Boston's Man-Eater

XXVIII

A painful color stained my cheeks as I watched them dance at the center of the floor.

I thought I was going to throw up from the churning of my stomach that grew with every excruciating second.

Why am I here?

We all sat in the brown seats at the sides of the magnificent ball room, that was even better than the dining hall. It had numerous chandeliers, exquisite paintings and polished floors that doubled as mirrors.

The crowd watched with awe whilst I did with stinging jealousy.

Their bodies communicated with undeniable passion—a legendary love affair, a travel to the ends of the Earth to reunite with each other.

And with feet dancing in time to the beat of the music, the orchestra fixated at the front smiled at the couple.

I shifted my attention to the audience, spectating by the sidelines and mezzanine floors.

They obviously thought the same as they observed the pair taking on the night's first dance.

"Can you dance?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Rate it out of mmm, ten."

I stared at her thoughtfully.

"I mean I've been dancing my whole life because of my mother's interests, but I don't mean to brag when I give myself a 9."

"I'm not speaking of hip-hop dancing, Kyle," she giggled, and I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Isn't it obvious? A nine to both ballroom and hip-hop."

She scrunched up her nose at the latter.

"I'd like to see that in order to believe it."

"Consider it done," I countered, and clinked our glasses.

And when the song piece came to an end, we all gave them a standing ovation before a different melody filled the room.

"Now is the time to prove your truth, Mr Anthony," Zoe rose from her seat. I quickly shrunk from the discomfort, but she took charge of my arm and brought me to my feet.

I followed her unwillingly, knowing that we'd be the center of attention as no-one had joined the dance floor yet.

We stood under the bright lights and Zoe took my hands, squeezing them reassuringly.

Instinctively, we both stepped into the waltz. Her movements had relief filling me as I relaxed and took control of the dance.

She was effortlessly brilliant, and my experience made it all the more tasteful.

When hushed whispers filled the room as it became obvious that they had been wondering about our identities, I smiled and compromised us into a soft, round movement.

From my peripheral, I watched everyone's eyes watch us with wonder, and it only gave me enough confidence to lengthen each step and dip her to the floor.

"Wow," she commented, with a breath-taking smile.

"You haven't seen anything yet, Miss Clark," I whipped her back up and pressed her body flush against mine before stepping back in time to the music.

"I'm impressed."

"That's what I was striving for."

"Oh please," she laughed, "The look in your eyes screamed reluctance."

"Touche," I said, and on cue, more couples joined the dance.

"You don't think that...Tess, might be upset?"