Equal Shares Ch. 30

Anne, too, was aroused by their dance together. She felt hot and bothered, and by more than just the considerable physical exertion of the dance. Anne wanted to pull Stan into a room alone and feel him, hold him, take him. When Belinda indicated a change of partners, Anne had to pull herself together, but all she wanted to do was squirm, and to put her hands in places they definitely shouldn't be going in public!

Her new partner was a small mousey older gent named Alfred, and she smiled at him, trying not to overwhelm him. They danced along, diffidently. Alfred wasn't a great dancer, but he was competent. Anne's mind, and her eyes, were elsewhere. Alfred noticed, how could he not, and gently released her, telling her that "Perhaps we'd best stand by the wall, since you're so obviously distracted, my dear?" Anne nodded unthinkingly, and left him, moving to the wall, eyes never leaving the dance floor.

The reason for her distraction was Stan's new partner. Denise.

The two of them were moving with appreciable skill and emotion, considering their still novice status. But Anne was noticing something else. She watched their eyes. She knew that look on Stan's face, she'd seen it before. She also knew the look on Denise's face.

She'd worn that same look herself, only minutes before.

She was startled by a touch on her arm. She whirled around, to find Belinda standing next to her.

"I thought for a moment that that was you dancing with Stanley. Best watch out, dear, she could take him from you if you let her."

Anne merely nodded. She watched the couple moving, in tune with each other in the same way that she and Stan were attuned, analysing how she felt. Seeing them together ought to make her jealous, or unhappy, or worried didn't it?

She was still deep in thought when Belinda clapped her hands together and Yves stopped the music.

"Well, thank you all. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves. We'll just do a short demonstration now, and then we'll let you go on your way," Belinda announced.

Yves cued in the music and the two began to dance. Watching them was an amazing experience, Anne decided. They moved with grace through a dance designed for quick, passionate moves, and it was obvious that their feelings for one another fed into their movements. 'Just like Stan and me, or Stan and Denise…' Anne thought.

When they finished their demonstration, Belinda and Yves thanked everyone for coming. Yves said he hoped to see them all again.

Stan, Anne and Denise went to Yves and Belinda. Stan told the Basque, "Thank you so very much for these past weeks. I've enjoyed them tremendously. I'm not certain if I'll go to further classes, but I fully expect to keep dancing."

Anne chimed in, "It's been great. You're wonderful teachers, and nice people as well."

Denise told them, "It's been lovely to see you both again."

Yves glanced at his wife, who nodded almost imperceptibly, and told the redhead, "Well, you can come to classes again, you know. You, too, Anne, you missed out entirely on the Foxtrot classes. You could come to the next set of beginners' classes should you wish. They'll probably be starting again in a couple of months or so." Again he looked at Belinda, who smiled, looked at the two younger ladies and told Stan, "Yes, you too, even though you did the whole thing. But only if you want to."

It was Stan's turn to check with the distaff side. Since Denise looked unsure he told the older couple "We'll have to think about it, but please notify us when you have another course running."

"We have the intermediate course running on Wednesdays, of course," commented Yves, but Stan, Anne and Denise all looked less than sure about that, so they demurred.

After saying their goodbyes to Belinda and Yves, Stan led the two ladies to the door and peered out. "Looks like the rain's stopped," he commented.

They walked to the car and got in, each following their own thoughts.

Stan drove, thinking of the dances he'd had with Anne, and then Denise. He couldn't deny it; he felt for both of them. But he was committed to Anne, wasn't he? He'd have to push the feelings that he felt for Denise far, far away where no one would notice them, even though he couldn't help but feel them.

Denise sat in the back seat, thinking of Stan. Warm, passionate, protective, funny… Stan was just about everything she needed right now. But she was in a new and barely understood relationship with Elaine and Susan, while Stan was with Anne, in about as big a way as it was possible to be with someone. Denise snorted to herself, almost silently. She expected to hear wedding bells sometime soon, with this pair. 'But what is it that you feel for him?' she silently asked herself, with no answer.

Anne, meanwhile, was carefully going through her feelings. She was more used to dealing with concrete, intellectual things, but Anne was intelligent and bent her mind to the task. How did she feel for Stan?

'I love him. That's a certainty,' she thought. 'I know, beyond doubt, that he loves me.' Anne pursed her lips in the darkness, considering. 'Denise. I think he loves Denise, too. If he loves her, what does that mean for the two of us?'

'Can he love us both? Can I love him, knowing that he loves another?'

Anne searched her soul, poking around her feelings.

"Yes. Yes, I can!" she said, aloud.

"Excuse me?" said Stan, from the driver's seat.

"Oh, nothing… nothing darling," she answered.