Chapter 3 - A Familiar Face
I sat behind my computer screen in my office engrossed in replying to an email before the sound of a knock on my door, caused me to peel my eyes to the screen. I watched Dan, the office flirt, as he walked into my office, a small smirk plastered onto his face. I rolled my eyes as I prepared myself as I knew that he was here to waste some of my time, something I didn't appreciate.
"How's my beautiful co-worker doing?" I rolled my eyes as he spoke.
"Can you go away Dan? I don't have much time," I replied. And it was the truth; my boss and so-called admirer, had given me way too much work for my liking.
"Okay fine but I actually came here to tell you that Nate," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing me to roll my eyes again, "wants you in his office."
"What for?" I asked slightly surprised, earning a shrug.
"I dunno," he threw over his shoulder after he had turned around to leave.
I slowly wheeled my chair back and stood up, wondering what he wanted since I was nowhere close to finishing what he had asked me.
"You might want to fix your shirt," Elisa said as I passed her office, her tone showing a sense of humor. Subconsciously, I reached down and adjusted it, not thinking about her intention behind telling me to do that.
I knocked on his door and entered when I heard him.
"Close the door please Cadence." I nodded my head and did as I was told, walking to sit on the seat across from his desk. He wheeled his chair forward and placed his elbows on the desk, staring intently at me and making me feel slightly uncomfortable.
"How's the work I assigned you coming along?" he asked casually, his stare intensifying.
"Not too bad, I'm almost half-way." He nodded his head, never leaving his eyes from mine. A long silence surrounded us, making my uncomfortable state increase.
"Is that all you wanted?" I asked him. He sat back and cleared his throat.
"Yes, I just wanted to make sure you're on track. I need it by tomorrow." I nodded my head and left his office, breathing a sigh of relief once I was out of his sight and walking towards my office.
That wasn't the first time I'd felt that way around him and I had a feeling that he knew how uncomfortable I would always get around him, especially with his intense staring. But that obviously did nothing but entertain him as he did every time he called me into his office.
"How was it?" Elisa asked once I sat down in my seat. I groaned slightly as I lifted my head to look at her.
"Nerve wracking." She giggled slightly at my reply and walked in, taking a seat across from me.
"Don't worry, we only have a few hours left before we can forget all about it as we dance the night away," she said dramatically. I rolled my eyes at her as I relaxed. But she was right.
Although the thought of dancing salsa helped me to relax, that relaxation was only temporary.
* * *
I stood before my mirror, checking over my outfit for the tenth time. Nervous was an understatement as to how I felt. It had been two days since I had decided to finally join my friends in their salsa class and I regretted it even more, mostly because I didn't know what to expect besides failure.
I was finally satisfied with the way I looked and backed away, walking to the living room to grab my bag before heading outside to my car. After turning on the car, I began my short drive to the dance studio.
My heart beat quickly as I looked at the flashing sign, screaming Hot Salsa at me. As I walked towards the entrance, I could hear the faint sound of latin music accompanied with the sound of voices. I took in a deep breath and opened the door.
There's no turning back, I told myself as I saw Elisa, Lexxie and Alyce turn to wave me over. I walked across the shiny wooden floor and joined their small group.
"I was beginning to think you'd changed your mind," Alyce said, chuckling slightly. If only she knew how close I had been.
I smiled shyly as I looked around to see other people who were also seated in small groups, putting on their shoes and chatting. I took off my flats and wore my low heels just before the person I assumed to be the instructor walked in. Immediately, everyone stood up and walked to their partners, taking a spot on the dancefloor.
Not knowing what to do, I slowly stood up and placed my bag on the side, standing at the spot I had been sitting at just a few moments ago. The instructor walked to the music player and stopped the music before walking back to the front and addressing everyone.
"How's everyone doing?" he asked enthusiastically, his voice sounding like the one I had heard when I had called. After a chorus of mumbles, his eyes landed on mine, shining mischeviously.
"Looks like our newest member came. You must be Cadence," he said, causing me to smile slightly as I nodded my head timidly.
"There's no need to be shy. Everyone here's friendly- well as far as I know." Everyone chuckled slightly but stopped when the door opened to reveal the figure of someone I knew all too well.
"Ah there he is, Mr. Nate Wells. I told you to come early, why did you keep your partner waiting?" the instructor spoke to him, pointing towards me near the end. Nate's eyes travelled across the room until they connected with mine, causing a small smile to appear on his face as I looked back with a straight face, beginning to feel the same way I had earlier in his office.
A small part of me had hoped that this could be like a fairytale where I would be partnered with the man I had ran into twice on the same day, named Dennis. But unfortunately, that was not going to happen. Nate took a few long strides across the room until he was standing before me. He reached his hand out to me as his smile widened.
"Shall we?" he asked in his smooth voice. I felt my lips twitch as a smile began to form.
"Okay now that everything's set, let's start. Oh and Nate please make sure to work well with Cadence so she'll come back and give me more money," the instructor said, earning laughs from everyone even myself.
"He's not joking," Nate whispered into my ear, immediately causing me to stop laughing and turn to face him. He smirked slightly, his eyes swirling with laughter.
"Alright, since we have a newbie, I thought we'd go back to the basics. Let's start with On1 timing. I'm sure you all remember it." He walked over to the music player and turned it on, a different song coming on as everyone got into position and started moving.
Once they had all started, he came to where Nate and I were standing and smiled brightly.
"Okay so I want you Cadence to place your left hand on Nate's shoulder, and Nate will place his right hand on your back. Perfect. Now Nate put your hand up and Cadence put your hand in his." I looked at Nate as he looked back at me after we had gotten into the position that we had been instructed to.
"Now all you're going to do is take one step behind and transfer your weight onto the ball of your other foot, then back to the original position and one step forward and transfer your weight to the ball of the other foot. Nate's just going to do the opposite. Try it."
I decided to start with my right foot, stepping back and causing Nate to move his left foot forward. After I returned that foot to it's original position, I took a step with my left foot forward as Nate took a step back with his right foot. This seemed easy enough.
"That's perfect. Just keep practising that and increase your speed gradually." I nodded my head and took a step back, returning to the task at hand. Suddenly, the music got louder and I didn't know what got into me as I increased speed immediately to match the beat of the song.
"You're pretty good at this," Nate complimented me. I smiled slightly at his words, finding it hard to believe. Although we were going faster, I was still looking at my feet, fearing the moment when I would step on his feet. But apparently, he didn't think of that as he removed his hand from my back to lift my head so I was looking into his eyes before returning it.
"Look at me, don't worry about your feet too much. Just let the music take over." I nodded slightly as I focused on his grey eyes and masculine features, allowing the fear of causing an injury on his foot to escape my mind.
We continued with this easy step for several minutes and before I knew it, I was doing as well as my friends. I couldn't wipe the smile on my face as I felt pride wash over me. Maybe I should've started this earlier.
After I had gotten more familiar with this, the sound of the music died down, causing all of us to avert our eyes to the front where the instructor had returned.
"Everyone looks great, even our newbie here- well done Cadence. Now let's add a right turn." He called one of the women from the front and demonstrated the move, allowing her to return to her partner when they finished. It looked slightly complicated but I still wanted to try; I was paying for a full class after all.
He put the music back on and everyone started to practise it before he walked back to us where we had gotten into position.
"Before you start, can I get your name?" I asked him, earning a soft chuckle as he shook his head.
"I'm so sorry I don't know why I didn't tell you earlier. I'm Ryan." I nodded my head as I smiled at him.
"It's nice to finally know." He laughed slightly before returning his attention back to what we were supposed to be doing.
"Okay so for this one, you're going to start with your left foot forward and then, instead of stepping back, you're going to turn your right foot around and take your left foot around so that you'll return to the way you were facing before. Then you step back with your right foot and return it to it's original position. While you're doing this, Nate will swing your hand kinda in a J shape." I looked at him as his words passed through one ear and out the other; it didn't make any sense whatsoever.
"Can you please demonstrate?" I asked, feeling completely lost. He nodded his head and took my place, demonstrating with Nate. It was so much easier once I saw him do it and when I returned to my position with Nate, I was feeling more confident about it.
Before I knew it, the class had already ended and all I could feel was energy coursing through my veins. It felt like a very short class, most likely because I enjoyed it. And it surprised me just how much fun I was able to have. Being partnered with Nate made me see a new playful side of him for the thirty minutes we were together and I hoped that it would change the way he behaved around me at work.
As I left the place with a smile on my face, all that I could think was maybe I'd come back for another class.
