Our Last Dance

2.

"Point those little toes, ladies," Stevie guided through the mirror. Turning around, she walked over to a couple of the girls, helping them to position correctly while they all giggled away.

At the moment, she was teaching a young bunch of three through five year olds so it made it hard to keep their attention and focus on the one topic of dance.

"Keep those legs straight, loves---" she, again, demonstrated in the mirror. "And now kick out to the side," she added, still showing them step by step. "Keep your arms up and hold that for as long as you can," she dropped her leg back to the ground slowly and turned so that she could help the little girls out with the way they were standing and keeping their arms up.

Only after a few seconds, the little girls started to topple over, trying to get back on to the one leg.

Giggling lightly, "Alright, my loves---now for your parents, let's show them your grand plié," she then demonstrated again, reteaching some things.

The class did as she asked, staring at her so intently.

She smiled again and turned to the parents, bowing her head a little. "Alright, babies---I will see you on Wednesday," she added, dismissing them for the day.

As soon as she let all the children go, they were running around wildly and freely as parents came up to her, asking of the next sessions and time frames---wanting to know if she was still holding children after hours.

Through the years, Stevie had learned that parents would stick their children into dance and such activities because they needed somewhere to put their children for the time being, so she had come up with the idea of making the dance studio into a little daycare and hang out zone. It wasn't a giant public thing because she didn't want to run a daycare---just a dance studio, but parents who really struggled, she helped them out because there was nothing better for her to do with her time.

When all the students and parents cleared out, she started sweeping the wood floors just of any dirt that had gotten tracked inside from the parents not removing their shoes.

Setting the broom aside, back in the cabinet, she sighed in relief and she went back to the middle of the room to sit down on the floor. There, she would stretch out her legs and just prepare for anything that was beginning.

She knew she had a full day planned, but there were a multitude of sessions that were going to be held and thus far, she had one class and it was for the children in the afternoon.

In the silence of her stretching, somebody knocked on the door.

She picked her head up immediately and brought her legs in to stand and push herself up off the ground.

"Hello," she gave a warm smile, walking towards the man. "Can I help you?" she kind of hugged herself, ready to listen.

"Hi, I'm Lindsey---I'm here with my daughter," he looked around. "She said she was meeting me here---but it looks like I got the right address," he chuckled.

"Cool," she offered her hand out. "I'm going to assume your daughter is Shelly Buckingham...?" His striking blue eyes and salt and pepper curls tipped her off with Annelle's description of Shelly.

"That would be her... Yeah," he nodded, creasing a brow.

"Well, nice to meet you---I'm Stevie."

"Stevie?" he creased his brow again as she pulled her hand back.

"Short for Stephanie---easier for the kids and me," she gave a small laugh, trailing in the opposite direction to her office so she could get into her office and check off the fact that the Buckinghams were there.