AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sophie was striding towards Frank. Frank’s tie was in her hand. She playfully pushed him, he twirled her, there was shimmying.
‘I have to say I never thought I’d see Sophie slut dropping,’ Helen giggled.
‘Would it be unfeminist if I said I thought it suited her?’ Ish smiled.
‘Is that Sophie’s mum and dad joining in?! Wow, her dad can really move!’ Elle’s folded arms dropped to her sides.
Mrs Wu’s hat came flying off as Mr Wu led her through a complex series of turns, flicking her down into an unfeasible drop considering their height difference.
‘Quite amazing spinal mobility for a woman in her sixties too …’ Ish mused clearly loving every minute, ‘… and that’s obviously how Mr Wu pulled her.’ Ish paused and turned towards Helen. ‘Want to give it a shot?’
‘Give what … dancing?! Oh no, I’m no good at dancing.’ Helen’s head was shaking involuntarily.
‘Don’t make me tell you off for saying you’re not good at something again.’ Elle pushed Helen into Ish’s arms. ‘Besides, I seem to remember many years ago in Hyphen you pulled out some serious moves, and that’s by Latin standards.’ Elle smiled.
A man walked up to Elle and waved a diminutive ‘hello’ to signal ‘do you want to dance?’ Elle shrugged and strode onto the dance floor. Mr Enthusiastic tossed his suit jacket over the back of a chair and followed her obediently onto the floor. It was about as awkward as when a politician dances on to the stage at their party conference to show you just how cool they are. Elle seemed unfazed and was doing something very interesting with her hips as Shakira came on.
‘Latins – they basically get dance moves as a birthright. Shall we … ya know … try?’ Ish extended his hand towards Helens. ‘I would ask you if you trusted me, but that sounds a bit like a line.’
‘Is now really the right time?’
‘Yeah of course, unless, I mean, if you’d rather wait?’ Ish studied Helen’s face and his hand retreated back into his trouser pocket.
Somewhere deep inside of her, Helen gave herself a tremendous kick. The protective shell she’d been carrying around with her felt heavy. Did she really want to be anxious, uncertain Helen forever? No, tonight was going to be different. She felt herself heat up, butterflies exploding in her stomach.
‘No, I’d rather not wait anymore.’ Helen forced herself to make eye contact and took one step onto the floor. She could see Elle had already untangled herself from guy number one, and was now politely dancing with someone’s uncle. ‘Uptown Funk’ blasted onto the speaker, and the over-thirties crowd burst into movement.
Ish beamed at Helen, and went spinning into the centre of the dance floor. Hang on? Since when could Ishdance? Helen saw Elle glance at Ish over the middle-aged man’s shoulder and wolf whistle.
Ish strode back towards her, agile and lythe, suddenly his limbs didn’t seem too long for his body anymore. If anything, he looked …
‘… is that?’
‘Did a bit of Bollywood back in the day …’ Ish stepped forwards perfectly in time, his arms and legs extending out. It was all quite Jason Derulo.
His hands took Helen around her waist, he pulled her closer and she was moving along with his rhythm. She was dancing … with Ish?!
Fuck.
The room blurred. She was moving. No, they were moving together and it felt … good … natural. She could maybe do this after all?
Mr and Mrs Wu, Sophie and Frank, Elle and guy number three, all faded into the background; Helen just felt her heart beating progressively harder in her chest. She pushed the thought of having very sweaty hands out of her mind.
‘Helen …’
‘Yes?’ Her voice sounded suddenly huskier for some reason, almost sexy? Her hand reached out automatically, and touched Ish’s shirt button. He was breathing heavily too.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Better than ever …’ She felt her body slowly melting into his.
Ish moved closer in towards her now, she held herself against his chest for balance, and was surprised by how good he felt. They danced faster and faster, spiralling into the centre of the room. How were her feet keeping up? How were her feet not hurting?
This is what it must feel like to be a great dancer, Helen thought, as she felt the attention of the room on her, burning into her, and she responded by dancing harder. Her body was on fire, her hips moved, and the voice in her head was silent.
Perfectly there, in the present, with Ish, noticing how he was radiating too. Shining before her. She breathed through every moment, like she needed to catch on to the split seconds of pure excitement racing past her. The song was finishing …
‘Hold on,’ Ish whispered, and he dipped Helen into a backbend. Did they call it a cambré on Strictly?
