Dance, Lust And Them

 “So did I. He must have just gotten here. And who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house?”

“I’m so sorry, I’m working with Monique. If you just let me get my partner, we can get out of here—”

 “Monique? I don’t know any Monique,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

 Suddenly her husband appeared in the doorway, as did Monique.

Vance told Janelle that this was where things got ugly. Apparently the wife had been cheating on the husband for weeks and he’d been coming home early trying to catch her in the act. He’d started up his cocaine addiction again, as well as a hefty amount of gambling. Their marriage had been falling apart for weeks now, and this was finally the culmination of all their cheating and conning.

 “I told you to never go walking off on your own,” Monique had shouted at Vance.

 They’d proceeded to head back to the car and had broken up an hour later. The two had set up a specific set of guidelines wherein Vance waited on the sidelines in case things got messy and Monique handled the client’s head on. He was never supposed to travel outside of the kitchen area, as his presence had the potential to disrupt the facets of other people’s lives.

 “But you were only trying to keep her safe by following that kid,” Janelle said. “How could you have known?”

 “I know, I told myself that over and over again. I even tried telling her, but she just wouldn’t listen. Once one client goes, they all go. I doubt she’s still selling, and if she is, she probably has to travel a real long ways away to get any good clients.”

 “Who cares if you messed up her business? What she was doing was illegal, and immoral.”

 Vance sighed. “I know. But when you’re in love with someone, you tend to forgive the crazy things they do. Even though I was in danger, I was able to forget all about what happened with Monique because I was so in love with her. It felt like we were Batman and Robin, just cruising through the night, making all sorts of dirty mistakes. Haven’t you ever had something like that?”

 No, Janelle thought to herself. I haven’t. And what would it be like to have my boyfriend as my sidekick? I’m sure we’d get into a hell of a lot of trouble, the way Vance and Monique got into trouble. I wonder if he still loves her.

 “Do you ever see her anymore?” Janelle asked casually, pushing food around her plate.

 “Nope. We haven’t spoken in years. After I opened up the studio, she basically fell off my radar. I stopped dealing and never ran with that crowd again. I’m sure she sees me online every once in a while, and how can she not? But she’s never tried to reach out.”

 Good, Janelle thought to herself. People like that don’t deserve to be loved. Monique is just another crazy person willing to put her boyfriend’s life at risk and I don’t want any part in a relationship like that.

 Sidekick or no sidekick, if true love is worth it, I won’t need to risk my life for it.

 They finished eating and Vance took care of the bill, even though Janelle protested many times.

 “I insist,” he said, taking the checkbook from her hands. “Think of it as my treat, you know, for having you come on the team. I know you’re going to make a great dancer. Plus the other girls have already taken a liking to you. So what do you say? You wanna sign a contract with my company and we can get this show on the road?”

 Janelle smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

 He walked her back to the studio, linking arms with her along the way. As they strolled under the palm fronds, it felt like they were out on a real date. Janelle was thrilled to be working under someone as mature and handsome as Vance Quick was.

 When they arrived back at the studio, Vance told Janelle he needed to head inside for a few hours to edit some footage. He told her he was looking forward to seeing her the next day at work, and asked if they could go on another date.

 He leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek before heading through the glass doors and into the dimly lit building.

 Janelle turned around on her heel and walked towards her car. She didn’t notice a woman standing across the street watching her from behind a parked car.

 When Janelle reached her car, she checked her phone to find that there were several text messages from Curtis. Instead of waiting around to text him back, she decided to call him.

 “Hey,” he greeted her warmly. “Why the call? Is it a special occasion?”

 “I’m driving, does that count?”

 She heard him chuckling again on the other end of the line.

 “What are you up to tonight? Are we still gonna chill?” he asked.

 “Sure, why don’t you come over? I’ll be back at my house in fifteen minutes or so.”

 “Sounds great, I’ll meet you there. Do you mind if I crash at your place? I’ve got a bottle of wine I’m dying to drink and I won’t want to drive home drunk.”

 “Of course,” Janelle told him.

 She always enjoyed when other people slept over. It made her house feel less empty. It was strange, how she wanted to be surrounded by strangers. Her father and grandmother stressed Janelle out to no end, but having her friends or lovers stay over was a completely different story. It gave Janelle a strange purpose, a sense of superiority that she had warm bodies sleeping safely in her home. Janelle made sure to head home as quickly as possible, as she was excited to have two dates in one night.