Chapter 4- Hours to kill

I walked to the gym and was in a much better mood. I had a spring in my step, and I was happy to be out and looking forward to expending some of this energy. Apparently I didn't get enough dancing last night, because I had my 'Dance flashback' playlist working and I was excited to flex some muscles I haven't used in so long. I had made it to the gym and hit repeat on Fall Out Boy for the second time by the time I made it upstairs to the sound machine to start warming up.

I Don't Care Fall Out Boy

Standing outside a broken phone booth Primitive Radio Gods

Lotion Greenskeepers

Land of Confusion Genesis

Burn It to the Ground Nickelback

No Light, No Light Florence + The Machine

There were free standing racks at waist height, I moved one into the middle and started some ballet warm-ups that I'd memorized from 14 years of dance lessons. "I've been down hearted baby" just started coming through the sound system and I let the melancholy lyrics move me while I went through the positions and loosened up my arms and legs. I could turn my brain off, and just let the muscle memory take over. I love coming up here when no one is around, and I try to keep my playlists as mellow as possible for whoever is trying to workout downstairs. There is a smoked mirror on the back wall of the room towards the entrance so that people can watch what's going on without distracting the classes. I increase my warm-up intensity while 'Lotion' is playing and incorporate some yoga moves for flexibility. The warmth in my muscles is familiar and comforting.

I stop the warm-up and start working through some moves when Genesis comes on. I love 80's music, and this one kind of sums up my weekend, without the Cold War sub-plot. I start working some contemporary moves and turns and as the song continues I find myself in my comfort zone. Everything can be sorted out with dance and music, or at least it should. By the time 'Burn it to the Ground' comes on, I am full-on sweating and working on a grittier routine that oozes sensuality and bad-ass. I am winded and loose and ready for the more complicated floor work I have in mind when 'No light, No Light' comes on.

When the song comes on, I am worked up to kicks and leaps and complicated turn combinations. My legs and arms are radiating heat, and I know I am getting in another good workout. I guess I really didn't get enough dancing last night. I miss dancing, I miss the time I spent pushing and perfecting my body into the performing the routines with precision. I am grateful that this space is available, and I push myself further into the plies and knee bends as the song continues.

"No light no light in your bright blue eyes, I never knew daylight could be so violent.
A revelation in the light of day, you can't choose what stays or what fades away"

I notice in the mirror that there are two people standing outside of the dance room. By the frame, I can tell one is Jason, and he is facing to the side, speaking to someone else. I can only see the other person's profile, arms crossed over their chest. I know it's a man based on the stance and short hair, so I assume that Jason is giving a tour and showing him the whole building.

"…you want a revelation, you want to get right. But it's a conversation I just can't have tonight. You want a revelation, some kind of resolution, you want a resolution, tell me what you want me to say…"

The song finishes and I stand with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I touch my hands to the floor to start my cool down stretching. The other person steps away after shaking Jason's hand. Jason leans in the door way to the dance room and smiles at me.

"Hey Bella, good workout?"

"It was" I manage to get out between deep breaths and sips of water. I gather my things and head over to the door.

"How's it going this morning Jason? Hopefully I wasn't too loud up here?"

"Nah, Bella, you're pretty tame when it comes to music. The gym was quiet this morning, so it was good to hear some randomness" he says while smiling. Jason is always smiling. It's one of the things that immediately drew me to him. I am grateful we've always been able to keep the friendship right where it's at with no complications.

"So, who were you just talking to?" I asked, not really interested, but just letting him know I recognized that they were watching.

'Some guy just looking at the gym to see if he wants to join. He wanted a tour, and since the music was coming from up here, thought I'd show him where we do classes when my friends aren't using it to re-live their dancing glory days" he says with a smirk.

I nudged him with my shoulder and tried to give him my meanest glare. I ended up with a narrow-eyed smirk, "Watch it, Kemper. Those glory days can still kick your ass" I said with a laugh.

"Relax, Swan. I'm just busting on you. You're a pretty amazing dancer, even if your glory days are over" he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and gave him the foolproof "Whatever" as I gathered up the rest of my stuff. We continued to banter back and forth about the previous night, and I told him about the stupid tattoo since he had left before the rest of us went to the karaoke bar. He asked what my plans were for the rest of the day, and I told him I needed to finish laundry and run some errands. Part of me wanted to tell him about the crazy encounter from the previous day, but I settled with a 'See you later' as I left. Jason is a fixer. If he senses a damsel in distress, he'd come running, and it would complicate the easy friendship we have. As long as he sees me as a competent and strong female, then I can keep some of the bad stuff out that might make him want to run in for the rescue. Besides, in a few hours, I would be able to meet the mysterious Aro, get my wallet, and hopefully get back to normal. Edward was pretty insistent that I say no, but to what, I didn't know yet. Everything was really confusing. I could only hope that a face to face meeting would provide some clarity, and maybe an explanation for the strange meeting in the bar. At the very least I could get my wallet back and have some good sushi. Ever the optimist, I walked home, showered, and put on 'Across the Universe' on the dvd player, determined to maintain this good mood. The happy and content feelings in my brain kept uttering the mantra 'no bother stressing about what you can't control'. Too bad the control freak is still in there repeating 'have you MET us?'