The Dance Part 2

Chapter 227 Getting to "Noah" You

Blue invited Noah into her tiny apartment for a cup of hot chocolate. They were both frozen from the cold walk home. Noah surveyed her apartment. It wasn't exactly how he had pictured it in his mind. He had expected something lighter and brighter but instead he found her tastes to lean to the darker side. She had an odd collection of things on her shelf which sparked Noah's interest even more...a pair of worn ballet shoes, the reticulated skeleton of what appeared to be a cat, and a collection of crucifixes of all shapes and sizes. The books on her shelf were also an eclectic mix of reading materials. She had Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, George Orwell's Animal Farm, and the entire set of Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.

"You are full of surprises, Ms. Harper." Noah fingered the reticulated cat. "Definitely not what I expected to find in your home."

"That's Sammie." I found him in Juneau in a thrift shop. He's an acquired taste." Blue handed Noah a cup of cocoa with tiny white marshmallows floating on the surface. He took a seat on the couch opposite her.

"I might have to have you over to my place. My sister-in-law, Jill, thinks it needs a woman's touch. I think she is just creeped out by all the dead things I have in jars."

"I'll take that as an invitation." Blue smiled and drew a sip off her piping hot cup of cocoa.

"May I?" Noah reached for a small photo album on her coffee table.

She nodded as he flipped through the pictures stopping on the one that featured her in a ballet costume. He turned the photograph to her and inquired, "You?"

"Beautiful." He replied.

"I had the lead in a production of Cinderella. I danced my heart out that night to a standing ovation. It seems like so long ago."

"And you left why again?" Noah was perplexed as to how someone with so much talent could just walk away from something she had prepared a lifetime for."

"Ballet is very competitive and cutthroat. People traded in way too many drugs to control their weight or mood and way too much sex just to get a lead role. I could feel myself being sucked into the darker side of ballet and one night, without any notice, I just walked away from it."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'm not. I found a better life here. A simplier life. I dance for just myself now."

"Maybe you'll dance for me one day?" Noah asked sounding more serious than sympathetic.

"I make no promises Mr. Brown."

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Bam and Lila dropped Jill off at her house with all the intentions of picking up the Brownies. When they entered the great room, they found Matt asleep on the floor with all the kids tucked neatly around him. Jill offered to let the kids stay the night giving Lila and Bam a night to themselves. Bam and Lila eagerly accepted the offer and headed next door for the remainder of the night.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lila tossed a look of anticipation to her husband.

"I'm ready if you are." He replied rubbing her shoulders.

She grabbed his hand and lead him to their bedroom stripping out of their clothes and making a hasty dash for the covers. He wrapped his body around his wife's growing belly seeking warmth from the cold night air.

"I can't believe we get a whole night to ourselves.  A whole night with no kids, no interruptions." Lila cuddled deeper into Bam just to sleep." She soon drifted to dreamland secure in her husband's arms for one of the few nights that they actually got to sleep.

Cinderella Ballet