Sheryl stood at the doorway. Harry had arranged a big build up with Mohammad and his drums. He cleared the dance floor and instructed Sheryl to 'make 'em wait.' Sheryl's chest pounded with mixed emotions as she waited for the nod from Steven. When it finally came, Sheryl, with a veil wrapped around her costume and an 'Eat you words, Mother' strut burst in to the bar.
The music was powerful and the women started to clap as Sheryl circled her hips. Then as the tempo changed to slow rhythms, Sheryl slowed her pace and began to unwrap her veil, teasing the audience with a glimpse of her costume.
Sheryl moved from stomach rolls to hip circles and flicks, and then pelvic tilts, her body rippling like jelly. Steven watched, she was just as he imagined her to be; voluptuous, strong and happy.
Under the instigation of Harry, Sheryl stood on to the bar, and let her veil simmer to the ground, revealing her costume. Mohammad let rip on the tabla and with Ardenne's words in her head, Sheryl let the drums unleash the woman in her, catching each beat with her hips.
Then just to add a bit of panache, she picked up a jug and began to balance it on her head, easing herself down onto the floor with mesmerizing movement.
'She dances like an Egyptian,' said Mohammad.
'Like a real pro,' yelled Mad Brady.
'Like an artist,' said Nefertiti, who was sitting very close to her Rodger.
'That's my girl,' muttered Beatrice.
Sheryl worked the floor, seductively twisting her leg to the slow rhythm of the drums, still balancing the jug. She looked into the dark and saw Beatrice with George by her side, looking proud, a look Sheryl had not seen for years.
As the music built up tempo, Sheryl stood up from the floor and quickened her step.
Now her hips moved without her thinking. She felt an exhilaration never experienced before. She looked around the audience, and they were all clapping, some even cheering. Sheryl felt a huge surge of happiness; she ditched the jug and began to circle to the music. She started to think about Nefertiti's new plans, and all that had happened in the last few days. She started to think of Steven and his offers of help, she looked at him clapping his heart out, and felt a plan forming, an idea of how to make a life for herself and maybe earn a living that didn't involve a Hoover.
YOU ARE READING
Sheryl's Last Stand
ChickLitSheryl has seen better days; one time she had a career, a partner, a nice flat and a social life. At the wrong side of thirty-five she losses it all and has to start again, not alone but under the watchful eye of her wheelchair bound mother, her sis...
