Nicole said in a surprised tone, “She is smiling. I haven’t seen her smile like that since…”
Bobby said in the same tone, “Since she danced with Stanley.”
Britney gasped. “You’re right.” They stood watching. Gloria walked to the door and said, “I will be in my office, Sam.”
She walked out, and Bobby said, “What was that about?”
“Just a dance.” She kissed him. “You can go back in now.” She walked away. She got to the door and looked back to see if Clarence was looking at her. He was. She smiled slightly. She was walking through the larger room and stopped. She knelt down, one knee on the floor, her fists tight against it, her body trembling. She had tears in her eyes and pain in her heart. ‘What the hell is happening to me? Why does this hurt so fucking bad?’
An instructor saw her and didn’t know what to do. She ran to the private room where Bobby was. “I think something is wrong with Mrs. Coleman.” They walked out of the room. The woman pointed. “Over there in that hallway.”
Sam paused for a moment. “Clarence, you stay in the room. We will be back shortly.” Clarence walked back into the room. The others walked to where Gloria was. Bobby started to move faster towards her.
Sam grabbed his arm. “Leave her.” Bobby looked at him as Sam said, “You haven’t noticed a change in her.” Bobby gave him a confused look. Sam said in a concerned voice, “You do not survive what they had. She has got to let him go and he has got to let her go.”
“He is dead, Sam,” Bobby replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.
“That is my point exactly, Bobby.”
The song that was playing ended. Her fists started pounding on the floor, keeping track with the beat of the drums.
Looking back at Gloria, Bobby asked in a concerned, frightened voice, “What can I do for her?”
Sam in a hopeful tone, “Sit back and let the music and her heart do the rest. This is something she has got to do alone, son.”
“Why haven’t the words started yet?” Britney asked.
“Extended version. I picked it personally. I gave the instructor the playlist. Olden days, they danced to musical tracks only. She would have caught on if I had used traditional music.” Gloria stood and all at once started dancing.
“What the hell?” Bobby said in disbelief.
“Oh my god, I have never seen anything like this,” Britney said in shock.
Sam said in a low, intense voice, “Now you see what Stanley never revealed to the world. That is her best but alone. Together, she would be twice as good.”
Nicole gasped out, “That is impossible.”
Sam took a step forward and said in a voice of disbelief, “Yes, it is.” His tone changed as if he was talking to himself. “We were right; they could have ended the curse. Look at her. It is like the sound was made for her to move to. The air made for her to walk upon. The world turns because of the beating of her heart. By the gods in the heavens, I think the prophesies are coming true before our very eyes. The lovers of the first curse have emerged. A love so powerful that not even death can separate. Dance, soul, and unexpected love. My god, my god, my god. He is beside her. I know it, I know it. The dead cannot remain among the living. She did dance a dance from the library, but which one? Let her go, Stanley, let her go.” In a tone that sounded like he was pleading, he said, “Let her go, those dances will kill her. Let her go.”
Bobby grabbed Sam’s arm. “What is going on?”
Sam looked at Bobby, realizing he spoke instead of thinking. “Never repeat a word I just said. I should have kept my big mouth shut. Listen to me, all of you. She needs to return to the cursed. I know that is the one thing none of you want to hear. Trust me when I say she needs that. Help her make that choice. If you do not, something very bad is going to happen to her.”
Bobby started to say something. Sam said, “For once in your damn life, boy, listen and do not question. You can do what the hell you want with your life. She is the concern in this, not any of you. She doesn’t need to know we are watching. Look at her; she doesn’t even know where she is now or what she is doing. Leave her and don’t speak of what you saw. Stanley’s spirit hasn’t crossed over yet. It is calling for her and she is answering. He doesn’t have a body. She is dancing with the dead son.” He took Bobby’s wrist and they walked away as Gloria was dancing.
When the song ended, she kneeled in the exact same spot she started dancing in. She stood, looked around, and walked away. Sam got the others settled. He walked out of the room and dialed a number. A man answered the phone. Sam said, “I need you and Elizabeth to come to Mississippi. It is urgent. Call me once the two of you are in Tupelo.” He walked away to go check on Gloria. As he was walking past the locker rooms, he saw her pants lying on the floor. He walked in. Gloria was standing in a shower stall. The water was beating down on her face. The front of her shirt was wet, her sun-kissed tan skin showing through. Her nipples were standing out. The shirt stopped just above her panties. She took her hands, pushing the water back on her long blond hair. Sam stood looking at her, shaking. He thought, ‘God, you are beautiful. I know you danced something. I am not sure if Stanley is causing this or a god. I don’t know if I can help you or not.’ Sam walked away before she noticed him. About thirty minutes later, Sam walked into her office with a voice recorder. He looked at her. “You okay?”
“Yes, let’s get this over with.”
“Official,” Sam said as he pressed record on the recorder he was holding. He sat it on the desk and Gloria gave her name. “I was furious and angry at the thought that anyone could replace Stanley as a dance mate. I didn’t believe it at first. It was just recently I was told that having another dance mate was even possible. I was skeptical at first.
“At the start, there was nothing, just like holding any other man. But we started to dance. I felt a deep pain. Tears came to my eyes. It felt like I was betraying Stanley. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. There was an incredible longing to hold Stanley, to be dancing with him. Tears started to come more freely. The more we danced, the more the pain went away. He was wonderful. The tears stopped. The pain stopped. I could tell there was a lot of talent locked in him. Nothing like Stanley, or even the others in the room with him. His arms made me feel light as a feather.
“His movements were graceful. It seemed like I hadn’t felt that way in years. Over half my life. The urge to look at him was strong. Before we danced, I thought him to be slightly handsome. The more we danced, the better he looked to me. He made me feel young and beautiful inside. I felt like a teenager again. All I wanted to do was to hold him and get closer. I kept my distance.”
She smiled. “The emptiness that is inside started to fill. The song ended way too soon. I walked away. I could tell the talent inside of him was something that could be unlocked. The bonding perhaps. The song was one I knew. It was over three minutes long. But the dance felt like it was only a few seconds long. It was hard to release his hand. I didn’t want to walk away. Everything I felt was incredible. I have a feeling that if we would have danced several more times. The emptiness I feel for the loss of Stanley would have been filled.
“At the moment, I have two feelings. Neither of them is a very strong feeling. One is a sense of betrayal, the other a longing to dance with Clarence again. I found Clarence to be respectful and decent before we danced. Now I find him quite charming, someone I wish to get to know better. But I know it is the curse drawing me in. But it feels so natural, like we are old friends that haven’t seen each other for a long time. The acquaintance is being rekindled. I walked away from him.
“I felt sad. I walked to my husband and gave him a kiss. I walked away, but the longing to know if Clarence was watching me was strong. I gave in to see and discovered he was. Once he was out of sight, the only feeling I can compare it to is like making love to another man while under the curse. A strong urge to tell Stanley I was sorr
y.
“An urge to dance unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was strange; the pain brought me to my knees. I started pounding the floor. In my mind, I saw Stanley holding his hand out. I took it and I danced. It was unlike any dance we had ever done before. I couldn’t see; there was no color, no light, no darkness, nothing. Words can’t describe what it was like. When I could think straight, I was in the exact same spot when I fell, and my mind went blank. Questions?”
“Do you regret dancing with Clarence?”
“That’s a hard question to answer. If you asked me that before we danced, if I would have known the feelings I have now would happened, I would have said yes. But now I can honestly say with the feelings I feel now, no, I do not, and want to dance again. The temptation has started.”
“Thank you, Gloria. Thank you very much.”
There was a softness in Sam’s eyes, a longing to know what she had to say. “You are welcome, Sam.” Sam got up and walked to her. As he walked over to her, the longing he had in his heart still remained. But the pain he felt looking at her, doing everything in her power to hide the shattered feeling on the inside, burned his heart. He grabbed her and held her tight for a moment. She could see he was holding back tears.
When the embrace was over, she went to pull away. Sam said, “You danced with the dead, Gloria. Something has changed, if he does not release you, or if you do not release him, something very bad is going to happen. A dance wasn’t completed.” She looked at him but didn’t say anything. He walked to the door. As he reached for the door knob but didn’t look back, he said with a hint of urgency in his voice, “Gloria, some questions should be personal, I know that. Over the years, more and more complaints about the same thing has occurred. One’s love life, the depth of feeling what happened.” He turned and faced her and said with extreme concern in his voice, “Dancing the Tide was made up of how many dances?” He gave her a curious look as he waited for her response.
Gloria without hesitation, “Thirteen.”
“Out of the thirteen, how many do you know or have access to?”
Nearly a whisper with fear in her voice. “All.”
“Have you noticed a change in your love life? Are you more sexually active?”
“Yes.”
“Bobby is very talented; you have danced with him numerous times. Do you think he could make it through the beginning of Dancing the Tide? Mid-dance change to the Dance of Time and Life?”
Shaking her head, she said, “I know he has the strength to start. I believe he could start it. How far he would make it, I do not know. It is likely that I would be the one to make the mistake. I know the dance and would dance as such. I often get lost in the feeling of him holding me. I forget he is not my mate.” Her gaze was looking down to the floor now.
He shook his head. “I know what happened in France, Gloria, between Bobby and Britney.” She didn’t look up, so he continued. “What is happening here I can only guess.” He warned with a serious tone, “Whatever you do, do not invite Britney to join you with your husband.” She looked up at him as he said, “Gloria, events can take place to make realms expand in the unknown dimensions. The could have, would have, should have. Those realms can venture close to this one and a conversion can happen. Gloria, at one time, it was said, the only way a dancer could be born to dance was by a mother and father that were born to dance.
“Sex may not be the only way in today’s time to be reproductive, but it is the most common method.” He paused to consider then continued. “Sex is the only way to weaken the curse, to disturb the harmony within the building period. No one has ever completed that. Besides one couple, the man was terminally ill and didn’t live long after the completion.”
“Do you think that is what happened?”
He walked over to her. “If I said what I thought, all of you would be killed. The curse started because someone said they were more beautiful and a better dancer than the God of the Dance. I see two women of incredible beauty. Thank the gods neither of them has a green-eyed twin sister. Has the urge to be with her been so strong that you couldn’t help yourself? If so, how many times?”
“More times than I can count, Sam.”
He nodded as he let out an exasperated breath and rubbed his head. “Gloria, you need to forget we ever had this conversation. Give me your hand.” He held out his hand and they started dancing.
She said, “Sam, I am frightened.”
“I won’t abandon you, Gloria, but this is borderline me not being able to conceal it. I have hidden my reports, but something very powerful is at play here.” They danced in silence. After they were done, Sam smiled. “Thank you for helping me deal with my pain.”
She gave him a confused look and said, “You’re welcome.” He walked out the door and Gloria stood watching him with a confused look on her face as she tried to remember why they had danced.
Chapter 18
Confused Choices.
That night, Gloria brought supper home. She fed the kids and took a shower. She and Bobby hadn’t talked that much. She got in bed and made love to him. After it was over, Bobby thought, ‘I wonder if Sam told her what he said to us. If so, she hasn’t said anything to me. It would be best to keep quiet until I get a feel of what is going on. But something is bothering her and I have got to find out what. “Something on your mind?” Bobby said, trying to start a conversation.
She lay in his arms. When she didn’t say anything, he asked, “You mad at me, Sam, Clarence, anyone?”
“No. I am not mad at nobody,” she said softly.
“Okay, what was today about?” Gloria didn’t say anything; she just held him tighter. “Who was that guy? Why were you so mad?”
She knew he was going to ask and had been wondering what to say to him.
“It seems I was wrong about having just one dance mate your entire life. When death separates a dance mate, the curse chooses another dance mate for you. Many things I thought to be truth were not true. It was known about, but I was the first recorded one. Not saying it hasn’t happened before. But it was only discovered after the fact. Bobby, many people are born to dance. Everyone born to dance does not become a great dancer. Sam told me a few weeks ago. I didn’t believe him. It seems that you can also change dance mates. I don’t think it is possible to do. But he said it is. Clarence is one that could be my dance mate.”
Bobby raised an eyebrow. “Wow. That’s kind of freaky. What was it like?”
She knew that question was honest. “Just like it was when you first met Nicole. The curse started over with me. Or so I was told. It felt like it did.”
“Are you going to dance, bond, and be like me and Nicole?” She couldn’t read the tone that was in his voice. Another question she expected in honesty, but one she had been asking herself.
“Probably not. That was the only dance I intended to do for two reasons. One, and the most important one, was for Sam, as a favor for him. He truly wanted to know. Apparently, he has been looking for his second dance mate for a while. Two, because I didn’t believe it.”
“So that was why you nearly raped me?”
Gloria smiled. “Partly but not solely. I am in love with you, Bobby. I love making love to you. I love the way you make me feel. I did not think of him, if that is what you are thinking. Don’t you like to make love to me?”
“Absolutely.” He rolled over on top of her. “Why wouldn’t I want to make love to the most beautiful woman in the world?”
She smiled, and he kissed her. When he was done kissing her, she said, “I don’t think I am the most beautiful woman in the world.” ‘If you only knew what I am fighting on the inside. What I have been fighting, Bobby.”
Bobby whispered, “You are to me. So if something was to happen to Nicole, not that I am wanting that to happen, I would have a different dance mate?”
“According to Sam, you would. A
fter today, I wouldn’t question that.”
“It would start over the same?”
“Not the same for me. I know what to look for. I know how to stop the bonding. Well, maybe not stop it. But prolong it for a long time if I wanted to if we were to dance. I have been under the curse before. But I think if that went unchecked, we would bond faster than you and Nicole. But it is a team thing and I am not sure how the depth of feeling went for him. This is all new to me. I haven’t asked him any questions. I am afraid to ask questions. The only other difference for me is I know what to expect.
“Being I know what to expect, I know what to look for. I know all the signs. I know how to fight the temptations. Not that it would be easier on that part, mind you. I know he wouldn’t believe as easy as me. That would make things harder on me. Kind of like you and Nicole. But I think I could convince him, walk him through it every step of the way if I was considering taking him as my dance mate.”
“You have been thinking about this and him ever since that dance, haven’t you?”
“Has it been that obvious?” Gloria asked with a hint of concern in her voice,
Bobby smiled. “Maybe a little. Wasn’t sure if it was him, but something definitely.”
“I have not,” she lied.
Bobby smiled. “I heard the hesitation.”
“Have you thought about Nicole all day?”
“Some days I do, yes, to be honest,” he admitted.
Gloria sighed. “No, I haven’t thought about him all day. I didn’t not think about him when we started making out or during making love.” She kissed him.
“Not that I am saying I want you to. But if you do want another dance mate, I will support you if you do. You love to dance. Stanley knew you loved to dance. I don’t think he would get mad at all if you took another dance mate. If that is a concern.”
“I don’t think our relationship needs this strain. Besides, I need to keep an eye on the two of you. I don’t need to add a worry of keeping an eye on the two of you plus myself. A lot easier to say do as I say and not as I do. When it comes to temptation, it is like an addiction. An alcoholic knows they are an alcoholic. He is my most favorite drink in the world.”
Love and Beyond Part 3 Page 21