Dance for Me ––––– By: LinkGirl
Chapter 5: Startling Surprise
Author's Note: Wow, I'm actually updating only a month after my last update! (That's a pretty good accomplishment for me.) Although, I have to say, I know I'd been gone for a long time, but I certainly didn't expect to get a mere three reviews... (By the way, thank you so very much anissa, badgirl-250, and Rangerette for the reviews!!)
Oh well. On with the story! Hope you enjoy chapter five!
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The meeting time was four in the afternoon; just enough time to make it home from school, freshen up, and arrive at the designated meeting place. The place was a fancy, and probably expensive, French restaurant in which Anzu couldn't pronounce the name to.
She couldn't help but smile thinking about it; a paying job teaching dance. It was too good to be true.
— — —
Anzu managed to arrive ten minutes early. She quickly looked around for any signs of a lone male waiting, but unfortunately, there were at least three men waiting outside the restaurant; although none of them seemed to be too interested in what was going on around them. It then occurred to her that he might already be inside the restaurant, but shortly after that thought, she realized she didn't even know his name, and that would get her nowhere.
Five minutes passed, with Anzu anxiously waiting on a bench that sat no more than three feet from the restaurant's front doors; she adjusted her hair and smoothed her skirt absentmindedly, even long after there was any wrinkle to flatten from the fabric.
When it was almost a minute to four, she began watching the single men enter and exit the restaurant, all the while thinking, "Maybe that's him," or, "Oh, I wish that was him." She even began imagining what he might look like –or more accurately, she began imagining what she wanted him to look like.
It was six minutes past four when Anzu started to get antsy. What if she had missed him? What if she had been given the wrong place or time? Or what if he had somehow gotten hung up, unable to make it? Was there any way for him to contact her?
With all her worries starting to stack up, she quickly shuffled through her purse looking for his contact information. She took out her cell phone and stared at it for a moment, going over what she would say if he did happen to answer. After another minute, she finally began dialing the number her dance teacher had given her.
It rang once. ... Twice. ... Anzu held her breath; then someone picked up: "Hello?" The word was gone so fast, Anzu almost didn't register it.
"Um, hello, I—um..." her tongue tied, even though she had rehearsed the conversation over and over in her head.
Although almost inaudible, the voice on the other end exhaled sharply, a hint of annoyance in the soft underlying grunt.
Hearing this, she instantly responded in a slur of words, "Imcallinginregardsto –to the personal tutor you wanted."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm calling in regards to the personal dance tutor you wanted," she repeated at a slower pace.
"Right," he grunted, "Are you at the restaurant?"
"I'm sitting outside, in front of the flowers."
There was a long pause, a then an irritated grumble, "Where?"
"Um..." Anzu looked down at herself, "I'm wearing a red blouse and a black skirt. –Oh, and I'm holding crutches," she finished, quickly snatching up her crutches that had been sitting next to her.
Silence.
"Um...hello?"
The silence continued.
Anzu shifted uneasily and she began to desperately look around for anyone looking in her general direction; finally she spotted a tall man...a tall...oh shit.
— — —
Seto Kaiba hung up the phone, "You have got to be kidding me!" He stomped over to Anzu and looked her straight in the eyes. "You were the one chosen to be my dance instructor!?"
"Y—Y-YOUR dance instructor!?!"
"Yes, my dance instructor," he grumbled.
Anzu just sat there shocked, then finally managed to open her mouth, "You're the one who needs to learn how to dance?"
"Yes," he hissed through his teeth, Kaiba was getting very tried of her astonished tone very fast.
"But— But... Don't you already know how to dance?" was all she could manage out.
He stared at her, his turn to look surprised; although it was more of a "are you crazy" surprised.
She saw this and continued, trying to explain her assumption, "But you're so skilled at DDR."
His expression didn't change for the better, in fact, it actually got worse. Now he was staring at her with a "are you bloody out of your mind, woman" expression. "Who the hell learns to dance from DDR!?"
She mentally sighed in agreement; although it was a great game for exercise, it certainly wasn't going to teach you how to waltz. She stifled a snort at the mental image of Kaiba waltzing.
"What's so funny Mazaki," he snapped, outrage starting to boil up inside him.
"Nothing," she lied quickly, composing her face in the process; although now her mind was on a roll, and was currently picturing Kaiba dancing to, not only the waltz, but the tango and the swing.
Kaiba glanced around, as if somehow hoping that there was someone else waiting for him, although he knew all too well that there wasn't.
"Come on," he ordered with a scowl on this face.
— — —
"Do you have a reservation?" the finely dressed woman at the front asked them.
"Yes. Kaiba."
"Mr. Kaiba..." her finger trailed down the list until it came to his name written in elegant, almost illegible, script. "Mr. Seto Kaiba." Her voice wavered for a moment at the name, but she remained composed and led them to a table for two, "You're waiter will be with you shortly," she smiled a fake smile, and handed them their menus before hurrying off.
Anzu set down her crutches so that they were propped up against the wall next to where they were seated.
Kaiba immediately put the menu down, not at all interested in what was listed to eat. Anzu didn't dare look at the menu with Kaiba in such a bad mood, and cautiously followed his example, placing it down on the table.
There was a ridiculously awkward silence between the two, as Anzu carefully watched Kaiba, and Kaiba sat there trying to digest the situation, at the same time, trying to keep himself calm.
"Would you two like anything to drink today?" a cheerful waiter asked, breaking their silence. He poured them both a tall glass of ice cold water, waiting patiently for a response.
"Nothing for now," Kaiba finally said, although he tried to keep it monotone, it came out slightly angry.
When the oblivious Anzu didn't reply, the waiter spoke again, "And would your girlfriend like anything?"
Kaiba's expression could have killed everyone seated within twenty feet of them. And for all Anzu knew, it might have actually done so to the young waiter, for he was frozen in place.
Anzu quickly answered, "Water's fine."
The waiter was gone before he could say, "I'll be back when you're ready to order."
"What's wrong with you?" Anzu frowned, turning back to Kaiba after watching the young waiter just about sprint away.
Kaiba didn't answer; instead he took a sip of his water and decided not to make eye contact with Anzu.
"Helloo? Earth to–"
"I need to attend a corporate ball!" he snapped, a little more forcefully than intended.
Anzu remained silent. Then she finally asked embarrassedly, "A what?"
He glared at her, and resisted the urge to snap again, "A corporate ball. A bunch of rusty old men get together and hold a party where you're expected to dance, at least in this case, or else you look disrespectful."
"It's never stopped you before..." she mumbled, commenting on Kaiba's disrespect for just about everyone but his little brother. However Kaiba either didn't hear her or decided to ignore the remark, for he continued.
"I've been invited to one, but..." his teeth clenched in reluctance, "But I don't know how to dance."
Anzu just sat there, not exactly sure if she was supposed to respond to that. "And... You want me to be your teacher?"
"I was actually hoping for someone else."
"Well, excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty. I happen to know just about any dance you could want to learn."
"And you're on crutches," he replied simply, his eyes unconsciously going to stare at where they were propped.
". . ." Anzu tried to open her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it when she realized he was painfully right. For some reason, her excitement had completely overshadowed the fact that she couldn't actually dance in her current state. She finally came up with a poor rebuttal, "That doesn't mean I can't tell you how to dance, and–"
"If I wanted that I could have looked at a book," he said impatiently.
"I can correct your mistakes! A book can't do that," she replied, a sudden feeling of confidence taking hold of her, "Besides, they're taking my leg brace off in two weeks. I can practice with you then."
"The party," Kaiba didn't want to call it a ball, "is in three weeks. That's not enough time."
"Seto Kaiba!" Anzu snapped, surprising Kaiba, even if it was only for a split second. "You're making excuses. Is it that you simply don't want me teaching you how to dance?"
Anzu was half expected Kaiba to say yes, so she was taken completely by surprise when he instead replied, "What days are you available to teach then?"
"Um—I...What?"
"Stop acting stupid and answer the question: what days are you available to teach?" Seto grunted.
"I... Whatever's good for you," Anzu finally managed.
"What about Sundays?"
"That's fine, I guess..." Then Anzu's brain finally rebutted, "Wait! Only Sundays? You expect to learn how to dance in... What would that be? –Three sessions?"
Seto sat there silently listening as she continued, "I don't know how quickly you'll pick up the dance steps, or how many dances you would like to learn, but I'm pretty sure three sessions isn't going to be enough!"
"What do you propose then," Seto was finally speaking calmly, although it was a bit distant, almost in a business-like tone.
Anzu thought for a moment, and then slowly expressed her thoughts aloud, "Sunday, Saturday... And possibly even a few weekdays."
"I have work; I can't be taking off for something so trivial."
Anzu looked at him with determination, slightly irritated that he dared to call dance lessons "trivial," "Unless you want to make a fool of yourself at that ball of yours, you'd better make room."
Seto's eyes narrowed, but after consideration, he outstretched his hand, "Fine; you'll be paid a gracious amount for your teaching me how to dance; we will meet on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays," he paused, and when no objection came he continued, "The lessons will be held at my mansion; if you somehow can't reach me, I'll have a limo pick you up. We can go over the smaller details later. Agreed?"
Anzu took a moment to go over all the information he had just presented her; then she reached her hand out to shake his, but he retracted it quickly and added, "Oh, and one more thing; if you even think about telling those friends of yours, or anyone for that matter, about this arrangement...your dancing career is as good as over."
Although that was the last thing Anzu planned to do, she didn't appreciated the threat, but unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about it. She took his hand and shook it, making sure her grip was just as strong as his.
The waiter, who had finally built up the courage to return, attempted to politely interrupt, "Are– Are you two ready to order?"
There was silence for a moment, and the waiter was starting to severely think his brand-new job was over, when Seto finally smirked his trademark smirk, and answered, "Yes, of course."
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