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Between shifts at the club and extra dance team practices, Saturday came faster than Ellena expected. She hadn’t gotten much sleep but had managed to spend some time with Lacey. It was only an hour here or there but it was all the time she could spare for now. Cherry had arrived to look after Lacey and Ellena was in her bedroom getting ready for the dance. She stood in front of the full-length mirror and looked her reflection up and down. She was wearing a classic, simple, black dress that showed off her shapely dancer’s legs. The gold chain she wore around her throat accented the wide boat neck. She fastened her favourite strappy dancing shoes and returned to the mirror. Turning from side to side, she criticized every minute imperfection.
"You look great. Stop worrying.” Cherry’s voice startled her.
Ellena sighed. “Thanks. Where is the brat?”
“She’s watching Aladdin again.”
Ellena snickered. “I gotta get her some new movies.”
“Kevin is here.”
“Here? Already? He’s early!” Ellena’s hands flew to her hair and she glanced in the mirror again. Cherry had helped her twist her hair up into a french roll and fastened it with a jeweled clip. Cherry wasn’t lying when she stated that she looked great. Honestly, she looked amazing. Cherry picked up the shimmery gold wrap off the bed and draped it around Ellena’s shoulders.
“Have a good time tonight. Don’t worry about anything. Have fun and relax for once in your life.” Cherry hugged her.
“I will.” Both girls emerged from the bedroom. Kevin was sitting on the couch laughing at Lacey, who was reciting every word of the movie from memory. Cherry crouched on the floor beside Lacey. “Hey munchkin! Whaddya say we go get some junk food?” Lacey nodded enthusiastically and climbed on to Cherry for a piggyback ride. Cherry galloped into the kitchen.
“No diet coke please – she’ll never go to sleep!” Ellena called after them. Kevin turned around at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t realized she was in the room. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he noticed how she looked. He stood up and went to her. “Ellena! You’re beautiful!” Ellena shifted her weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable under his gaze.
“Thank you.” She replied softly. “You look great yourself.”
Kevin looked down at his khaki green, tailored pants and ivory dress shirt. “Thank you.”
Ellena caught Cherry peeking around the corner from the kitchen and giving her a thumbs-up. “We should go.” Ellena said to Kevin. “Mrs. Craig is probably waiting for us.”
Kevin nodded. They said good bye to Lacey and Cherry and left the apartment.
“You realize that we will be the youngest people there by about twenty years?” Ellena asked, once they were outside.
Kevin shrugged. “I sort of expected that so I didn’t bring any security with me tonight.” Ellena hadn’t thought about security for Kevin before. She had always seen him at her apartment in private, except for at the autograph signing and when he picked her up at the club. There must have been security with them at the club since all five of them were there, Ellena thought. She felt a twinge of sadness for Kevin. She had always been able to come and go as she pleased. She couldn’t imagine worrying about being mobbed while picking up milk at the grocery store.
They arrived at the dance on time. Kevin strolled into the dance hall with Mrs. Craig on one arm and Ellena on the other.
“Here comes Mr. Reynolds.” Ellena whispered to Mrs. Craig. “I told him you were coming.”
“Madeleine! Wonderful to see you.” Mr. Reynolds held out his hand as he greeted Mrs. Craig.
“Hello James.” Mrs. Craig replied and put her hand in his. Mr. Reynolds lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. He greeted Ellena in the same way.
“Mr. Reynolds, I’d like you to meet Kevin Richardson.” Kevin and Mr. Reynolds shook hands.
“How do you do? If you don’t mind, I’d like to take this beautiful young lady away from you.”
Kevin grinned. “Of course not.” Mrs. Craig dropped her hand from Kevin’s arm and proceeded to the dance floor with Mr. Reynolds.
Ellena grinned, “I think she’s blushing.”
Kevin looked out on to the dance floor. Ellena had been right. They were the youngest people there by at least twenty years. “So, everyone here is a student of yours?”
“Most of them. I’ve been teaching here for almost three years.”
“Miss Ellena! Miss Ellena, would you like to dance with me?” Ellena recognized the voice to belong to Mr. Greyson, one of her most enthusiastic students. Unfortunately he had two left feet when it came to dancing. Regardless, he was a sweet old man and Ellena had a soft spot for him.
“Of course I would. You don’t mind Kevin?”
“No, go ahead. I’m going to get a drink.” He took Ellena’s hand that had been tucked under his arm and put it into to Mr. Greyson’s. He watched as she followed him out to the dance floor and began to cha cha. It was a comical sight. Mr. Greyson was three inches shorter than Ellena but he had the energy of a five-year-old. He had Ellena boogie-ing across the floor in no time. Kevin chuckled at the look of determination on Mr. Greyson’s face as he struggled to remember the proper dance steps. After the music stopped, Ellena spied where Kevin was sitting and headed in his direction. She was intercepted by another one of her male students and hauled back out on to the dance floor.
Kevin couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was smiling and laughing and just looked so damn beautiful, he couldn’t help it. Most people her age would be embarrassed to be dancing at a retirement home on a Saturday night. Not Ellena. She was so genuine and sincere. Kevin was finding that out to be the truth in every aspect of her life.
After four more dances with other students, Ellena finally made her way back to the table. “Sorry I took so long.” She sat down beside him and stole a sip of his drink.
“You’re the most popular girl here.”
Ellena giggled. “Yeah but it’s supposed to be a singles dance. I’m not exactly…well. We’re kind of…Oh screw it! Do you want to dance?”
Kevin pretended not to notice her blush and stood up. Although she hadn’t admitted to anything, he was now sure that she had been thinking about the definition of their relationship. With Ellena’s hand in his own, he led her out the centre of the dance floor. The music started up and Ellena immediately recognized it as Tango to Evora*. Turning to Kevin, she gave him an out. “Kevin, if you don’t want to dance to this, we can sit back down.”
Kevin was confused. Didn’t she just ask him to dance? “Why would I want to do that?”
Ellena ran her fingertips down his arm. “Not everyone knows how to tango.”
Kevin’s eyes twinkled as he responded. “Yes, but I do.”
Ellena started to laugh. “You know how to tango? I never knew.”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
“Hmmm, but I’m looking forward to finding out.” She replied slyly.
Ellena was surprised at the skill Kevin demonstrated on the dance floor. She knew he did dance and she had even seen him dance, but that was on stage. That was completely different from this. He moved his body in perfect synchronicity with hers, like they had been dancing together all their lives. The music finished and the dance floor cleared, but Ellena and Kevin made no move to leave their place. They stood still, gazes locked, Ellena’s hand still held in Kevin’s.


*Tango To Evora by Loreena McKennit – great song!