Waltz of Her Life

To start off, he led her into a perfect side pass and entendre. "Have you been here before?" she asked him.

He smiled casually. "Oh, I've been around." He took her down the length of the floor in a triple twinkle, helping her float by holding her strongly during the rise and fall sequences. In the corner he executed a perfect single twinkle and turn so they could start the other way.

It occurred to Linda that instructors from other dance studios, even the national chains, sometimes visited The Next Step. "Are you a coach?" she asked.

"No," he said, shaking his head as they swept together, then apart, their palms touching, in what Linda knew was an advanced Silver step. "I just love to dance."

Their waltz, which had carried Linda off onto a cloud, had ended just as soon as it started, the way they always did when she lost herself in the moment of the dance. "Thank you for the waltz, Linda," he said, as he guided her back to her table.

She spun around to look at him closely again. There was something oddly familiar about him, yet she could not place him all at the same time. "How did you know my name? And who are you?"

"Michael," he said, with a short, genial laugh. "I'm sorry, I thought we'd already been formally introduced."

She looked at him again, still eerily unable to shake the thought that she'd somehow seen him before. "That's okay," she said, lowering herself into her seat. "It's been nice to meet you."

Linda wanted to watch Michael, to see who he would dance with next, but Pete distracted her. He was starting to get sweaty. "Hey Lin, if the next one's a swing, lets get on out there. They're playing too much of this slow shit."

Tony announced the next song, a cha-cha.

Pete gazed up at the ceiling, shaking his head in exasperation. "Ah, this Cuban motion stuff," he said, disgustedly. "My fat ass can't work like that. I ain't no disco duck."

Stephen, who'd been at the bar, reappeared at their table, setting his drink down. "C'mon, Linda! Let's try out what we learned in the group class."

As the rhythmic Spanish music played, Stephen took her into dance position, and paused, squinting while he listened for the correct start beat. Linda stood up on her toes to look around the dance floor for Michael and his next dance partner. When Stephen lifted his arm to lead her into a turn, his stiff jerky movement caught her off balance and she tripped, nearly losing her footing. "Sorry!" she said, allowing Stephen to gather her in for dance position again so they could start over.