Degretys

Mambo

Time: July, two days till the show in the Granary

Shadow agreed to take Lumi on as a double, provided that she wouldn't be put off by the difficult mambo. They rehearsed in the hotel's dance studio to prove the girl's perseverance and commitment. After an hour of tiring corrections, getting on each other's nerves and stepping on Shadow's feet, they decided together that Lumi would replace Blaze in the Granary.

And even though six energy-sapping days had already passed, they didn't delude themselves she would master the mambo to perfection. After classes, she was always coming back exhausted and devoid of willingness to do anything. She wondered how was attending there and didn't give Shadow a slap in the face for things he found necessary for teaching and which she found annoying, like learning how to keep your posture while your instructor non-stop corrects and holds you down so that you can't move.

It was currently 3 pm, but it seemed late outside. Why? You can thank the heavy, rainy clouds.

''Easy. And turn, turn. Down. And lift.''

Lumi already knew the moves by heart, but preferred not to argue with the instructor. Focused on getting the last dance maneuvers right. Moved her leg back and extended her joined hand with Shadow's forward. His hand slid from her back to her waist before turning with her 180 degrees. They crouched low to the floor with their right legs extended behind. Lumi jumped past Shadow, knelt in the same pose as before, and they quickly let go of their hands behind their backs. At the same time, their heads tilted up... and Shadow screamed himself hoarse. He struggled to his feet and held his aching back.

''You trying to kill me?!''

Out of breath, Lumi didn't speak and watched her angry friend.

''You gotta concentrate, for fuck's sake! It isn't fun like in "The Simple Life." Here, if you mess up, you'll swing for it,'' standing with his feet apart and breathing deeply, leaned forward and grabbed his hands behind his back.

''Oh, I'm sorry, but there's no other way to call it but pathetic fun!'' put her hands on her hips.

She quickly turned from an uncertain girl into a fiery woman.

''We do the show in two days, I don't feel confident in the turns, and you won't show me the lifts. I'm doing all this to save your ass, but I'd rather kick you in it!''

There was silence, broken only by the barely audible drops of water from the previous downpour, hitting everything they fell on.

Shadow, leaning on his knees, looked at the outraged student. He was just as nervous and stressed as she was, but wasn't going to let their performance at the Granary be a failure. He didn't start with gentle methods, instantly moved on to making her sweat. Wanted to perfect her, but she wasn't an easy partner like Blaze. In fact, it's nothing strange to him. Lumi prefers to do things in her own ways rather than adapting to the task imposed on her. Besides, mambo is not an easy thing to learn, especially in such a short time. So there was a lot of pressure. But he couldn't back out of it. Had no choice but to teach her mambo. Had to do it for Blaze. They relied on Lumi.

He bit his lower lip and nodded imperceptibly. Then he straightened up, never taking his eyes off Lumi.

''So let's leave.''

The downpour hadn't stopped from the morning till the afternoon; therefore, it was quite wet and cold. For this reason, the vast majority of guests was sitting inside the Morpho, warming themselves with drinks and in saunas, or even taking part in attractions prepared by leisure time animators. Even the staff had no intention of going outside. Only Shadow and Lumi were walking through the uncomfortably cool parking to a dark vehicle parked in the employee area. The car's headlights flashed and its owner opened the door for the girl.