Just got here. Can we all say ‘gooseberry’?
I added a fruit emoji, that might have been a gooseberry, for extra emphasis.
The message showed read almost immediately and the words ‘typing’ appeared at the top of the screen.
Don’t worry about it. You won’t be the only one not paired up already. Just remember to enjoy it
Easy for you to say
Want me to zoom down? You might have to stall them for a bit, but I still have contacts. I’m sure I can rustle up a helicopter from somewhere
Would you? That’d be great
He sent a laughing emoji before following it up.
At least I can’t be accused of being a cliché and having two left feet
He added a wink.
I sent him a rolling eyes one back in response.
I’m pretty sure you’d still be better than me
The fact that Seb could now make light of the devastating injury that had ended his career and upended his life was something I truly admired about him. It illustrated to him, and others, just how far he had come. As our business relationship began to merge into friendship, we’d opened up about ourselves more. His bio for the charity stated that he’d lost his lower right leg on deployment in Afghanistan when the vehicle he’d been travelling in had hit an IED, but I knew I’d never be able to understand all the things that had crashed through his mind at that moment, as the dust began to clear and reality, in all its horrific colour, dawned. He’d lost a good friend and his own life had changed for ever – all in one split second. For a while it had beaten him, become bigger than him – but then he’d begun to fight back and had truly won.
I doubt that
Get your arse down here, and I’ll prove it
The voluptuous redhead who’d propelled me through the doors earlier clapped her hands.
‘Hello, hello, darling members of my new class! Are you ready to begin to learn the dances of love?’ She gave a sensuous sway. My stomach was currently performing a similar movement, but it most definitely wasn’t sensuous.
Oh god. It’s starting. Have to go
He replied quickly with a phone emoticon and I got the message.
Seb was right. I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t paired up. Thankfully, there was Mario.
‘Thank god for you!’ he said, laughter in his eyes as he took the stance Beth, our instructor, was currently demonstrating with Harry. ‘I thought I was going to be twirling around on my own!’
I grinned back. ‘I know the feeling.’
Mario leant his head closer. ‘I think this is going to be a lot of fun.’ His dark eyebrows wriggled above mischievous eyes.
I grinned. He might just be right.
An hour later and I wasn’t sure I’d got any of the moves right, but I’d certainly laughed more than I had in ages. Mario was the perfect dance partner, with a wicked sense of humour and an even more wicked eye for mimicry.
One couple were clearly in the wrong class as they already seemed to have a pretty good grasp of everything and swanned around the room, serious expressions on their faces, as they absorbed the music and concentrated on their moves. Even Beth mentioned they might be better suited to her later class which was more advanced. At this they showed surprise and humility, the woman’s impressively long false eyelashes fluttering madly as she waved away the suggestion.
‘Oh, please,’ Mario whispered under his breath so that it was audible only to me.
I looked round. He stepped closer.
‘They know exactly what they’re doing. I’ve been at classes like this before. People who know they’re pretty good still go so they can show off just how wonderful they are to others who are trying to learn. They don’t want to move on because, suddenly, they won’t be the best any more. Here they’re guaranteed to be noticed and watched. In the next class, they won’t be anything special.’
‘Maybe they really don’t think they’re good enough?’ I whispered back.
