiling "I was wanting to attend your class, I got this card off Alan it said classes at 3pm, but I missed it I guess"
"Oh that was the old Teacher, I'm temporary too"
"American" he smiled "There'll be more of us here than Chinese soon" he laughed "You speak very good Chinese"
"I studied the language, and I have friends, I'm doing a year of teaching here, I just wanted some time out" she told him "Mercy" she held her hand out telling him
"Sam" he smiled
"So Sam you want to learn some dance moves?"
"Scratch that I need to learn to dance, a specific dance and I have 4 days"
"A specific dance?" she looked at him saying "You're talking private lessons you know that right?"
"If that's what it takes, I just proposed to my girlfriend and we set the date for 4 weeks time, thing is she's a professional dancer loves the Tango and I thought it would be a great present to sweep her off her feet with some cool moves"
"The Tango?" she looked around the room asking him, her eyebrows raising at his expectations, looking back at him as he shook his head telling her she'd heard right "You know that's a dance that needs patience, you have to be balanced it's hard work and you have to be willing to learn, it's not something you learn in a day, it's an art. You have to learn to feel the music, it has to be within you so that you can bring it out and lay it there waiting to be swept up and felt by it's audience"
"Yeah I've watched Emma a couple of times a lot of dragging across the floor and stuff" he smiled
"A couple of times?" Mercy asked "A dancer dances all the time"
"So I have 4 days can you teach me?"
"I wouldn't say I could teach you the tango in 4 days but you'll leave with the basics" she replied "You'll need maybe a lesson a day, if you pick it up at least she can lead you"
"What time do you want me?"
"Let me go get my diary" she walked off telling him "I have 3pm today and my last class 8 till 10pm every day if you want it?" she looked into her diary as she walked towards him telling him
"Just put me in for all those slots for the next 5 days, I need to do this"
"That's $20 for a one hour session"
"Cheap for what it's going to give me" he smiled
"Okay it's 3pm we could get you started now"
"Okay" he looked around telling her
"This first lesson is pretty easy, let's see what you got" she walked over to the music and started pumping out a classic Tango beat
"Hold up" Sam backed off telling her as the music started "When I said I need to learn to dance that was like literal, I have nothing" he giggled nervously
"So we're talking essentials here?" she shook her head telling herself and him "Okay do you have a song in mind, if we can get one song and give you some moves I guess that's my challenge over" she stood in front of him asking as the music carried on
"I listen to Country music so, if we could do something to that I could maybe..."
"That's a bad joke right?" she rolled her eyes laughing at him "Do you have a phone?" she walked back to the player asking
"Yeah" he took it out watching her walk, wondering why he was watching this woman strut
"Pass it here" she instructed, he stood thinking she was bossy, but smiling to himself when he realised he really didn't find it offensive, before he stepped off towards her "I'll give you a choice of four, the first lesson, listen to the music" she turn to look at him as he got to her "Tango isn't something you do it's what you feel" she took his phone off him and stood choosing the four tracks to download before smiling as she stuck a sneaky one in and pressed download "You need to listen to these tracks constantly, I mean even in your sleep, until you fall in love with one of them, and when you fall in love then we'll have something to work with"
"Fall in love with the music?" he asked giggling "I just told you I can't dance"
"You're not paying me to learn you to dance Sam, you're paying me to teach you the tango"
"So what have I just paid $20 for?"
"My time, advice, four awesome downloads and of course my patience" she laughed handing him his phone back "I'll see you later with that song and we can get started" she told him as she stood watching him walk out of her studio "Real slow study" she laughed as he shut the door, covering her face when she saw him looking through the window at her
Lesson 2
The Embrace
Sam walked into the dance studio, at night it looked very different, there was light from outside shining in on the now glass looking floor, sending dark corners all over the room, the lighting was dim and there was mellow music playing in the background "Hi" Mercy smiled as he came through the door "My 7pm left a little early, so we can get started if you want, make up for time lost earlier"
"Hi, that's fine" he told her taking off his sweat top to reveal a vest underneath "It's still so hot out there"
"I'm hoping you found a song?" she told him turning away from him to inhale deeply at the rip he'd just revealed
"Well I don't know if it's actually my song but I keep going back to it, you might think it's a bit adventurous" he laughed
"Which one?"
"Bandoneon Acrorzado' by Tango Fusion Club I think I said that right, that's a nice one" he laughed
"You said it alright and that was my first choice" she smiled
"It was the last song" he looked at her suspiciously saying
"Yeah I know because I thought twice before I selected it" she laughed "So lesson number two" she walked towards the music to put on his choice "The tango is a beautiful lovemaking dance, it must be sensual" she flicked the switch and walked back towards him dancing
"Sensual?" he looked at her asking
"Remember I said we need to be serious about this Sam"
"Okay sensual" he smiled watching her as she danced around him
"You've got to get loose, but at the same time, because you're going to be the leader you need to stay firm and of course poise is important" she moved away from him doing moves he knew there was no way on gods earth he was going to master, but she looked all of those things she was telling him to be "You've got to mirror each other" she came up to him telling him "Follow me" she stepped telling him "It doesn't matter if your out of step just hear your music and follow me" she moved around the room freely as Sam followed her "Do what the music demands you to do"
Soon Sam found himself taking strides with her, he was hell of a clumsy but he was feeling the beat to the music and it was moving his feet, it had taken nearly half an hour but he was following her
"Now" she moved slower telling him "That's good you're finally following me" she smiled "Next step" she looked into his eyes telling him "Raise you left hand and wrap her with your right" she said standing still to look at him as he watched her mouth moving but did nothing
"Who's her?"
"You want to dance with your girlfriend right?"
"Yeah"
"So you'll raise your left hand and wrap her waist with your right, come on do it" she said as Sam finally understood and jumped into action "Your hand needs to be at the centre of her back not on her hip just slightly below her shoulder blades" she told him before she started moving "Follow me" she told him as he focused on her eyes and moved around the room with her in no particular order as she constantly told him his hand was slipping until he got it and then suddenly a light came on after 15 minutes his frame was on point "Okay, good, lets take a break, get some fluids" she ordered walking away from him
Perfect Poise
"Okay lets recap" she walked towards him saying, her bottle of water still in her hand "You've been listening to your music yes?"
"I have" he frowned, thinking there was nothing else to listen to in the room right now
"So you should know it a bit better, you should be able to feel what's coming before it comes" she smiled "Now give me an embrace?" she held her arms up telling him as she felt him grab her right hand and wrap his right hand around her finding that spot below her shoulder blades before he let out a smile "Perfect" she smiled
"Very slow study erh?" he let go of her asking
"Well right now you're putting egg on my face" she giggled walking away to put her bottle down "Right this part of the session we look at poise"
"Poise?"
"Is there an echo round here?"
"No" he laughed as he followed her to the music system before he knew what he was doing "Sorry, I guess I started that mirror thing" he laughed awkwardly trying to check himself, when she turned and was shocked to see him behind her
"Okay poise" she pushed him back to the centre of the room saying "Hands held high" she held her hands out showing him as he grabbed her right hand and watched as her left hand rested itself on his shoulder "Spine straight" she held her head up telling him "Your core straight and lift your chest" she instructed as Sam made every move as told "Remember the mirroring moves?"
"Yep" he smiled "Right this part will be a bit more difficult because we'll be attached" she smiled, but just watch my eyes and feel your music" they started moving and Sam started watching their feet "Sam" she stopped
"What?" he asked, he genuinely thought he was doing a good job
"Maybe it's me" she made her frame again telling him "You have to ooze with confidence, your body language needs to say there's nobody better at this than you and, when you get her there, your lady on that dance floor, own it"
"Confidence" he puffed his chest telling her
"There's that echo again" she smiled before they found the beat and went off around the room again "Back straight" she shouted a few times and there were a few hurt toes but nothing that couldn't be fixed
"That was alright yeah?" he asked when they finally called session done
"It was actually, we'll start pulling things together tomorrow, get some order to your chaos"
"What did we learn today"
"That she'll follow your lead, so make sure you stay one step ahead, we'll start with that at the next session" she smiled "And I saw you make a couple of steps the same time as me so I guess you got some balance and I learned more patience" she laughed "Don't forget to keep listening to that music" she walked away from him saying
"Anything else?"
"I have flat toes and your eyes are green" she laughed "Oh plus you now have poise"
"Yeah" he cheered throwing his hands up in the air
"It's an important thing to have get that wrong and you'll look ridiculous and you could injure yourself" she turned to him saying seriously "Tomorrow" she said not looking back to see where he was in the room
"Yeah, tomorrow, thanks " he told her before he stopped watching her, grabbed his sweat top and left he stood in the window watching her shaking her head and smiling, wondering what was going through her head as she let the music play and stood looking at the mirror in front of her, he smiled when she quickly turned and caught him looking at her
Lesson 3 - Basic steps
"I'm bac..." Sam stopped to catch his breath as he walked in to see Mercy in a black trap topped dress high on the right and a bit lower on the left but the whole thing hitting just above her knees, her hair let out and sandals "A bit different to the tracksuit" he noted
"Yeah" she turned smiling, glad she'd got the desired effect "I'm out tonight after this"
"Looks interesting" he noted, she's getting me back got the rip yesterday, he smiled thinking
"Okay come on you've done your homework I hope? she fanned him towards her asking "Music?" she asked as she watched him nod "Embrace" she held her hands up as he dropped his sweat top and grabbed hold of her and she nodded "Poise" she said lifting her head as she watched him adjust himself and smiled "Quick study" she said giggling before she let him go and went to put his music on
"Yes I'm ready" Sam clapped his hands saying
"Love the enthusiasm" she walked towards him saying "Right" she said as they built their frame "Whenever you can, you'll be leading, always remember slow, slow, quick, quick, slow" she nodded to the music as she stepped off with him reciting what she'd just said as he watched her eyes telling him what she was going to do next. they got to a steady pace and kept it up for a good 15 minutes before he heard her voice again "As the leader you need to remember these five steps" she slowed then stopped their dancing and moved away from in front of him to the side, "Forward with your left foot" She told him waiting for him to grasp it as she competed the action "Forward with you right foot" she told him waiting again "Forward with your left foot, to the right with your right foot then feet together, moving your left foot to meet your right one" she stepped him through it for a while until he seemed to make it click in his mind
"Left, right, left, right to the right, feet together, move left to meet right" he sung as he followed his instructions
"You remember that and everything else came go to hell about it" she laughed "Come on" she held her hand out for him to grab and start putting his learning into action. It took a long while for him to get the two things synchronised, he hadn't felt comfortable by the end of the session but he'd planned on working on it later that night and maybe some of tomorrows session, it was a lot to take in
"I won't ask if I learned anything today" he told her a bit deflated at he end of his two hours
"Well I'll tell you anyway" she giggled "Remember those three main things we talked about on day one?" she asked a puzzled Sam "Well I saw patience and willingness to learn tonight"
"Thank you" he looked at her standing in that black dress looking fierce "You wouldn't want to extend the lesson and let me watch you dance tonight would you?"
"Why would you want to watch me dance?" she turned to ask him
"I just think it would make a change from sitting in the hotel room for another night"
"Is that supposed to make me feel a little sorry for you?"
"A lot" he laughed
"I'm not really dancing I'm judging, but there'll be some dancing there I guess you could get exposed to"
"Thanks" he smiled grabbing his things
"I don't think shorts and vest are going to get you in" she looked at him saying
"I can get changed, 10 minutes and I'm ready, real low maintenance"
"Okay" she rolled her eyes telling him a smile on her face as she watched him punching air "10 minutes" she warned as he went through the door
Sam was skipping the five minute walk back to his hotel smiling and singing one of his favourite songs 'Meant to Be' by Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line in his head 'Who knows where this road is supposed to lead? we got nothing but time, as long as you're right here next to me, everything's gonna be alright, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, so won't you ride with me, ride with me? see where this thing goes, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, if it's meant to be' he got to his room, had a quick wash and grabbed his get lucky shirt, wallet and phone and he was out again.
She sat wondering why she was taking things this far with this nearly married man, she knew her boundaries and the consequences for her heart in crossing them, these things never end well, she sat tapping on the piano trying to get a grip of her feelings warning herself to stop. He likes Country, she smiled to herself as she tapped out her favourite song of the moment humming along as her mind sang 'I don't mean to be so uptight, but my heart's been hurt a couple times by a couple guys that didn't treat me right, I ain't gonna lie, ain't gonna lie, cause I'm tired of the fake love, show me what you're made of, boy, make me believe'
He'd got all the way back to the studio and even pushed the door open before he wondered, what the hell he was doing, but it was too late now she was on the other side of the door that was already opening. "Hi" he walked back in 20 minutes later saying, seeing her sitting tapping the keys on the piano brought a smile to his face that made him forget the argument he'd just had with himself that song coming back to him, his mind singing 'Oh, hold up girl, don't you know you're beautiful? and it's easy to see'
"I was just about to give up on you" she told him, she got up, grabbed her purse "I'm ready" she laughed looking at him as she walked past "I guess I'm going to be the envy of the night" she commented about his new attire
"Me too" he laughed "Thank you"
"No, Thank you" she walked through the door open saying
They got to the venue and it really wasn't what Sam expected they were dancing to reggae, using all different styles of dancing, some were dancing alone provocatively, everyone dancing to a different beat, some were dancing with partners to yet another beat, their bodies pressed so close together their clothes moved with every turn, but they were all dancing to the same song and all of them made sense as he watched them. Their movement putting him in mind of that film dirty dancing only there were less clothes, more sweat and the music was sexy "Mercy" he heard bringing him back into the now as he saw a guy coming towards them "Dance?" he asked as Mercy passed Sam her bag and wondered off.
He found the bar, ordered a drink and stood watching as dancer freestyled and formation danced while the rhythm just kept going on, looking around the room his eyes soon found Mercy, he found a stool to sit on watching her dancing to yet a different beat as her booty went into super twerk taking centre floor to herself for a while before the guy she went off to dance with joined her and they finished in some formation thing with everyone cheering "Whatever Mercy drinks" he told the barman when he saw her coming back
"Sam sorry I got carried away, literally" she smiled as she got to him and jumped on the empty chair next to him "It's a dancehall competition and I'm one of the judges, along with Twin who you just didn't meet and Gee, he'll be around in a bit" her hands fell onto his thighs to pull herself on the chair properly, he noticed but she seemed to think touching was normal so he left it
"It's fine, I got you a drink" he smiled back at her, "blame the bartender if it's wrong"
"Thanks" she picked the drink up and knocked his glass with it "Cheers" she smiled and he sat thinking that smile just seemed so genuine and sweet, with just the right amount of shyness to make it send a flutter through him and find her sexy "The competition starts in about twenty, do you want to come sit with us or are you alright there?"
"I'm fine here" he smiled and something happened for him, just at that second
Mercy did her judging, the teams were good, it was a bitch to judge, lots of disagreements but in the end the crowd voted via cheers, he smiled when Mercy's cheers won, he'd cheered loud enough. Sam had sat watching Mercy all night in between the acts, his mind was heavy with her, it was only when jealously kicked in as he watched Gee and Twin kissing her that his mind wondered onto Emma. He checked his phone to see a missed call "Shit" he hissed knowing she'd be stressing now for not getting in contact with him, he rolled his eyes thinking she'd have even called his parents by now setting them off too. He got up and left the venue to make his calls, he didn't see Mercy coming towards him, he dialled Emma before he left the venue and she answered before he got outside "Emm" he smiled down the phone a bit frustrated at her needy coming out, he didn't know that about her "I'm fine I'm just out taking in some of the evening entertainment" he rolled his eyes as she told him she'd called his parents "Okay I'll call them now"
"Is something wrong?" Mercy asked when she finally got outside to see Sam with the phone at his ear
He spun around at the sound of her voice behind him "I love you" he said speaking to Emma but looking at Mercy, his eyes couldn't leave her, she stood just looking at him "Emm I've got to call Mom, I'll speak to you tomorrow" he told her closing the call "Sorry" he told Mercy
"It's fine, I'm sorry interrupting you" she smiled that smile again "I just thought someone had said something or something"
"What you were coming out to defend me?" he laughed
"Something like that, come on lets get you home" she grabbed his arm and used the taxi app on her phone. They drove the short journey to the hotel talking about the night, Mercy reminded him about his lesson tomorrow and let him out the cab, driving off before he even got to the top of the steps, she didn't trust herself a second longer around the man, she needed some reprieve tonight. He stood wondering if him saying that just then and looking at her was actually an accident or fate, because he knew there was something, both closing their eyes listening to their inner soul telling them 'If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be baby just let it be, so won't you ride with me, ride with me? see where this thing goes, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, if it's meant to be' "Okay" they both said listening to their thoughts
Lesson 4
Work with Your Partner
"Rested after your late night?" she called as she stretched on the bar at the side of the room "I didn't get all my stretches, just give me a minute" she shouted across as Sam stood looking at her forming shapes with her body in the name of stretch "Okay" she finally said moving away from the bar to put his music on "Let's recap" she told him as the music started
"I didn't feel too comfortable about those five steps yesterday, I wasn't happy with how we left that" he replied
"Okay we'll address that first thing, after your recap" she smiled "Let's see how much you retained"
"Okay" he smiled playing her game "Music, Embrace" he said grabbing hold of her "Poise and Basic steps" he moved her around the room saying
"Looks like you got it to me" she laughed "Tonight we'll work a bit on what you think you need, and then get down to getting you comfortable to dancing with a partner"
"Okay" he smiled
"You like that word yeah?"
"So do you" he looked down at her telling her "Patience" he reminded her
"Right" she laughed moving him faster around the room "You have to feel your partners presence, and flow with them" she moved "Remember your five steps" she prompted their movement producing sweat as they upped the pace, the music in their minds now, although it was blasting out the system "Beautiful" she smiled as his flow became more natural
"You think I'm getting it?" he asked
"If your talking instead of counting your steps hell yes" she laughed "But it's good that your girlfriend is better at this than you to keep you in check"
"I keep myself in and out of check thank you" he laughed
"Excuse me" she giggled as he watched her face melt into happiness "Right Mr Cocky lets get you moving" she said as the move changed to a rock from side to side as they moved around "This is called a progressive rock" you do it instead of moving your feet every now and again" they did the move on the spot as she spoke "So we'll add it to our step routine except instead of quick, quick we'll do one quick and use the other one for a progressive rock" she told him as they did it "Got it?"
"We'll see" he told her taking her around the room as they fitted it in
"Good" she praised him after about 20 minutes of practicing for perfection "Quick water break" she let him go saying, walking towards her bottle and dragging off her sweat top to reveal a leotard underneath "I can tell you're learning" she laughed as she turned
Sam stood learning poker face real fast, she was naked except for her jog bottoms and that piece of lycra, he swore there were no panties under there, he'd felt no evidence of them "Why because your toes feel fine" he laughed thinking how ridiculous that sounded
"No because I'm actually sweating" she laughed "Come on we're wasting time" she put her bottle down telling him "Carte" she announced as they got back in position "Use this with the progressive rock, and you get two smooth moves in one" she smiled at him as he looked at her talking "It's the same concept as the other move only you rock on one of the two slows, it gives your move more oomph" she told him as they tested it out side by side "Ready?" she asked a short while later
"Yep" he snapped, he couldn't wait to try these moves out on her
She finally stood in front of him waiting for him to use his learning, as she held her arms out to be taken, smiling as she watched his embrace, poise, and nod before they stepped off to his beat and she followed his steps "Your slides on that slow need to be longer" she told him as they moved "This is all too easy for you isn't it?" she giggled after he'd got all the moves happening by the end of the session
"It's my last day tomorrow am I going to get to do the whole thing together and learn some perks"
"I have it planned" she smiled "Swirls and turns I think for the last session and then we can put it all together for the last hour"
"Do you fancy getting a drink or something maybe to eat?"
"I could definitely eat"
"Give us a chance to talk about something other than the tango" he laughed
"What you have more conversation?" she asked
"Come on" he grabbed her hand saying as they left the studio "You maybe know the place better than me, where's good?" they stood outside conversing for a while until she smiled at making the decision and dragged him off with her, they ended up at a quaint little quiet restaurant and sat on the floor waiting for their food to arrive "Okay" he looked up at her laughing
"There's that word again" she giggled
"Yeah I use it a lot, I guess you learned that about me" he rubbed the back of his head nervously, wondering where this feeling had come from "So" he looked at her laughing "I'll start I guess" he took a sip of his drink saying "Who's your best friend?"
"Oh that's going to be Lyn she's salt type of person you know, we've been friends since school and it really doesn't matter how long we go without seeing each other, as soon as we touch base it's straight into catch up and finishing each other sentences" she bubbled at the thought of seeing her friend again "Yours?"
"Oh Brad, without a doubt, no matter what time of the day or night I call him, he's there, it's really difficult to keep relationships going with a job like mine so the ones that do keep going I really treasure them and he just seems to have been there"
"What two things do you want to accomplish before your forty?" she asked looking up as their food arrived "Thank you" she smiled to the waiters as they put food on the table
"I want to be in love and maybe married" he told her
"That's a cheat it's past tense, two more things"
"Have a family I guess and a wife that still loves me"
"Strange thing to wish for, why wouldn't your new wife still love you?"
"I told you I don't keep friends for very long, I've known Emma for about 6 months now and basically that's the longest a girl's ever stayed around for me, I figure while she's still interested I might be able to build a life with her but I'm conscious that my lifestyle, which I don't want to change any time soon, might not work with her long term, she comes across as a bit needy sometimes" he told her putting food in his mouth "Nice" he raise his eyebrows telling her ""And you?"
"I want my own dance school and I want to release a it record" she grinned "Not that I want to be a one hit wonder or anything like that but you only need one good break you know?"
"I know" he smiled as they tucked into food for a while, before he looked up at her, she stopped eating for a while wondering what was up "I feel comfortable with you, I mean, we don't know each other that well but, I think this is something I'd remember with a smile"
"Why thank you kind sir" she giggled "And you were a good student, quick study" she laughed
"So what's next for you I remember you said this studio thing was temporary when we met?"
"I hope to finish my year here, I committed a year and then get back to California I guess and back to work"
"Which is?"
"I'm still trying to break into the business as well as teach music at a school"
"What business?"
"The music business, but I have this show choir I manage too, we do a lot of competitions all over the country"
"I don't fit anything else in around flying, my base is in Texas, that's where my parents are anyway, I guess when I finally settle down that's going to be another conversation, where base is I mean" he smiled
"Desert Madam Sir" a voice interrupted their stare asking
"Please" Mercy smiled up at the man saying while Sam carried on staring at her
They talked about dream destinations, what made them laugh out loud, and regrets before they finally got up and left for their homes, Sam walked Mercy to her small flat on top of the twenty four hour supermarket before he walked the short distance to his hotel, he needed the air, this was one of the single most fantastic dates of his damn life, they connected. 'If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, just let it be, If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be baby just let it be, so won't you ride with me, ride with me? see where this thing goes, if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be, baby, if it's meant to be'
Lesson 5
Perfect your Moves
"Hi" she smiled as he walked into the studio, his muscles rippling, hair neatly brushed back, his smile as wide as the room "We're just perfecting your moves today"
"And Twirls and turns" he added
"Yeah and those" she said putting his music on before standing in the middle of the room waiting for him to demand her attention, he walked up to her and set his poise and she stretched his warm out for her to take and gripped her waist perfect first time, waited for his beat and took her away "Perfect she said as he moved about "Progressive rock" she ordered as he did as told and followed shortly after with his carte "impressed" she smiled as they spent a full 30 minutes dancing all combinations of those moves until she felt comfortable with him "Thirsty" she finally stopped telling him as she moved away, they were both wet with sweat.
"You have showers here right?" he asked throwing some of the water over his face with his hand
"Yeah round the back, but you might as well wait until the end"
"Fine" he smiled wondering why she'd think he'd want a shower in the middle of a lesson
"Right swirls and turns, the last phase" she stopped the music telling him "Okay, your going to get excited about this last bit" she walked up to him and sat down on the floor saying
"There's your favourite word again" he smiled sitting down in front of her as they talked
"No it's yours I was just reminding you as your trying so hard not to use it" she laughed "You need to plan ahead, your taking the lead in this and you need to get into your partners head, you think it's easy but its not, you have to be thinking at least 8 steps ahead of where you are, if you want things to happen make them happen"
"Make them happen" he nodded
"Don't get all fired up in the flamboyance of it all simple is beautiful too, don't feel pressured into spicing things up, as you dance the two of you will get into a flow" she sat telling him "You've learned the Argentine Tango it's the most common one and maybe the best because it focuses on the woman and I'm guessing that's exactly what you want to do" she laughed
"Sure is" he slapped his thighs telling her
"And don't be fooled by the amount of space we have here, you can rock that back out in the smallest circle, you don't really need all these swirls, this dance can be as intimate as you want it to be, better dancers generally demand more space so she might take the lead and do that so be mindful" she told him getting up "Right so Swirls and turns" she stood up and watched him get up as she found his side and started showing him the moves
"Do I do this on the fast or the..."
"I'm getting there" she giggled putting her hands on her hips at him "Take two to the right slow, then after the second slow throw your torso to face the left" she told him doing the action several times as he followed "Got that?" she asked smiling seeing he had
"I might have" he smiled
"Then carry on with moving back on your five swirl" she said doing her swirl for him to follow "And check" she said sharply snapping it, they did it a few times before she took her leave and left him tangoing around the floor "Alright this is it we're going to put the whole thing together and make a Tango out of it" she pulled her top off to reveal a leotard with even less material than the previous day "It's going to get hot" she warned him as she fluffed out her skirt and pulled it on
"I'll just..." he said dragging his vest over his head revealing his naked torso while she stood watching "I'm ready"
"Okay you've got your basic steps, the woman usually does most of the work on the swirls and turns so just keep your count, eight steps ahead, and always demand to lead no matter how many times I try to take it from you"
"We sound like we're going to war"
"Well I have something and your trying to get it" she laughed "Waiting to be swept up and felt?" she told him reminding him of their first conversation "Don't think, just do and listen to your music" she told him as she turned his music on and walked to the centre of the room
He slid his hand down her back, looking in her eyes as his hand moved from the nape of her neck to his spot just under he shoulder blade, running his other hand along her naked arm before clasping her hand and stood still until he was sure his poise, frame and embrace were good. He starts moving and at first she's playing ball, he got comfortable pulling her around the room he didn't need to listen to his music anymore he knew it, it was playing in his head. "Eight steps ahead" he reminded himself as suddenly she was out of his arms and stooped on the floor
"Keep your steps" she warned him as she slid up him "Remember your circle can be big or small" she told him as he watched her pull herself up the front of him, he pulls her to him when she gets there, but she spins out and he's left doing his steps, thinking he can't remember the next step let alone eight in front as he's watching her dress flip around her hips, her spins bring her back to him and he's hearing his music again he grabs his step again and she's suddenly in front of him dancing to his tune "Your five steps, when all else fails find your five steps" she tells him, your women will find you
"Okay" he says smiling for his word again, grabbing her frame to get back to his rhythm, she flops back in his arms as her right leg comes up and grabs his calf, and he's standing thinking how's he supposed to do his five steps "Take control" he whispered to himself and he yanks her up and she rests flush against him, he's looking into her eyes thinking "Fuck" and then "Five steps" as he hears his music and falls back into step. He pushes her away from him catching her just before their hands leave contact to pull her back in hard, he's feeling mad that she's trying to trick him, his hands landing anywhere on her body as quick as he throws her out he pulls her back in and she's landed with her back to him as his hand trails along her ribs and ends itself just below her panty line, he leaves it there as his eyes close and he inhales her hair in his face. He doesn't see her eyes close as she slams against his chest, he catches himself and pushes her back out, standing watching her dancing around him before he walks to her and pulls her in, they dance in sync for a while before he pushes her away from him. She pulls back this time and her arm finds itself behind her back, pressed there by his hand, their faces are so close they hear each others breath before it reaches the space outside of themselves, their eyes refusing to leave each other
"Stop, stop, stop" Mercy's thinking as her body refuses to react to her command
"Do it" Sam tells himself as he moves his face that half a centimetre and takes her lips
He's deep into the kiss, he'd fallen, her lips had opened up for him almost immediately and he was lost, he felt her hands on each side of his face as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her into him, her back arched perfectly into him, she fitted. It must have been some sort of dance move because he didn't feel clumsy about how it happened he just realised they were on the floor and his was laying half on her, kissing her face, neck, shoulder, clothes seemed to disappear as their hands found places and suddenly they were dancing in ways that produced pure pleasure to their own music.
Sam lay back on the floor he'd just experienced love and it scared him, it was so intense, he was definitely there with someone all the way through. This wasn't like his usual casual hook ups this had meaning, he looked over at the clock on the wall, it was 2am he'd been making love for four hours and he could go again "Mercy" he looked to the side of him and whispered
Mercy was dealing with her own feelings she'd done what she'd asked herself not to do, she felt she was disciplined but her body truly took what it wanted. They were covered in sweat and she was still waiting and excited for this man's touch, she smiled trying to find the words for her feeling, and came up with this man gave her herself showed her what coming home was truly about "Sam" she turned to answer him
"I don't know what I'm asking here, but I don't want us to part just yet, will you come to my hotel?"
"Does it have a shower?" she asked
"Yeah" he laughed jumping up to find their clothes, they finally got dressed and made their way to his hotel room, they couldn't stop touching and kissing all the way there and fell into bed when they got there
"Sam" they heard someone banging on the door waking them out of their sleep, he jumped out of bed and went to see what was going on "Sam, the flight, come on you're cutting this fine" Steve his Co-Captain told him
"What time is it?" he rubbed his eyes asking
"Nearly 11am my man, we can't fly a damn plane without one of it's pilots"
"Yeah just give me a couple of minutes I'll be down" he fanned him out the room telling him, he sat down and covered his face with his hands eventually dragging them down his face when he realised he didn't know what he was going to say to Mercy right now "Mercy" he jumped up when he saw her dressed at the bedroom doorway
"I knew what this was Sam and I chose to jump in anyway" she walked towards him saying "With the tension between us I guess this was inevitable, I have a beautiful memory to carry me through life, and I wish you all the best in your life" she bent down to kiss him before she turned and walked to the door "Go all out on that first dance, she's a lucky woman" she told him, closing the door and she was gone
Sam felt hopeless and messed up, he sat for a while thinking nothing, he'd made this situation happen and now he had no choice but to walk away, he had a life outside of this, he'd asked a questions, made a promise and committed he eventually got up and got dressed to go fly his plane "There's a three hour delay" Steve told him as he met up with the crew in the foyer
"Okay I'll catch you at the airport I have something to buy" he told them walking out of the hotel as they all looked at him for his random behaviour, Mercy would be getting ready for her second session by now he just couldn't leave that how she'd tried to leave it, it was important, she was important. He got to the studio, climbed the stairs and stood watching her dancing, he smiled as he watched her moving, until she turned and he saw she was crying, he stood back listening to the music hearing 'Say it First' by Sam Smith playing as she moved 'So come to me darling, if you love me, say it first' he struggled with himself for a few seconds before he took his uniform jacket off and walked into the studio, she saw him straight away and stopped dancing a short while after the music stopped "Mercy" he stepped towards her saying before he heard the song start again, he found the centre of the room and demanded her attention, she accommodated and they danced not a tango, he was listening to the music and watching her as they moved freely around the room, her head resting on his chest as it came to an end
"You shouldn't have come" she told him
"I couldn't not, last night meant something to me"
"Me too" she finally looked up at him saying
"I just danced for the first time and last night I made love for the first time, and I want to say it, but you know the situation
"Bye Sam" she let go of him saying "Please just go" she told him turning her back, the air thick as they both listened to the song replaying itself
"Time for class Mercy" a voice came into the room asking
"Yes" Mercy spun round telling the woman, looking at Sam still standing there "Sam go" she told him and stood watching while he picked his jacket up and left the studio, he stood in the window watching her run off to the bathroom
Florida
Emma wanted the wedding in Florida, she'd set everything up on her side but only Brad and his family and Sam's parents were there for him, so the stag night was a total our night out as there was only him and Brad so it ended up being their usual four beers and a movie, and somehow she'd managed to still book for over 200 guests with no family present.
She'd had these really expensive cards printed to accompany the already sent invites, like an itinerary of the actual day, naming the entire wedding party as well as absent relatives and then the guest list. She was having a fit at Sam over the phone because she'd wanted Brad to hand them out and he was refusing telling her he had Sam to look after and he'd read up on his role and that shit didn't fit.
"Get your brother to do it" Sam finally told her, and it sounded like the world was going to break in two for her as Brad and he stood laughing quietly at her tantrum
"Can you really deal with this shit?" Brad asked him as he clipped the phone shut
"I can always find somewhere to fly off to" he smiled back at him
"Bro are you alright?" he looked into his eyes asking "I mean really are you alright with this?"
"Fine" he told him unwilling to share Mercy and him with anyone, not even his best friend, he'd have been lying if he'd said he didn't think about Mercy, he was playing his music at every given opportunity and of course all he could ever see was that last lesson, Emma had decided they weren't going to sleep together for the remainder of the time until their wedding when he got back, and he was fine with that.
The day was finally here and Sam stood in his Captain's suit with his hat cocked under his left arm waiting for Emma to make an entrance, he was hearing his music and he needed to move that to the side for a while to get the serious stuff out the way, he smiled as her brother came down the isle signalling that things were about to start, he took his pose "Poise" he told himself as the time got closer. Then suddenly there was a quiet in the church and he knew it was time, his face smiling while his heart was filled with questions, the only answer he could find was that he'd asked this woman a question and, he meant it at the time
'I never feel like this, I'm used to emptiness in my heart, and in my arms' he heard ringing through the church, he looked around the congregation for Mercy, this couldn't be happening, he took a double look seeing Emma coming down the isle but she wasn't dancing, crying, smiling at him, she was begging for compliments from her audience 'Come on baby, say it first, I need to hear you say those word, if I'm all that you desire, I promise there'll be fire' rang through his head, he felt himself moving to it
"Sam" he heard opening his eyes to see Emma standing in front of him "You alright, you're as white as a sheet?"
"Sorry" he told her as she grabbed hold of him
"Hold onto me, for god sake don't go down" she hissed "I'll be the industry joke" she looked at him her eyes begging
"I mean sorry I can't do this, I don't love you"
"What?" she whispered at him
"I'm sorry I can't marry you"
"And you wait until now to tell me that?"
"How many times can I say sorry?" he asked
"You're right your sorry" she slapped him across the face and walked off back up the isle
"That went well" Brad walked up to him laughing "Come on lets get out of here" he waved at Sam's parents telling him as he dragged him out of the church "I know you don't ever want to tell anyone everything about what's going on in your life, but I've been asking the same question since you came back from Shanghai"
"I still don't want to talk about it" Sam told him
"You fell in love didn't you?" he asked
"I don't want to talk about it" Sam warned him and he left it alone, he knew his friend
Everyone eventually went home, Sam went back to work a week earlier than he'd intended and huffed as his crew speculated about his wedding that never happened
6 Months Later
Sam took a connection flight from Texas to Los Angeles covering sick, he'd got no reason to rush back home, so he took a night he'd planned on resting up at the hotel driving to the Hills the following day to check in on Brad, he hadn't really done that since the wedding not wedding thing, he was back to being a loner.
He sat in the hotel bar looking at all the activity, youngsters running around and pamphlets flying "What's going on?" he asked the receptionists dodging the running kids
"Nationals, show choir" she told him as his ears pricked up "Tomorrow night" she added with a smile
"Oh I'll be gone by then" he smiled remembering his plans to visit Brad, he called him to confirm his plans
"Sorry Bro I'm at show choir with our eldest in LA, we all are"
"In LA" he asked "I'm here in the middle of it, so you guys come to me I'll book a couple of rooms make a night of it" he closed the call
"Sam, I knew that was you" he turned, a smile on his face, he knew who was calling is name
"Mercy" he gasped jumping off the stool, this was his moment, he needed to do this now, it was all he'd wanted to do just seven months ago, he took a breath "I love you" he smiled "I said it first"
"You're hearing our music" she smiled as she hugged him "I Promise there'll be fire, I love you back"
3 Months Later
"I do" Mercy just about got out before Sam had her in his arms, taking their first kiss as man and wife, they walked back down the isle, the whole day much like their relationship, very family focused as their parents hugged, cried and laughed together all the way through the day, the speeches were done, the cake was cut, the bouquet was thrown and it was time for the first dance
"May I" Sam asked as Brad announced it, making joke of his two left feet
"You may" she smiled grabbing his hand as they walked out to the middle of the dancefloor
The stood waiting for the music, Sam settling his poise, grabbing Mercy so seductively everyone wooed Bandoneon Acrorzado' by Tango Fusion Club' started and they went into action, "That was felt by the audience I think" Mercy smiled as they listened to everyone clapping
"You okay?" he asked when they ended
"We're okay" she laughed falling into his chest
THE END