Nothing's in my way

Chapter 7

"Kristoff..."

That afternoon Kristoff and Sven also arrived early from the ice sale. I definitely wasted a lot of time for him the day he brought me here. Sven was lounging inside the cabin in our company and Kristoff was plugging some of the air-entrained cracks that I might have complained about excessively.

"Tell me."

"I'm bored..."

"Yuh-huh..."

"And...?"

"What do you want me to say? Think of something to entertain yourself."

"The fact is I have already thought of something..."

"You scare me. C'mon, surprise me."

"I've seen your lute."

"So..."

"You know how to play it?"

"You could put it that way, yes."

"Cool! Would you play it for me?"

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because I'm busy and playing I'm the one entertained, not you."

"I can dance to the sound of music."

"Good luck dancing in here."

"Come oooon, pleaaaase..."

"Anna, I'm doing stuff. Do you prefer to dance or stop getting cold?"

"To dance! That'll warm me up faster."

At last, he turned to look at me and, with an almost imperceptible smile, sighed and got up to get the lute.

"As you wish. But you lose the right to complain about the cracks."

"You have my word!"

I got up ready to juggle to move in the almost zero free space with Sven in there and Kristoff sat on the bed with his back against the wall and began to play.

"Reindeers are better than people.

Sven, don't you think that's true?"

"Really? That's your song?"

"And it has only just begun."

"Yeah, people will beat you,

and curse you, and cheat you.

Everyone of 'em's bad except you."

'Come on, now playing Sven's voice...'

I covered my mouth so as not to laugh out loud because I felt the overwhelming need to hear the rest of the song.

"But people smell better than reindeers.

Sven, don't you think I'm right?

That's once again true,

for all except you.

You got me."

I couldn't take it anymore. He was just great. I burst out laughing and couldn't hear a single note more. I ended up rolling on the floor. So he was aware that he smelled like that, huh?

He finished his song and, with a beautiful smile, waited for me to get tired of laughing.

"I knew you would like it," he joked as I regained my composure a little bit.

"Thank you, it's the best song I've ever heard in my life," I said without finishing my laughter yet.

"I am at your disposal."

"Then, dance with me!"

"Ehhh... no. I don't know how to dance. And there's no room."

"You mean you would be embarrassed, right?"

"A lot. There is no point in hiding it."

"C'mon, you don't have to be embarrassed with me."

"Why not?"

"Cause the most could happen is that we laugh together for a while. It'll be healthy."

"I'm not very comfortable with the idea of that. You've already had a good laugh at my expense."

"Then I'll teach you how to dance."

"I don't need it."

"That doesn't matter! It's for we having fun!"

"We or you?"

"Trust me. You'll see how you also have a good time."

I held out my hand and he looked at it obstinately.

"You're not going to live in the lurch this poor woman who's discovering what it is to not always live alone, are you?"

"We agreed that you would no longer use that trick."

"That of utility, not that of loneliness."

He shook his head laughing softly as he kept his arms crossed.

"I've only danced with two men in this life. The first was an old man in heels who almost broke my foot and the other was Hans. Can you help me dignify the list?"

"Is dancing with me supposed to dignify it? I think it's the final shot."

"You're the first one I really want to dance with; that dignifies it."

"There's no point in arguing with you, right?"

I giggled confirming his words and insisted with the hand that was extended to him. Finally, he took it with the delicacy that he always displayed and stood up without letting go.

I took his other hand and put it on my waist. I felt how his heat went through the fabric to my skin and I knew that this was already the best dance of my life.

"Alright. Let's start slowly. First, you have to take a step to your right and put your foot like this," I said moving his foot with mine. "Okay, now, the other foot should follow it to here while you accompany the movement with your body."

He made a slow, clumsy attempt that ended in a stumble and looked at me from really close and flushed to the ears.

"It's a start. Let's try it again."

We tried it a few times and, little by little, he got the hang of the basic walk, so we picked up some speed. However, obviously, he was right and the room was too tight to do a minimally shaky dance in there, so we tripped over a chair and fell on poor Sven.

"Hey, bud, are you okay?"

Sven nodded suspiciously in amusement and we rose carefully. Standing and a little out of place, we looked into each other's eyes and burst into laughter.

"I told you it'd be fun."

"But I think is over."

"Not necessarily."

"I think Sven has had enough."

"Don't worry, this time we won't land on him."

I ran my hands up his shoulders to the nape of his neck as his eyebrows arched in surprise.

"Now grab me with both arms around the waist."

He obeyed, carefully moving each of his muscles, and I leaned my head on his shoulder and began to hum a sweet melody.

"So we don't need to move so much or learn steps, right? Just let it all flow."

I felt him take a deep breath and, to my surprise, he rested his chin on my head and we swayed slowly to my music as his body completely enveloped me.

That night we fussed in bed, fleeing as every day from the cold that entered through the cracks in the wall, but, unlike the previous nights, I felt his body approach mine and I had to restrain the urge to take refuge in his arms as I had done just a little while before during what was undoubtedly the best dance on the list.