“No problem. Sorry I interrupted.” Maggie answered, honestly feeling pretty awkward.
“See you tomorrow, babe.” the blonde called over her shoulder to Caleb as she exited the studio.
Okay, Maggie thought to herself, girlfriend it is.
“Are you ready to get started?” Caleb asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“Sure thing.” Maggie answered while plastering a fake smile on her face.
The next hour went by quite quickly. Even though she had the images of Blondie running through her head and the passion she saw between them, she couldn’t help but enjoy the time with his body against hers. Sure, it wasn’t to the degree that she witnessed earlier, but it was better than nothing, and it gave her something to aspire to. Being a girlfriend whose boyfriend cheated on her, she vowed to never be the other woman, so knowing that Caleb had a girlfriend made him off limits, but that did not mean that she couldn’t get her kicks in during dance class. All in the name of art, right?
Chapter Eight
The next week went by much more smoothly than the first, but the events remained quite the same. Maggie went to work during the day, cranking out cake and dessert orders masterfully. On Tuesday and Friday she went to dance class where she learned the moves to the tango, waltz, and salsa; all of which she truly believed she would never use in the real world, but hell, wasn’t that what everyone says throughout any type of school? Regardless, she went and enjoyed every minute of it. She hadn’t caught sight of Blondie since their first encounter, so thoughts of her and Caleb were put to the back of her head and she concentrated on having fun and getting to know her instructor better. There wasn’t much opportunity for small talk as most of their conversations solely involved Caleb telling her where to put her hands and other instructions on what to do. Now, out of context, this could seem fantastic, but not when it was set in reality with Maggie in firm concentration, trying her best to not step on his feet or move on the wrong count. Needless to say, in those moments of trying her darnedest to not look like a complete fool, striking up a witty conversation wasn’t top on her priority list.
Despite this, small parting words were exchanged as they collected their things on their way out. Maggie had let Caleb know about her business, and he knew of her friends who had sent her there and bits of their lives, but nothing dynamic. However, entering the third week of class, the lesson went on just like it had the other days, but when it was over, there was a new arrival that made its appearance.
An invitation.
“So, you have any plans tonight? Caleb asked Maggie as he went to pull his sweatshirt over his head.
“Nope. It’s Tuesday, I’m not much of a weeknight-going-out type of girl.”
“Oh.” he responded, a slight hint of disappointment in his voice that Maggie caught.
“But that doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to it.” she replied quickly, not knowing what he was getting at, but regardless, she didn’t want to possibly miss it.
A small smile appeared on Caleb’s face. “Well, I don’t know if I mentioned to you before, but I split my time between here and Toronto.” Maggie nodded for him to continue. “Well, a friend and I are in a band; Thriving Drive. Can you tell I didn’t come up with the name?” Caleb winked, laughing at his own joke. “Anyways, Bryan’s been in town for a week or so and Tuesday’s our usual gig at this bar back home. Seeing as we’re here, we thought we’d do a show tonight in Vancouver.”
“Cool.”
“So...well, I’m just about to head there now and thought maybe you’d like to come and check me out...I mean us...check us out. The band.” Caleb stammered.
What? He’s nervous? Maggie thought to herself, a sly smile creeping up on her face. “Sure, I’d love to.” Maggie responded, watching Caleb’s face light up.
The two exited the studio and made their way downtown to the venue and were there in no time.
“Have you been here before?” Caleb asked Maggie as he led her through a side entrance of The Blue Room.
“Yeah, actually my friend’s boyfriend played here a couple weeks ago.”
“Really? Very cool. What’s their name?”
“Alder.”
“Seriously? I was at that show! They were great!”
All Maggie could do was smile and think what a small world. Shortly after making their way in to the club, Caleb sat Maggie at a small table to the side of the stage before he went backstage to get ready to go on. She quickly took leave for a moment, running to the washroom to do a quick once over. Her hair was up in a ponytail, most of her makeup melted off from class. Well, at least her yoga pants and tank top and hoodie combo were club appropriate, right? Scoffing, she touched up her face the best she could before ducking back out to her seat. She sat there alone for a few minutes watching the crowd of people, anticipating the show and seeing Caleb on stage rocking out. Getting lost in her thoughts didn’t last long before they were broken, or rather shattered.
“Hi!” chirped a voice standing over her.
Looking up, Maggie stared right in to the blue eyes of Blondie.
Shit.
“Uh, hi.” Maggie managed to say in as pleasant tone as possible.
Sitting down beside her, Blondie continued, “I remember you from the studio, it was Maggie, right? Caleb mentioned you being here.”
So Caleb talks about me to his girlfriend? Fantastic. Maggie thought, the voice in her head becoming more and more sarcastic. And damn her for looking cuter than her. If I had a change of clothes… Maggie found herself musing internally. Not like it mattered as he was hers, but still. Seeing Blondie stare directly at her, waiting for a response, Maggie quickly spoke. “Yeah, I’m Maggie. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Samantha, it’s nice to meet you too.”
“So, how long have you known Caleb?” Maggie asked, not knowing where that question came from, yet dying to know the answer.
“Oh, years! My brother is actually in the band with him!”
“Oh, I see. That’s great your brother and your boyfriend are so close.” Maggie stated quite quietly.
“What?!” Samantha questioned just as the music started and the crowd began to cheer.
The second the show was over, Maggie could not get out of her seat any faster. She faintly heard Samantha calling towards her, but it was mostly muffled by the crowd that was still cheering for the band that had just done their encore. As Maggie quickly turned back towards the stage, she caught the eye of Caleb who wasn’t basking in the adoration of the crowd, but rather watching her with puzzlement as she fled.
Chapter Nine
Maggie dreaded the quick passing of days that led her up to Friday this week. As she sat in the back kitchen area of her shop, she rested her head on her arms, only allowing her eyes to peak out to see the clock on the wall that told her she had ten minutes before she had to be on her way so as to not be late. Maggie’s internal questioning had been going nonstop since Tuesday night. Why had the fact that Samantha was with Caleb upset her so much? She barely knew him! This only frustrated her more knowing deep down that it meant she felt more for him and had more invested than she herself had even realized at first. But what would she say to him when she saw him? She could lie, she could make up a phoney excuse about why she had to leave, but ultimately she didn’t know if she could face him in the first place.
The buzzer of the delivery door blared through the empty kitchen, echoing, scaring Maggie out of her trance. Reaching the door, she opened it only to reveal Taylor standing there with a smile on her face. “Yay! I caught you. Awesome. Are you ready to go?”
Maggie stared at her blankly and only replied with a questioning “what?” She hadn’t seen Taylor since her birthday, with her playing roadie for Alder.
“To class, Mag. The school called and apparently they misplaced the cheque we gave them for your lessons, so I’m playing delivery person. Plus,” she added in a hushed tone, “I get to see this hot instructor of yours!” she finished with a giggle.<
br />
Maggie just groaned to herself, knowing that whatever escape route she would have been able to think up just got foiled.
Small talk filled the air as the two friends walked towards the school’s entrance, but Maggie’s mind was as far away from the conversation as it could possibly be. Maggie was back to dreading dance class and she desired anything above being there. Meeting Samantha, seeing what a sweet girl she was just made it worse. Was she just imagining that Caleb was nervous asking her to see his band play? She didn’t think so, but a guy with a girlfriend...it made her question. Even with this dread, she knew there was no way she could avoid class, especially now that Taylor was dropping her off. Hell, she felt like a five year old on her first day of kindergarten.
After stopping briefly to hand over the cheque, Taylor and Maggie headed in to the studio she had become quite familiar with. As they entered, Caleb was already there, standing in front of the stereo shirtless.
“Damn him.” Maggie cursed under her breath, praying that that didn’t come out loudly as it caused Caleb to spin around to face her.
“Hey,” he greeted her happily, but with caution, “are you okay? I saw you leave quickly after the show and wasn’t sure why.”
Maggie could see Taylor in the corner of her eye shooting her a questionable glare.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I just...”
“I needed her.” Taylor rushed out, jumping in.
Really paying her notice for the first time, Caleb turned to Taylor and extended his hand. “Caleb” he introduced.
“Taylor” she replied, taking his hand. “I’m Maggie’s friend and one-third of the reason you get to see her lovely face twice a week.” she laughed. Caleb joined in with the laughter, remembering Maggie’s disinterest in dance the first class. “Anyways,” she continued, “I had a stupid fight with my boyfriend and needed to vent, so I called Maggie. I didn’t mean for her to bail after your show. I’m sorry.”
“No, not at all.” Caleb brushed off the apology. “I’m glad she was able to be there for you.” he continued, looking over at Maggie with a smile, who forced one upon her own face in return. “Plus, I’m also glad it wasn’t because she thought our music sucked and had to flee.” he joked.
“You guys were great! I loved your music.” Maggie cut in.
“Thanks! That means a lot. I’m glad you came out and saw the show. Even if it did break your rules.” Caleb said, causing the both of them to chuckle.
“Yeah, well, I’m here to “grow” remember?”
Taylor just stood back and watched the goings on, making a mental note to grill Maggie about this later. “I should be going, I just wanted to pop in and say hi. Oh, and to pay the tuition so that Maggie can continue to be all yours.” Taylor joked. Just as Taylor had made her mental note, Maggie did her own, reminding herself to smack Taylor for that last comment.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Taylor. I hope everything worked out with you and your boyfriend.”
“Oh, yeah, we’re good.” she assured him. “It was like it never even happened.” she stated firmly, giving Maggie a knowing look as she spoke.
With that, she turned and left, leaving Maggie and Caleb alone in the studio. Caleb stood there for a moment, eyeing Maggie before breaking out in to a smile.
“You know what? I think today we should branch outside of what we’ve been doing so far then. You know, allow you to “grow” some more. How ‘bout it?”
Before she could even respond, Caleb pressed the play button on the stereo and out came Usher’s “Yeah.” Maggie couldn’t help herself and broke down laughing. Not sure what was going on, Caleb could only stare, but then found himself cracking up too.
“I can’t tell if your laughter means you like the song?” Caleb managed to choke out.
“This...is...my...jam!” Maggie managed to get out in short breaths between laughs. After she took a second to calm herself down, she continued. “I taught myself part of the dance to this song. It is basically the only song I dance to when I’m out at a club.”
Caleb didn’t say anything. He only stepped aside and motioned with his arms for her to take the center of the floor. Surprising herself, Maggie did as he wished and got to a spot in the middle of the floor and waiting for the specific part in the song to come up, and when it did, she brought it. When the song ended, Caleb just stood there looking at Maggie; this shy young woman whom had no desire to dance, whom never went out on weeknights, whom seemed reserved, shaking her ass to Usher.
“Wow.” He mused, never taking his eyes off of her. “You’re just...you surprised me.”
“Well, those are about the only moves I’ve got, so...” Maggie trailed off.
The next track on the disc started up. It was still a hip hop beat, but it was much more lyrical and soulful. Caleb made his way over to where she stood in the middle of the floor, standing behind her, he put his hands on her hips.
“What are you doing?” Maggie asked in almost a whisper.
Caleb didn’t answer with words, he just started circling his hips in rhythm with the song, his hands guiding her hips to do the same.
She could feel his hot breath on the side of her neck and ear as his head rested to the side of hers. She was in some sort of trance, not really knowing what was going on, but so wrapped up in it that she wasn’t fighting against it either. She felt one of his hands leave her hips and grab her hand, and with that he spun her out, only to pull her quickly back in so that they were now facing each other, their chests pressed firmly against each other. Maggie allowed Caleb to take control of the rhythm and the movements. They were dancing completely in sync, but it was so unlike any of the other times before. Caleb wasn’t verbally giving instructions, Maggie’s brain wasn’t closed off in concentration. No, instead, Caleb was guiding her with his hands and his own movements, and Maggie was just going along with the ride.
When the song ended and silence filled the studio, neither of them made any effort to move or separate themselves. They just stood there, their bodies entangled. Maggie looked up at Caleb and their eyes met and locked, their breathing remaining heavy. In that moment, Maggie wanted nothing more than to be bold and lean up and kiss him, but instead, her brain flashed to the weeks before when she witnessed him and Samantha in a similar position. With that, she broke the eye contact that had been burning in to her and tried to back away, but Caleb’s firm yet gentle hold on her hips couldn’t be broken.
“Maggie...” he started, his voice low and husky.
“Can you please let me go?”
Caleb looked down at her questionably and Maggie did her best to avoid his eyes. When she felt one hand move from her hips, she thought she was on her way out, but instead it drew her in even further by making its way to the side of her cheek where his smooth fingers traced along her jaw line.
Before she could even process the full extent of what was happening, Caleb tilted her chin towards him and closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was soft and sweet as Caleb pulled back slightly to see her reaction. Even though they were as close as could be, Maggie stepped even more in to him and their lips met again as they melted in to each other, their mouths moving in perfect rhythm. Finally giving in to the need for breath, they pulled apart from each other, but remained close with their foreheads touching. A sweet smile spread across Caleb’s face, one Maggie couldn’t help but return, but that honeymoon feeling was cut short with a knock at the door.
Chapter Ten
The knock at the door rattled the two to their senses and they broke apart just as Samantha entered the studio. Although they were now standing on opposite ends of the studio, Maggie was sure the situation read as though something had happened. Maggie’s mind was racing.
Something did happen; she kissed Caleb.
Caleb kissed her.
And it was awesome.
But now his girlfriend stood in the room, subsequently killing said feelings of awesomeness.
Samantha approached Caleb with
a slight smile playing across her lips and Maggie noticed Caleb’s lips turning in to a similar pattern.
How could they both be so cool and casual about this? Maggie thought to herself.
In the scene the continued to play out before her, Samantha brought a CD out of her bag and handed it to Caleb, leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. The only response he gave was a nod, followed by a bigger smile than that that was making an appearance earlier. Turning to Maggie, Samantha smiled equally big and left the room as quickly as she had entered. When the door closed, Maggie let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding and felt her chest fall.
Caleb put the CD on the stereo and came back over to where Maggie now stood. Before she knew it, his hands were around her waist once again and in the enjoyment of the contact, it took her a split second longer to realize what had just happened and she pulled away as fast as she could.
“What’s wrong?” Caleb questioned, a little surprised at the change in her demeanour.
“What’s wrong?” Maggie answered back sharply. “Samantha almost catches us kissing and you ask me what is wrong?!”
“Uh...yes?” Caleb mused, not really sure why she was having a problem.
“She’s your girlfriend, Caleb!”
“My what?!” Caleb asked as a look of confusion spread across his face. “How did I miss that memo.”
“This isn’t time for jokes!” Maggie quipped back.
“I’m not joking!” Caleb stated, defending himself. “Do you really think I would kiss you like that if I had a girlfriend? I’m not that type of guy.”
Maggie just looked at him before hanging her head and saying, mostly to herself, “it wouldn’t be the first time someone you didn’t expect cheated.”
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