Act Fifteen – Interlude: Shaded Corners
'When we arrived, it was so much like the last time I was there that I was shocked, a little, and felt that I was being a bad escort to Dorothy, who had never been to a celebration of this sort before. I felt guilty, and nervous, and we escaped each other's awkwardness at the first chance.'
The ballroom was well decorated, even though the Military Police had been having a hard year raising funds. The Force had been taking losses, it seemed, left and right. The people gathered were not all aware of the financial difficulties, most knew only what was published in the papers, but even those that were aware of the money troubles managed to overlook it that evening. Everyone that was gathered was in the spirit of the holidays and more than willing to overlook the trials of the last year for an evening of relaxation and entertainment.
The band was arranged on stage, and a woman stepped up to the microphone and began to sing an old jazz song. It touched him every time he heard it sung. The song was one he could vaguely remember his mother singing when she would be doing housework when he was a child.
"So, Roger," a woman's voice said from just behind him. "Do you dance as well, or do you just ogle the singer?"
"Nadine," he said, turning and offering her a charming smile. In his formal uniform he looked even taller than normal, and his eyes sparkled in the dim lighting. And then his smile fell slightly. "I… I'm sorry about-"
"What happened to Jean and the others wasn't your fault, Roger," the pretty brunette woman says. "Even though the family hasn't forgiven you, I have."
"And why might that be, Nadine? You never seemed to think much of me before."
"Jerome," she said, indicating a tall, similarly featured young man across the room, "had a less than glowing opinion of you, before… one that's changed, after all that's happened."
"He should have the worst opinion of me of everyone. Jean was his partner, after all." Roger lowered his head slightly, only to have Nadine reach out with one hand and tilt his chin up.
"This is supposed to be a celebration, Roger," she smiles at him and then nervously glances out at the dance floor, "and here we are standing around talking about unpleasant things in a corner. Usually you're the bell of the ball at these functions."
"I just," Roger pauses, turning his own eyes out at the dance floor, and the ladies he had brushed off in his attempt to be alone in the crowd, "didn't really feel much like dancing tonight."
"Well, I'm afraid that before this conversation attracts the rather scandalous acclaim you're known for, we'd better step out onto the dance floor. Whether you like it or not."
With a kind smile of acceptance, Roger offers Nadine his arm and the two of them head out onto the floor, under the watchful eyes of both Captain Dan Dastun and Lieutenant Jerome Fitz, who had finished his dance and stepped over to greet his commanding officer.