WORK IN PROGRESS: The Dancer

My Peace

My new routine was very different from my old one. The only constant was the coffee.

I would catch up with Mavis and the other Women at the local community centre or school. And we would sit and talk while they painted. The paintings were stories that were painted as they were being told. I learnt to record the entire day, and then transcribe during the heat of the day when the town rested, then interpret at night. This is a free book available through Wattpad (c) LTM1986. If you are not reading this on Wattpad, it had been stolen. At various times, Gordo took me out driving.

I didn't miss the glitz and glam. I had a thousand stars outside my window at night. They were all different colours of white, red, blue, and green. It was magical. Sometimes, I did my interpretations under those stars to add to the mystique of it all.

It was during these nights, where the stars were streaming out of the horizon like a glitter filled scarf blowing in the wind, that Juan called. Normally he called when I was busy, or out of range. Which admittedly was easy to do here. My voice mail was filled with his messages. I rarely carried my phone any more. There was no point. But tonight I had it sitting with me while I worked.

"Destiny," Juan sighed, "I miss you." My heart twinged. He sounded so sad. "My life is empty. All I do is work, dance, and sleep. Why did you leave?"
"That's the reason Juan. That's all you did. You worked, you danced, and you slept. Nothing has changed for you." I replied absent-mindedly, looking at the stars.
"But you brought joy, I'm missing that joy. Aren't you missing the joy too?"
"I'm finding my own joy. It's beautiful here, Juan. The stars shine so bright. It's like someone's thrown a handful of glitter into the sky, and it froze. I'm worthwhile here. My life has meaning."
"You could have found joy here, I would have shown you joy!"
I paused and let the words settle.
"When... I gave you a lot of time to show me." I asked him
"When the competitions end, when Emma and I are perfect."
"That will never happen. Each time you win, there'll be a new routine to learn. There will be more practice. There will never be time for us to find joy together. Not in your life."
"Meu Bem, please, please come back. I love you. "
I shook my head and let the tears run down my face. I did love that man. He did bring magic to my life. But it was sporadic, when he chose. Here magic happens every day.
"Not yet. I'm happy here, Juan. Here is where I'm finding my own joy. Here is where my life has meaning." I told him, lifting my head to the stars again. There was a moon rise over the horizon. A great glow like a pearl rising over the mountain.
"Meu Vida." He sighed. I could hear some banging in the background. Emma screeched something.
"Goodbye, Juan." I whispered and hung up.

"Phone call from the boyfriend?"
Gordo came up behind me.
"Yeah," I breathed out.
"Missing him?" He asked. I shook my head.
"Not really, he didn't spend much time with me there, and here... here is..."
"Amazing."
"Yeah."
"I heard you say a handful of glitter spread into the sky." His voice came from directly over my shoulder. "The men say," I turned suddenly and clapped my hand over his mouth.
"That's men's business, Gordo." I shut him down. I saw his eyes crinkle in the moonlight, then he nodded, and took my hand down. "You're right." He whispered. Any sound that was louder would have been sacrilegious.

"So you dance?" He asked after we'd stared at the moon for a while. I nodded, and replied verbally.
"Yes."
"Can you teach me?" He asked. I half turned and looked at him.
"What do you want to learn?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"What do you want to teach me?"
I turned back to the moon, and then turned to face him.
"The real tango." I breathed, reaching out and grabbing his shoulders. "Hold my shoulders."
He tentatively reached out and rested his hands on me.
"Watch my feet and mirror me."
He looked down, and followed a step after me. We moved through some basic steps, Gordo gaining in confidence. He started humming, and a beat started.
"Look up at me" I instructed. His eyes lifted to mine. His pupils were dark in the moonlight. We kept moving.

I moved closer and moved his hands to the correct position. He kept his eyes on me, and kept dancing. I softened and started following him.
"These are the basic steps." I breathed, " for the Tango. In competition it is a very driven serious dance. But traditionally it's a secret language between lovers. Dancers dance heart to heart, the man guiding the female. Juan and I used to dance this in the kitchen. Him setting the beat and me following it. It's the one thing I'll miss, but then again we stood doing it except for rare occasions." I mumbled into the silence.
"I can see you'd miss it. It's almost like slow sex upright." Gordo replied, a sly smile creeping across his face.
I snorted, then laughed.

"Do you know any other dances?" Doc propped himself against the verandah pole.
"Yes, I danced competitively at one stage."
He nodded and then gingerly stepped down and held out his hand.
"Let's waltz."

We all danced late into the night, when the moon hung overhead blessing us in its light. Only then did we pack up and drag ourselves into bed.

Those became my nights, Juan would call, sad and depressed. Then Gordo and Doc would dance. Sometimes Juliette and Steven would call and catch us up on the gossip. But always, Gordo and Doc were there.