Tatiana paid the cover, tossed her hair, and strutted back to the coatroom, smiling to each woman sitting along the bar while sizing them up. Hi Sarah. Does not have the legs for that skirt. It’s been so long, Julie. No talent, still working the boobs. Hi, Francine! Poor crazy Francine, jabbering away at another glassy-eyed, captive hamster praying not to dance with her. Kiss, kiss, great to see you, Francine. Helpless guy is looking for an exit but hasn’t figured out yet Francine never takes a breath. Been exhaling for years. Good for her, she’ll be sitting there all night unless the prisoner breaks out. Note to self, if he does escape, introduce her to the clueless newbies. She’ll be oh so thrilled to give them an impromptu tango lesson. That could keep them all off the dance floor and out of commission for a while, like Lysol canceling out bad odors.
Well, that’s the competition. What’s behind Door Number Three, Monty? Any decent dancers in the place?
Tatiana snooped around by the coat check, but didn’t see any signs of intelligent life. She took off her coat, checked it, and lined up along the bar with the rest of the women. There were a few men she knew watching a game on television. She smiled and tried to catch the eye of any one of them, but they all burst into cheering. Someone on T.V. must have just gotten a goal, or a basket, or a bucket, or something.
It was still early. More people could turn up. Tatiana decided to give the milonga a reasonable chance, say a half-hour. La Fortuna was a good milonga because the club was in her neighborhood, but if nothing was cooking here she could ditch it and check out the action elsewhere.
She ran down the list of other milongas. She knew them by heart and Saturday was a good night. La Mariposa Milonga at the Crane Edwards Dance Studio was an option. That was a big space with a nice floor, so there was always plenty of action. It was usually overrun with students early in the evening right after their classes, but if she did drop in the students would be petering out by then and the more experienced dancers would be starting to show up. That was a good time to get there because you could still check out the new guys, and if there were any that weren’t total idiots you could chat them up and make an investment for the future. Grin and bear it for one dance, then beg off, telling them how great they’re doing. Tatiana called those her “Money in the Bank” dances.
A slim, elegant woman walked along the bar greeting friends. Tatiana watched her kiss each dancer down the row. She knew everyone. Sometimes she lingered and exchanged a few words with someone before moving on. When she laughed, Tatiana put her at forty. Although her trim figure and supple movement suggested a girl in her twenties, the eyes always told the whole story.
Before reaching Tatiana, she paused and surveyed the dance floor. Tatiana concealed her appraisal of the woman. She wore her long brown hair in a loose ponytail. Her dress was taupe and so were her stockings. No flash, nothing cheap, just clean, simple lines. Her make up was understated, too. She could flatter her face a little better, especially if her eyes were starting to reveal secrets about her true age. On the other hand, she carried herself with a dancer’s poise and her inner warmth fueled frequent smiles that were very disarming. Wouldn’t hurt to tone those down a bit, though, considering the laugh lines.
“Jessica!” Tatiana cried, “I love that necklace!”
Tatiana leapt from her barstool. She scrutinized the woman’s necklace. “That is so you. Where did you get it?”
“Hi, Tatiana.” The woman smiled but did not kiss Tatiana, who was raising the necklace with one finger and admiring it closely. “Thank you. I got this on our last trip to Argentina.”
“It’s beautiful. Is it real silver?”
“Yes, it’s a hand-crafted piece I found at the fair at Recoleta Cemetary. Have you been there?”
“Oh yes,” Tatiana said, “many times, but I never saw a necklace as nice as this one. It looks like it was made just for you.”
“Thanks,” Jessica said. “David gave it to me.”
“Oh, is he here?”
“Of course, we were just taking a little break from dancing.”
Tatiana gave Jessica’s shoulder a squeeze. “Oh, then you wouldn’t mind if I just ‘borrowed’ your husband for a little bit? You know, you are so lucky to have a good tango dancer right in the family.” Tatiana laughed and stroked the necklace.
A distinguished man came up behind Jessica and slipped his arm around her waist. Tatiana smiled at him and said, “Oh hi, David. Your wife was just telling me about your trip. Did you really give her this beautiful necklace?”
Jessica’s husband laughed and said, “Yes, I did, Tatiana.” He stepped forward and gave Tatiana a kiss. She offered her other cheek for a second one. David said, “She kept wanting to go back to the same fair. I finally figured out she was always going to the same place and so behind her back I got this necklace I had seen her trying on. It’s beautiful on her, but it scratches me sometimes in the middle of the night. She never takes it off.”
Jessica pinched him. “That’s not true. I never wear it in the shower.”
Tatiana said, “Did you guys dance a lot in Argentina?”
“Oh yes,” David said. “We always do. We had a great time.”
“I mean, did you dance with a lot of Argentines, or with each other?” Tatiana asked.
“Both.”
“Really?” Tatiana said. “But Argentine men won’t invite married women to dance, at least not if the husbands are around.”
Jessica displayed her hand. “We left the rings in the apartment when we went to the milongas. No sense in advertising it. We danced together on Saturdays because Saturday is ‘date night’ in Buenos Aires, but when we planned on dancing with other partners we entered separately and sat at different tables. Nobody knew what was going on, or at least they pretended not to. In Argentina, they pretend as well as they dance.”
“Tell me about it!” Tatiana laughed. “But when you were sitting separately, did you still get dances? I mean, sometimes it can be pretty hard, can’t it? You can be planted in one spot the entire night.”
Jessica pulled herself up taller and straighter. “Not really, I danced all the time wherever we went.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” Tatiana said. “You and David are both such beautiful dancers.” Tatiana smiled at David.
Tatiana leaned in closer to Jessica and said in a stage whisper, “It’s a lot harder here. There just aren’t as many men like your husband.”
Tatiana brightened and said to David, “Well it may be Saturday night, but this isn’t Argentina, is it? Are you dancing with other partners? Jessica said that maybe I could ‘borrow’ you for a little bit.”
David and Jessica exchanged looks and Tatiana hooked her arm in David’s. David kissed his wife once on the cheek and turned Tatiana toward the dance floor. Tatiana looked back at Jessica, beamed, and said, “You are so lucky, Jessica.”
Jessica watched the two begin their tango. She fingered the necklace. Yes, very lucky.
No comments:
Post a Comment