Let There Be Peace

Chapter 5

            Soul and Paz sat in the middle of the practice room floor, drinking from large water bottles. They were taking a break from rehearsal to cool off and stay hydrated.

"So, she is saying she had nothing to do with the spray paint on my mirror or the mice in my office?" Paz asked incredulously.

"That's what she said," Soul affirmed. "I think I can read people pretty well, and she really did come off as sincere to me," he commented.

"I don't know," Paz replied skeptically. "I still think she's up to no good. She's broken the heart of every man she's ever partnered with," she alleged.

"Are you sure they didn't break hers?" Soul questioned. "Because I've gotta be honest, she seems to be a really nice girl to me, at least during our one and only interaction."

"After we finish practice, I'm going to go over there myself and find out what's up. I'm a freaking Latina Sherlock Holmes. If I start digging, I find shit," she asserted, as she stood and held her hand down to give Soul a lift up.

"Anyway, back to what we're really here for," Paz said. "I had this kind of crazy idea, but it might work," she began.

"Lay it on me," Soul urged.

"Okay, well, you know how it talked about bedsheets? I was thinking it might be cool to hang several panels of sheer white cloth towards the back of the stage. So, when it goes into that bedsheet line, we could wrap ourselves in the fabric and then unwind into several spins that bring us back to the front of the stage," she suggested.

"I can picture that," Soul answered excitedly. "Actually, it could work for later in the song as well when it says, 'but you're not real'. Like, what if I stood behind the white fabric and you stood facing it? It's like you can see me, but not completely, like I'm a ghost or something," he continued.

Paz smiled widely. "You're some kind of dance genius, aren't you?" she asked as she kissed his cheek.

"I try," he said with a humble shrug.

"I think one of the most tragic lines of the song is when she says that she would say all of this, but she doesn't want to ruin the memory. I have had that feeling before," Paz admitted. "I mean, like when I started dating Jeong, I had this gnawing feeling that the relationship was doomed from the beginning. I think that's what she means when she says, 'a movie I've seen before'," she surmised.

"Exactly, like she knows how this movie ends, but she can't stop herself from re-watching it. And she wants to tell him that she knows what will happen, but part of her holds back just so that she can make a memory she can hold onto later," Soul agreed. He looked around the room for a moment, seeming to grasp for words. "You said that when you dated Jeong, you had a bad feeling that it was over before it began. What about with me? Do you have that premonition of impending doom?" he asked as he reached to stroke her cheek.

"No," Paz replied, capturing his brown eyes with her wide hazel ones. "I haven't had any clairvoyant sensations one way or the other. But I know that I like you a lot," she assured him.

"I like you a lot too," Soul replied. His eyes drifted to the large wall clock that showed it was almost 6:00. "I have to go now," he told her reluctantly. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"The time really got away with us, didn't it?" Paz replied.

"That happens a lot when I'm with you," he said, spinning her around until he finally stopped her and stood before her. He bowed deeply, one of those courtly bows with one arm extended out. "Goodbye, Lady Paz," he said as he grabbed his gym bag and walked out the door.