Now I feel like an idiot.
“Don’t. It’s no big deal. We can do this.”
The instructor repeated his “one, two, three, go” speech twice more, and when they hadn’t injured one another, he said, “Good. Now one of you count to three and go, but this time follow with the rest of the steps to the count of three and make the box as we showed you.”
Konrad said, “I’ll count. Hopefully it’ll help my concentration. Are you ready?”
Roz nodded.
“Okay, one, two, three, go.” The two of them slid into the first and second steps perfectly, but when it came to Konrad’s taking a step back and Roz’s stepping forward, his stride was far longer than hers, and he pulled her off balance.
She stumbled, but he caught her before she fell. “Oomph. Damn heels.”
The instructor shook his head, slowly.
“Sorry. It wasn’t you or your shoes, Roz. I know what I did wrong,” Konrad said.
The instructor crossed his arms. “And what was that?”
“I extended my back leg too far.”
The instructor cocked his head and frowned. “You have front legs and back legs? No wonder you have two left feet.”
Konrad laughed nervously.
“Your partner has much shorter legs than you do. You must always compensate for that,” the instructor was saying.
“Okay. Let’s try again. I’ll take smaller steps.”
Roz and Konrad resumed their starting positions, and the instructor said, “I’ll count.”
After the initial “one, two, three, go,” he continued to count the beat of the waltz while the couple made the short steps in the shape of a box.
Are we having fun yet?
Roz laughed, but the break in concentration caused her to miss a step, and Konrad trampled her toes again.
“Oww!” She hopped over to the chairs lining the length of the dance hall, sat on one, removed her shoe, and massaged her toes.
Konrad followed her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll live.”
“This isn’t working out, is it?”
“Let’s not give up yet. Someday we’ll laugh about this.”
The instructor glanced away and mumbled something under his breath.
“I think our teacher is ready to quit.”
Roz chuckled. “Well, I’m not.” She slipped into her shoe again and stood, taking Konrad’s hand. “Come on, let’s do this.”
They counted and danced, successfully this time, for several turns. The instructor smiled and clapped. That was enough to interrupt their concentration, and the couple went down with a thud, landing in a tangled heap of arms and legs.
Roz gasped and yelled, “Frig!”
“Oh, crap.” Konrad rolled off of her quickly. “I hurt you that time, didn’t I?”
