Just Friends

Part 3 - Tango

Can

As they sat in silence outside the cabin in front of the blazing fire, Can realized that soon it would be night and she would want to leave. Hours had gone by like minutes, and he wasn't yet ready for her to go. Who knew when they would be alone together like this again? He tried thinking about the ways he could keep her from leaving.

"Sanem, tell me about this dance you did in high school. Is that also one of your many hobbies? What dance did you do with your friend...what was his name?" He wouldn't say Sinan's name.

"Oh...it was nothing! I went through a phase back in high school where I wanted to be a ballroom dancer and poor Sinan...that's his name if you wanted to remember. He was the victim of my over-enthusiastic dancer alter ego." Sanem smiled with a twinkle in her eyes. That made the hair on the back of his neck stand.

"A victim? How so?" He asked with bated breath. He didn't realize how desperately he wanted to go back in time and attend high school with Sanem. Had she been one of those cool popular girls all the boys pined after? Or was she one of those shy, bookish ones who wrote poems about unrequited love? Maybe neither, maybe she had always been the way she was right then. A beautiful wildflower with an intoxicating scent that would spread happiness wherever she went. He longed to have known her back then, during that awkward phase of his own youth when he was most certainly not a happy one.

"I was going through my phase of ballroom dancing fever. All I would do is watch movies of dancing, watch those dances over and over and try to copy them as best as I could. Ayhan and Leyla would practice with me but then we would end up fighting over who would take the lead and who would follow. Osman used to entertain our silliness sometimes but then Ayhan, being his sister would always claim him as her dance partner even though he always preferred dancing with Leyla. And I used to end up getting stuck with Zeber...umm... Muzzo." Sanem was lost in the memories. Once again, Can felt a strong longing deep inside of him. He wanted to know about all her memories. She carried on.

"So, I watched this movie once where a blind man is dancing the tango with this beautiful girl in a restaurant. The girl is hesitant at first, not because she is afraid of dancing with a blind man, but she is nervous that she would make a fool out of herself as she doesn't know how to dance. Before they start dancing, the man tells the girl that there are no mistakes in tango. He says, 'If you get tangled, you tango on!' The man, then takes her hand and leads her to the floor. She is unsure and awkward at first but then they end up dancing this dance that is one of the most beautiful dances I had ever seen." Her face was glowing in the firelight and Can thought she looked like a dream.

"I loved it so much. I thought if they could do it, I could too!" Sanem was now laughing openly shaking her head. "But it turns out that you can make mistakes in tango! Sinan and I used to play football so I asked him to be my partner for the dance competition. I thought since he was good at footwork in football, maybe he can pick up the dancing but gosh he was awful! Everyone actually laughed when we performed our routine. They thought it was some kind of a parody performance. But guess what, we still ended up winning the third prize." She was beaming with pride. Even through the intense flash of jealousy Can felt for Sinan at that moment, he could see the headstrong teenager girl, who made everyone bend to her wishes, in the woman sitting in front of him.

"Teach me to how to tango then!" Words escaped his mouth stunning them both. Yes, spectacular plan Can, just humiliate yourself completely, why don't you? But there was a part of him that desperately wanted to dance with Sanem because it meant that he would get a reason to get close to her, a reason to hold her.

"What? Like... now?" She sounded unsure, yet he could detect a hint of excitement in her voice. He realized that she hadn't brought up the topic of their return to the city yet. She had been texting someone earlier, and he really hoped that it would be to her parents telling them she wouldn't be coming home tonight.