Writing for Fun
November 2015
It Takes Two - Jeanette Rothwell
It takes two – feet I mean – to walk, run, jump, skip, climb . . . and dance! Yes, dance!
Alice had been widowed for some years and was still full of energy and enthusiasm for life, in spite of her advancing years.
She spotted an advertisement in the local paper announcing a tea dance to be held at the local community centre starting the following Thursday with a very modest entry fee. All welcome. She spoke to a few acquaintances who might be interested and some agreed to meet her there for the first session. Thursday came and she entered the hall where there was a reasonable crowd of potential dancers drinking their first cups of tea. As usual, there weren't many men around and the usual surfeit of ladies.
For the first few dances, announced by an elderly disc jockey at a record player, she danced with some other ladies 'bust to bust' as Joyce Grenfell would have said. Then a rather dapper gentleman approached Alice, introduced himself as Brian, and asked her to dance. She stood up and then her heart sank as the DJ announced that it was a Fox Trot. It was not her strong point, but she needn't have worried, Brian propelled her around the floor with great expertise and she finished the dance a little breathless but exhilarated. He politely escorted her back to her seat and went away.
Once again she danced a few more 'bust to bust' numbers, danced with another gentleman who wasn't very good and managed to tread on her toes a few times. He apologised and she smiled through gritted teeth.
Then, Brian returned to dance with her and she was delighted to hear that it was a waltz which was her favourite. Brian expertly led her through the rise and fall, turn and contra-turns of the dance and she just didn't want the dance to end. Once again Brian led her back to her seat and she sat drinking some tea, watching the action. Before the end of the afternoon he had danced the Quick Step and Cha Cha with her, thanked her politely at the end of each dance and did not have anything more to say.
For the next few months she attended each of the Tea Dances. Brian was always there and always asked her to dance. Then after about eight sessions, he told her that there was a dance competition being held at a nearby church hall and the first prize was dinner for two at a local, rather posh, restaurant, would she care to be his partner and enter the competition. She agreed and they used the next few tea dances as a rehearsal.
The day of the competition arrived. She had bought herself a pretty blue dress with a swirly skirt and, with her heart thumping, she and Brian danced the waltz, quick step, dramatic tango, and cha cha. There were some good dancers there but at the end of the afternoon, it was announced that Alice and Brian had won. She was ecstatic and Brian smiled when they received their vouchers for the dinner.
A few weeks later they met at the very classy restaurant. Brian chose his meal carefully, and was still very slow to converse, but when they had reached the coffee stage, he asked her if she would care to accompany him on a cruise around the Mediterranean. There would be ballroom dancing every evening and he would be pleased if she would be his partner on the ship. He emphasised fairly quickly that they would occupy separate cabins, of course. Alice did some quick calculations, and decided to blow some of her savings on this trip of a lifetime.
It was a medium size ship and very glossy. She was so excited when she unpacked in her little cabin, and put on one of her newly acquired dresses on which she had decided to blow some more of her precious savings.
In the dining room they were shown to a table for ten people all of whom appeared to be travelling alone. They were a friendly bunch and Alice soon felt at ease and enjoyed their company. Brian was still a rather quiet member of the group. After dinner they made their way to the Ballroom, ordered some drinks, and once the band struck up, the dancing began and for the next hour and a half they danced almost every dance.
There was a married couple on board in the position of professional hosts and they would dance with any ladies or gentlemen who were by themselves. The man had the requisite suntan, sun-bleached hair, and wore white, even down to his shoes. Alice noted during the cruise, that the lady had a series of sparkly dresses and shoes. They were both pleasantly friendly and expert dancers.
They also ran a series of dance classes during the day, including line dancing. Alice was drawn to these classes and thoroughly enjoyed them. Brian, however, wasn't interested and made sure he and Alice only danced together in the evenings. Alice was somewhat breathless and rather tired at the end of each evening, but Brian did not appear to be at all fatigued. She supposed it was better than striding stately as a galleon, bust to bust as at the tea dances.
The evenings of the 11 day cruise, took on the same pattern. An enjoyable dinner with her new found friends, then one and a half hour's dancing. She began to tire of this schedule but Brian wasn't and encouraged her to carry on. There was some sightseeing as the ship pulled into some ports and she enthusiastically joined the groups to experience the different towns and sights. However, the sightseeing did not appear to interest Brian and she left him to his own devices. He mainly sat on deck reading in the sun.
On the last night, she felt she had endured enough of Ballroom Brian, or 'Boring Brian' as she had now nicknamed him and, much to her relief, he announced that he was staying on board for the next cruise as he had been speaking to the professional hosts and they had urged him to learn the rudiments of applying to become a dance host on cruise ships generally. She realised that this had been his ambition all along, noticing that he had acquired the requisite suntan during the cruise. She wished him good luck, privately hoped that he would learn a little more conversation, and went back to her cabin to pack.
The following morning she identified her suitcase from the myriad of cases on the dock and was just about to head for the taxi rank when a voice from behind said, 'Are you going to the station?' She turned to see that it was a rather nice man who was one of the group she had dined with each evening. She said yes she was going to the station and he asked, 'Shall we share a taxi?'
'Every cloud has a silver lining,' she thought as she took her two feet away from the ship and into the waiting taxi. 'That was quite an experience,' she thought. 'Perhaps I won't go back to the ballroom dancing. I'll try line dancing instead!'