Paso Doble Ch. 01 - A 2-part short story

Paso Doble - A two-part short story

Part 01

'Are you okay, sweetheart?'

'Of course honey, have fun and see you tomorrow!' Herman looks appreciatively at his wife. 'You look fantastic again!' He looks the other way with a regretful look on his face and hopes she doesn't see it. Lena has dressed for the activity ahead, which means that she is wearing a bright short summer dress in red, black and green, with a short cardigan over her bare arms and red sandals with heels on her feet.

'Thank you, my love,' she whispers and kisses him on the cheek. She looks at him lovingly for a moment and then she is gone.

Herman rolls his wheelchair to the window and watches her as she throws her overnight bag into the trunk of the car. She blows him another kiss, gets in and drives off.

Lena loves ballroom dancing, unfortunately she has had to do it on her own for the last ten years, since her husband Herman is in a wheelchair. A car accident ended their mutual passion, Herman has since been paralyzed from the waist down, with no chance of recovery. Herman managed to convince her that she should continue to dance, he knows it is an important source of energy and joy of life for her. He doesn't want her to give that up for him, that would mean they'd just sit and be miserable on the couch together and that wouldn't do anyone any good.

So she took up dancing again a few years ago. At a different club than before, she didn't feel the need to keep explaining why Herman is no longer dancing with her. At the new club, only a few know that she is married, and no one knows about Herman's' accident.

Fortunately, the dance club she is now a member of also has a number of members without dance partners, some single and some whose partner doesn't like to dance or is a danger on the dance floor. Lena especially likes Latin American dances, such as the Rumba, Samba, Jive and Paso Doble. But she also loves going wild on a Quickstep. She prefers to dance with Thom, they seem to be a perfect match on the dance floor and moreover he's always a lot of fun, he has a wonderful sense of humor. The fact that he also looks very attractive is no punishment either.

Lena is looking really good for her fifty years, she's slim, with long, shapely legs, she has a nice toned body, and curves in all the right places. Lush head of curly strawberry blonde hair, clear blue eyes, beautiful, smooth skin and full, red lips complete the picture. She hardly uses make-up; she doesn't think it necessary. Moreover, it saves quite a bit of time if you don't have to plaster yourself every day and then have to take it all off again in the evening. She can think of better things to do.

Lena has been dancing with the same dance school for years now, it is mainly recreational and a form of exercise rather than a real dance class, although they still learn something new every now and again. They are currently having a lot of fun doing the Paso Doble; the dance instructor, Sylvia, picked up some new steps during her trip through Spain last spring and is now in the process of transferring them to her students. Not everyone has the same feeling for it, it turns out, there is quite some puffing and cursing sounding up with some people, especially men, because in this dance the man is the one who plays the leading role and is the eye-catcher.

Thom, however, throws himself into it with great dedication, he really likes it and it shows. He's got the looks for it, of course, with his Spanish-looking black curls and a long and lean but muscular body. The women are therefore standing in line to dance with him, he's always in demand. It also doesn't help that there have been a few too few men lately.

But today it's not about dancing, every so often an outing is organized for the group, this time they will visit a so-called swimming paradise, with an afternoon to spend at leisure and a dinner in the evening, after which there will of course also be dancing. After all, it is still a dance club. To give everyone the opportunity to drink alcohol without having to get behind the wheel again, they all spend the night in a hotel.

When Lena pulls her car into the parking lot where they gather, she sees that the bus is already waiting, groups of people are busy talking and laughing. As she gets out, Thom walks up to her.

'Can I help you with your luggage?' he asks as he bends over and kisses her three times on the cheeks.

'Are you crazy,' she says, 'I don't have that much with me.' She opens the trunk and takes out her overnight bag.

'Is that all?' asks Thom with disbelief in his voice, 'The other women have brought along trolleys, bags and I don't know what else. I already assumed that was normal.'

'It's just one night, right?' asks Lena, suddenly unsure.

'Yeah, we'll be home again tomorrow. Unless something happens of course.' He leans over to her and lowers his voice. 'Perhaps there will be a murder in the hotel, then of course we should all have to stay!' He grins at the thought.

'Then I hope one of us isn't the victim,' Lena chuckles, 'then I'll have to find another dance partner, that would be a shame.'

'Oh, nice,' grumbles Thom, supposedly deeply hurt, 'is that all I mean to you, a dance partner?'

Lena laughs. 'Here,' she says, 'you can carry my bag, to show you that you are more than just a dance partner to me.' And she walks off with a cheerful smile on her face, hips swaying, ahead of him towards the bus.

Thom follows meekly, he pauses for a moment, creating some distance, that way he can better take in the sight of Lena's beautiful ass. He spontaneously starts humming.

The dance instructor gets off the bus where she had a chat with the driver and starts counting heads. There's still a couple missing, Ron and Harriet, the eternal latecomers.

While Sylvia checks her phone to see if a cancellation has come in, the car of the missing couple pulls into the parking lot and five minutes and five pieces of luggage later they all can leave.

'Can I sit next to you, Lena?' asks Tom. 'I promise I'll behave.'

'You can sit next to me,' Lena replies cheerfully, 'but only if you promise not to behave.'

'That sounds good too,' says Thom with relief, 'I'm much better at that!'

Lena laughs and pats the seat next to her.

'Sucking candy?' she asks, reaching into her overnight bag that she kept with her.

'Here and now?!' Thom responds loudly with pretend disbelief in his voice, several people look their way. 'You don't lose time over it, do you?'

'You're a terrible tease!' Lena laughs and playfully pokes him in the ribs.

Then Thom's attention is claimed by his neighbor across the aisle, a terrible chatterbox who secretly has a crush on him, she's not the only one. It takes a while before he can break away from her.

By the time he can finally turn his attention back to Lena, she is engrossed in a book and Thom settles for admiring her pretty silhouette.

Lena feels he's watching her but pretends not to notice.

Then he can hold back no longer, he puts a hand over her book. 'Last word!'

Lena smiles mischievously. 'Orgasm,' she says.

'No really?!' Thom is taken aback for a moment. 'What the hell are you reading?'

'Oh, sorry,' Lena says apologetically, 'I see now that it says 'organization', Freudian slip...'

'Yea right,' laughs Thom, he has once again fallen into his own trap.

Thom has had a really hard crush on Lena for a long time. But he knows she's married, so he doesn't dare go beyond some teasing, innocent flirtation, and covert compliments. He thinks her husband is very lucky and hopes he is worthy of Lena.

Moreover, it is not wise to flirt openly on the dance floor; the ladies present, of which he knows that there are several who have a crush on him, married or not married, will spot that very quickly. And then there will be a lot of talk. He himself is single, he doesn't care about what people say about him, but he wants to protect Lena from being in the center of gossip.

Thom has just turned forty and he suspects Lena is a few years older, maybe forty-three, forty-four? Not that it matters, she could pass for forty or even younger as far as he's concerned, she looks that good. In addition, she is very pleasant company, they have the same kind of humor and they always have a great lot of fun, on or off the dance floor.

The bus slows down, Sylvia announces that everyone can already collect their things, they have almost arrived at the final destination. At the hotel they will first deliver the luggage to their rooms and then right afterwards cross the street together to the swimming paradise, which is very conveniently located opposite the hotel.

While Lena puts her book in her overnight bag, Thom whispers something in her ear. 'Do you need some help with changing?'

'No need,' Lena whispers back, 'I already changed at home.' Meanwhile she pulls the hem of the skirt of her dress up her thighs until a piece of her bathing suit shows. Tom doesn't know what to say for a moment. Is he imagining it, or is Lena behaving a little different today than she usually does?

Lena liked Thom right from the moment they first met. If she hadn't been married, she would have taken a serious go at him. And that's saying quite a lot, because Lena isn't easily besotted with a man. She also finds him very sexually attractive. But thus far she has deliberately suppressed those feelings. She is very fond of her husband, their relationship is unbreakable as far as she's concerned, they are true soul mates. But there is a problem. Since he got paralyzed from the waist down, quite a bit has changed in the bedroom. They do their best to make it work, but she knows Herman feels guilty, inadequate. He, of course, ensures that she is satisfied to a certain extent, but something is still missing. He has therefore impressed on her several times that he would not mind if she looks for what she is missing outside their marriage. But Lena is a little afraid of the consequences. Such a lover can become too dependent on her and might want more from her than she can give. Moreover, there must of course be unconditional trust, and it also feels a bit like betrayal towards Herman.

The door of the bus opens and, as is often the case, one half wants to get out as quickly as possible, while the other half only now realizes that it would have been useful to have packed their things together. And that last half is always at the front of the bus for one reason or another. Finally, everyone is outside and the luggage is on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. As soon as she walks into the lobby, Lena drops her bag and goes looking for a toilet, she desperately needs to pee for quite a while now. Meanwhile, Sylvia hands out the room numbers and Thom and his roommate are the first to get their keys. When Lena re-enters the lobby, there are only a few keys left, including hers. Now quickly take the luggage to the room, take out the pouch with her underwear and head back to the lobby, she thinks. It's quite warm today, a refreshing dip in the pool strongly appeals to her.

When she is at the top of the stairs, she sees Thom standing in the lobby below, he has a panicky expression on his face. She can guess why, Manon, talkative and pushy, is standing next to him. She looks at him in adoration and seems to be delivering another one of her discourses on how important it is that we all become vegetarians. That in itself is a laudable goal, but she's always so going on about it that you quickly get the urge to start up a barbecue in front of her just to put an end to the nagging.

Lena decides to save Thom and calls his name.

'Thom, can you come here for a second?' He looks at her gratefully.

'Sorry Manon, I have to leave you, Lena seems to need me,' and with a few steps he is with her, Manon watches him go with a disappointed look on her face.

'I am eternally grateful!' he whispers to Lena.

Lena laughs, 'I'll think of a favor in return,' she whispers back. Together they walk down the stairs and join the rest of the group, which is now almost complete. The only people still missing, guess what, are Ron and Harriet.

When they finally arrive, they all follow Sylvia in a goose step outside the hotel.

Once inside the swimming paradise, Sylvia quickly arranges the entrance tickets and towels are distributed, which are apparently included. While waiting, they look at the information board with routes, locations and times. There are all kinds of attractions, such as slides, wild water rapids, whirlpools, flumes, a wave pool, a heated indoor pool and an unheated outdoor pool. Lena decides to go there first, so she can cool off.

'Hey,' shouts Connie, the chattering neighbor from the bus, enthusiastically, 'There's also a sun terrace!' 'Oh, Thom,' she lisps to Thom who is standing behind her and tries to look seductively at him, 'you don't mind rubbing sunscreen on my back in a minute, would you?' Thom and Lena look at each other over Connie's head for a moment, Lena can hardly prevent herself from bursting into laughter, Thom's eyes are even more panicked than they were with Manon just now.

'Thom is going to go into the outdoor pool with me first, Connie, sorry. We've got a small bet going on.' Lena says apologetically to Connie. Connie looks disappointed but Thom breathes a sigh of relief.

'That's two, buddy,' Lena whispers to Thom when they walk to the changing rooms a little later. He grins, and shudders for a moment at the thought of having to rub Connie's chicken neck and back.

Connie is an avid sun worshipper, so she's way too tanned, which accentuates her thin neck and makes her skin look like the bumpy surface of an orange peel. To make matters worse, she prefers to wear as deep cut clothes as possible on her thin body. Unfortunately, she thinks she has a very beautiful tanned skin and a great figure. During dancing, Lena and Thom always have fun because of the barely concealing cleavage and the fries bags resembling tits that just seem to hang in there. They know it's not exactly nice, but she's asking for it with that totally inappropriate choice of clothing. Doesn't the woman have a mirror at home? they sigh regularly.

Lena, together with the rest of the female part of the group, enters the dressing room and pulls her dress over her head. She folds it neatly, puts it in her purse and opens a locker to put the purse and her sandals away. Then she steps out, the first of the ladies to leave the dressing room.

Thom is also just stepping out of the men's dressing room. When he sees her in her high-cut sea green bathing suit he deliberately lets his eyes pop out, drops his tongue from his mouth and approaches her with outstretched arms and grasping hands.

'Hahahaha, silly!' laughs Lena, 'There's some exaggerating for you!'

'I'm not exaggerating at all!' Thom shouts out indignantly, 'In fact, I can barely control myself not to dive on top of you.'

'Yeah right,' she chuckles. 'Hey, my eyes are up here!' she rebukes him sternly when he deliberately continues to fix his eyes on her breasts. Reluctantly, he pulls away from that magnificent view.

The bathing suit does its best but cannot disguise her beautiful figure, no bathing suit can do that, Thom thinks. Her nipples are visible through the fabric, protruding perky. He immediately feels something growing, he quickly wraps the towel around his waist. Not soon enough, Lena is pleased to see the effect she has on him.

'I'm going to cool off in the outdoor pool first,' says Lena, 'you can join me,' she gives him a wink. She doesn't have to tell Thom twice; he immediately follows her enthusiastically. She also looks fantastic from behind, he's afraid he'll have to keep that towel on all morning.

After swimming a good number of lengths, Lena leaves the outdoor pool to see what else there is to do. Thom stays behind, he needs some time to get rid of that persistent erection. He's stupid enough to watch at her walking away, and that only makes it worse...

Lena sees Harriet and Ron sitting in a whirlpool together, she decides she would like that too and she walks over to them.

'Do you mind if I sit with you?' she asks.

'Not at all, the more souls the merrier,' Harriet replies cheerfully. 'As long as you don't add any extra bubbles, Ron's already doing that enough,' she adds with a wink. 'That's why he has to sit across from me,' she jokes. Ron gives them a lazy smile and closes his eyes. He's used to his wife's teasing.

Lena and Harriet have a nice chat while bubbling.

'Of course, it's none of my business,' Lena says at one point, 'but I'm just curious. How come you're almost always the last to arrive?'

'You mean being late,' laughs Harriet. Lena smiles apologetically, that's indeed what she actually means.

'Well,' Harriet confides in her, 'you shouldn't tell anyone about this, but Ron sometimes happens to have an erection in the morning, morning wood, especially if we have something planned that day, apparently that adds some extra tension. And we both think you should take advantage of that, it's such a shame otherwise, your sex life decreasing as you get older. That's why we are often too late when an activity has been agreed in the morning.' Harriet looks at Lena with a mischievous look in her eyes.

'You're absolutely right,' says Lena with a grin, 'a day without a shag is a day wasted!' Harriet howls with laughter, Ron is startled by it. You don't half know how lucky you are, Lena thinks a little sadly, thinking of her and Herman.

After spending some time in the hot tub with Ron and Harriet, Lena thinks it's time to try out the rest of the rides, and soon she bumps into Thom again.

'Hey, my favorite dance partner!' he shouts cheerfully. 'Would you like to try the wild water rapid with me?' he suggests.

'Well, I haven't got bruised yet today, time to change that,' she jokes. Physical contact is hard to avoid on such a ride, so they regularly collide with each other. Lena suspects that Thom often bumps into her on purpose, but she secretly doesn't mind at all, and they have a lot of fun. They are spotted by John and Evie, a couple in their early thirties who they get along with very well at dance class. They wonder if Lena and Thom have already tried the flume. Thom does, as far as he is concerned it is highly recommended and the four of them go there under cheerful mutual teasing.

After whizzing down the flume slide about eight times, Lena has had enough and swims to the edge of the pool, where she relaxes for a while. She is shocked when she suddenly feels the water move right next to her, the head of Kevin, one of the dance club's single men, appears, a little too close for Lena's liking.

'Hello beautiful, floating all alone?' He looks mesmerized at her breasts and Lena immediately gets goosebumps. 'Are you cold? I'd gladly warm you up, you know.' Lena gives him a faint smile and searches desperately for a way to get rid of him.

She actually finds him a bit of a creep, so she avoids him as much as possible when dancing, he, or rather his dance partners, often suffers from wandering hands. He also has a very unpleasant body odor.

Kevin, however, absolutely does not pick up any signals as far as women are concerned, he begins showering her with raunchy compliments, and, impervious to the lack of response, suggests meeting in her hotel room in the afternoon to 'do naughty things'. And then suddenly Lena knows how to get rid of him, a mischievous light appears in her eyes.

She agrees to his proposal, Kevin is so shocked by the unexpected success that he goes under and almost chokes on the bathwater. When he has recovered a bit, Lena tells him in a sultry voice which room to come to, at three o'clock in the afternoon. Kevin gives her a thumbs up, a fat wink and swims away.

Thom has seen them together and is curious what the hell they could have been talking about for so long, he knows how Lena is disgusted by Kevin.