Page 2 of A Simple Mistake
Waltz
“Jack?”
“Hm.”
“Can you waltz?”
Sweaty from his afternoon run, Jack had been about to pour himself a glass of water.At Nico’s question he paused, stepped away from the sink and twirled around the kitchen’s centre island in a carefully measured cadence.“Sure.Why?”He queried once he stood by Nico’s side.
“We got thrown out of the dance class.”
“Oh?”
Nico raised his chin to meet Jack’s eyes, and his expression put Jack on alert.“It wasn’t Daniel’s fault,” he said, words tumbling over each other.“The instructor’s a creep.He keeps touching everyone.Hands on hips and arse and all.Daniel kept stepping away from him, but he wasn’t having it and kept yanking him back and… I’m sorry, Jack.I think… I think I was rude.”
“Did you hit him?”
“No.”
“That’s a shame.”
Nico snorted.“Maybe.He said unless we did as we were told we could leave, so we left.Jess came out with us, but now she’s pissed at Daniel.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.She has two left feet.Needs all the help she can get.”Jack liked Jess, but the girl had an attitude, especially when things didn’t go her way.“Who did you team up with in the end?”
“Carol Williams.”
Jack flipped through his mental index.“Slim, blonde, with a ponytail?From the fencing team?”
“That’s her.”
“Good choice.She knows how to move.”
“She came out with us, too.So now… we need to learn to waltz, or we can’t attend the ball.Not that I’d mind that, but…”
“Daniel and the girls do?”
“Yeah.”
“Right.Not to worry.”Jack set his empty water glass in the sink.“Let me get cleaned up and then we’ll sort it out, ‘kay?”He made his way up the stairs, mind going at double speed, and the moment he was showered and dressed, he reached for his phone.
“Hey, Jack.I thought you’d call,” Jess’s mother greeted cheerfully.“I’ve already had words with Jess.Told her how much of a cow she’s been.She should be grateful your two won’t take shit from Manville.”
“Yeah.I’m pleased they tackled the matter and without bloodshed.Nico even admitted he was rude.”
“He couldn’t have been rude enough, from what I’m hearing.Sorry about Jess, though.”
“They’ll make up again, I’m sure.”Jack paused on the landing, eyes on the view outside, an idea taking shape.“You wanna come over and help me teach those kids to dance?If we clear out the dining room, there’s plenty of space.”
Choking sounds came from the other end of the line.
“What?”
“You’re nuts,” Pauline gasped.“I can’t waltz or trot or whatever he’s teaching them in that class!”
“Really?Come over anyway and I’ll teach you, too.”
“You can waltz?Really?I had you pegged for trance or rock or something.”
