The Orion Star

Epilogue

In the grand scheme of Life, there are certain things I never, ever expected myself to do. Situations I never imagined finding myself in. Partaking in affairs I never expected to play out. One of them is right now.

We wrapped up the tour in London. Scott has an estate (yes, an estate) in the English countryside. It's...Surreal. Like something out of a movie. 

It's an old regal mansion, sprawling lawns, gravel pathways. It's all so--so--well, English. The entire estate is steeped in this historical feel. Your mind is immediately transported to times of huge gowns and powdered wigs.

And honestly? I kinda low-key love it.

But that's not the thing I never imagined. No--that thing is inside Scott's estate. Currently I'm in his ballroom. His grand ballroom. In my honor, for a job well done on this tour (he's a sweetheart), he's thrown a masquerade ball. I'm dressed as The Phantom, dancing a traveling waltz.

Since I've been sober I've had a lot of time on my hands. So, I may or may not have taken up ballroom dancing. And, I may or may not have become obsessed. So here I am, dancing in Scott's ballroom, performing a partner-changing, lead and follow waltz.

Yup! Orion Bauwens likes partaking in waltzes. Go figure.

I really dig the masquerade aspect of this. I've never done this before. I know there are people here I'm friends with...But where are they?

Hell if I know. I occasionally catch a glimpse of Cindy, one of my stylists, because she's wearing a Mardi Gras-style mask that just covers her eyes. Everyone else? I either don't know them, or their face is completely obscured which means I might know them.

This is a Jack and Jill type dance--meaning, a man and a woman. So you can imagine my surprise when the next switching of partners comes and I spin, finding myself suddenly in a Pat and Chris format (meaning, man and man). Immediately I take the lead position.

It would be poor form to stop and interrupt the entire dance, so I scan my eyes around the crowd. If this was a mistake, no one else seems to have been affected by it. So I focus my eyes back on my new partner. I give a slight nod to acknowledge them and let them know that we'll continue the dance, even if he's broken form.

It's...strange, but I'm immediately attracted to this man that I'm dancing with. His chest and arms are firm. We're the same height.

He's dressed pretty ridiculously, and I fight the urge to laugh; he's a penguin, the mask on his face having an over-sized beak. Honestly it reminds me of what Brian May wore in the Queen music video, I'm Going Slightly Mad. I fall in love with the costume because of that association in my head; it makes me that much more crazy about the mystery man that's behind it.

Then something else surprising happens. Whoever this is is giving signals to hijack! That means he's trying to take the lead. For a while we silently fight, eyes intensely staring at one another, gently pressing against each other with our fingertips, fighting for dominance.

Assertively he takes dominance, switching our hand position. Placing his white gloved hand on my back, right below the shoulder blade, he makes our fingertips touch lightly with our other hand. To my slight annoyance he then shifts his body, changing how our hips are aligned, gently pressing against each other.

We reset, using clear recovery steps and go into the promenade position, falling into this new lead-and-follow setup. Then we continue dancing as though nothing happened. It's fluid, as though we've been dancing with each other forever and we're used to one another.

I love how our hips press against each other. It feels exciting, electric. The more we dance, the more relaxed I become. I find myself no longer caring that I've lost the lead.