Waltz of Her Life

As Linda nursed her glass of wine she asked Seth about Jeannie, Greg, and all of his other friends in Cincinnati. He told a funny story of how he, Greg, and a couple of other guys had driven down into Kentucky for a weekend of camping and fishing. "Greg was all bummed out that he couldn't catch anything. So he sees this other group of guys a little ways downriver and they have a whole cooler full of fish they caught. So Greg buys a few fish from him, takes them home and brags about how he caught them himself."

Seth also told stories about concerts they'd seen, football games they'd been to (in December, when the weather was way below freezing and they'd ended up with their shirts off) and how wild a friend of his wedding reception was. "Wow, it sounds like you guys all have such a good time."

"We do." He was still smiling, reminiscing over the fun of it all. Suddenly he twitched, as if he had an "ah-ha" moment and backed away from Linda slightly, to look her over with an appraising eye.

He stared at her for a long enough time to make her nervous. "What?"

"You know what? You should move to Cincinnati after you graduate. There's all kinds of hospitals there. You could get a job in nothing flat."

"Move to Cincinnati?" she echoed. "But that would be so far from my parents."

"No it wouldn't. You could still see them, and they could come see you. Just six hours.

Linda had considered Chicago or St. Louis as places where she could start her career. County General, where she'd done all that volunteering, might have positions open but they'd be lower paid and lower skilled than some of the other places. She wanted to be in a big city, anyway, had wanted it for her whole life. While she was considering this, she turned around to glance up at the dance floor above them.

A couple had started to dance, while the Boz Skagg's song "Lido" played over the bar's sound system. Linda turned all of the way around, so that her back was to her own table. She hugged the seatback and gazed up at them since she was so mesmerized by the dance they were doing. She'd never seen anything like it in any bar or wedding reception she'd ever been to.

A girl with frosted blonde hair, wearing a flirty satin dress that billowed out on her turns, was being led by a guy with a pompadour who was a few years older. Mostly the guy just stood, stepping back and forth. He forming a wall for the girl, as she would press against his hands and he would spin her out, twirling her, then wrapping his arms around her and leading her from side to side. She flashed long, glamorous nails in hand flourishes when her partner would lead her through a turn and spin her. At times she seemed to be a yo-yo that he would toss and spin through elaborate tricks.