Dmitri had watched his dancers closely in the semifinal. This time he watched their competitors, taking notes in his program as if he were a judge. Patrick noticed, but said nothing. There wasn’t a moment to spare for conversation. He was watching and taking notes in his own less technical way. One couple was, perhaps, stronger in the cha-cha. No-one was better in the rumba. In the samba, there was a near-collision with another couple taking advantage of the open space on the floor. Both couples handled it well. Then it was paso doble, a dance Hiro had always excelled at. He’d been challenged, too, by working in the same studio with Sam and Mateo. Sam might have been an amateur – technically – but his understanding of this dance was bone-deep. Hiro had watched and learned. Patrick had no doubt he and Anya would win this dance. He wasn’t so sure about the jive. He knew Anya didn’t like it. But her speed and precision tonight were world-class. When the final group left the floor, he leaned back in his seat and looked at Dmitri again. “Is good?”
“Is good.” Privately, Dmitri thought Hiro and Anya should place fourth. It would be a more than respectable result; better than expected, really, since she was so new to the ballroom world. But until the awards were given, there was nothing but hope. Some judges wanted to test a returning champion, and it had been many years since Hiro had been in the Rising Star division. “What did you think, cheri?” They compared notes. Patrick would have said ‘third place,’ but he couldn’t complain about fourth. He would, however, be annoyed if their dancers placed lower.
He didn’t have to be annoyed. “I’m texting Elena and Tony,” he said at the end of the evening. “He’ll be sorry he missed this.”
“They can find video online,” Dmitri said, amused. He watched Patrick now; he was sending more than one text. Almost everyone was in the room with them, and it was a bit early to chat with Italy. Then he remembered baby Patrizia, who probably was not a respecter of civilized hours.
“Elena says tell them well done, and when will they go to Blackpool.” Patrick loved Dmitri’s quick smile. He saw it so much more often now. Thank God for these people, he thought. There were some major bumps to get over in the past two years. Loss and fear and change. But they had a new year to look forward to. The studio was thriving. It was, in fact, doing almost too well. Dmitri was speaking with Hiro and Anya now. Anya was leaning on Terry, his arm around her waist and hers wrapped over it. Hiro had his arm around Kristine. The various friends and family were coming down from the risers. It was the end of another evening, but not just another. They’d already talked about the next evolution. For Shall We Dance, for the Underground Cabaret, and for themselves. Patrick put his phone away and went to stand by his husband’s side.
Chapter 14
December 2018
“You know,” Patrick said while they were getting dressed, “somehow I never believed hey, this means we get to go to a red-carpet premiere.” Dmitri smiled, fastening his bow tie. “I was like, okay, a movie. You worked on movies before. And then I was like, okay, I’m in the movie, what the fuck.” Dmitri stifled a laugh. “And then she sold the movie, and now there’s this. God, you look good in a tux.”
“You as well.” Dmitri kissed him. He thought Patrick looked better than he did himself. Still trim and fit (despite his kvetching about the gym, he went regularly) and with that majestic head of hair. Dmitri smoothed his back with a mental shrug. The brown had faded with time; soon it would be nearly indistinguishable from the gray. At least his eyebrows were still dark. They checked each other over one more time before going out to the waiting car. “Is strange,” Dmitri said once they were under way.
“Yes, it is strange.” They were in the group being provided with town cars, because of their multiple contributions to the film. Dmitri danced in several scenes, as well as the mobs; he helped cast the rest of the dancers; he helped with choreography, and furnished rehearsal space. Patrick danced in the mobs and helped fund the project’s Kickstarter. Plus, of course, they were close personal friends of four of the movie’s six stars. “Victor looked great last week. Andy said they’ve been dancing again. Are they dancing tonight?” Dmitri made a non-committal sound. “Not officially, huh. I’ll bet they do something on the red carpet.”
If so, they missed seeing it. They walked down the red carpet hand-in-hand, stopped to pose for the press and to wave to the long line of ticket-holders stretching down the block. But everyone saw the impromptu re-creation of a number from the film involving all six stars, after the screening and the Q&A. “He will not stop again,” Dmitri said later, as they waited for their car to come up in the queue of other shiny black livery vehicles.
“Andy? Yeah, I think you’re right. He tried to be done with dancing, but after this there’s no way.” The movie, called ‘The Ghost of Carlos Gardel,’ was wall-to-wall tango. Patrick was still thinking about the number Andy and Victor danced together, a representation of the fight their characters had right before a fatal plane crash. Dmitri had been on set when it was filmed, and told Patrick it was ‘mad genius violence.’ At the rough cut screening, Patrick had mostly noticed the violence. This time he saw the genius. “Are they officially dancing on the tour?”
Part of the movie deal was that Andy and Victor would do a promotional tour for the film’s overseas release. That would begin immediately after they wrapped their parts – for good – on the TV show. They were going out with a bang. A car bomb would end their run on the series, in a way that made it impossible for either of their characters to be resurrected. To be on tour was – Andy said – going to be like a six-week vacation. Dmitri was positive they’d be dancing on the tour, but he didn’t know if it was official. “If they come to milonga tonight, we can ask.”
“Oh honey, no way are they going to be there. They’ll be going straight home to fool around.” Dmitri snorted. Patrick grinned. “I’d be in favor of that myself, but I know everybody else in the goddamned thing is going to be at the studio for your little after-party. It’s fine.” After tonight, Shall We Dance would be closed for three weeks. It was the traditional off-period for group classes and private lessons, with the floor open only for Cabaret rehearsals. Plus they were having the place re-painted, and doing some other minor renovations. Patrick didn’t even mind missing their usual year-end vacation. He was looking forward to seeing the last Cabaret show of the year. Dmitri and Michelle were going to perform ‘The Christmas Waltz’ with Vince and Kelli.
During all that downtime, Patrick knew Dmitri would be home a lot. Since Patrick had spent the second half of the year transitioning all his less-interesting clients to others in the firm, he’d be home a lot too. And their master suite was well separated from the rooms they were loaning Hiro, Kristine, and their baby Kaito while Dana’s big house got remodeled.
Dmitri knew exactly what Patrick was thinking. He could tell, while they were dancing, with Patrick’s hand behind his neck and their faces close together. Neither of them was paying the slightest attention to the others on the dance floor. They didn’t have to. He said those soft Ukrainian words that meant ‘I love you,’ and heard them from his husband. He turned his head for a kiss.
“God, Dmitri,” Patrick said after a few minutes. “Could we ask Vince to close up, so we can go home?”
One more kiss, then, “Yes.” Dmitri raised his head and looked around. Vince was dancing with Kelli not far away. They made eye contact; Dmitri tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, making the slightest gesture toward the back door. Vince smiled and nodded. Dmitri kept his arm around Patrick, and headed for the exit.
They let the town car take them home. It was late, and the house was quiet. They went up to their room and closed the door, undressing in silence, eyes on each other. Then washing up, bringing glasses of water into the bedroom, and pulling down the quilt. Dmitri could tell it was going to be one of those nights, when even Patrick would be quiet, and they would make love for a long time. Make it last as long as they could, make their bodies sing a prayer of thanks for this miracle o
f love.
Much later, Patrick was asleep with his head on Dmitri’s shoulder. Dmitri had one hand in his husband’s hair; the other lightly stroked Patrick’s arm, lying across his own chest. Soon he would sleep too. For now, he thought about the coming years. Vince and Michelle would take the title next November; he was sure of it. They would be careful, they would pace themselves. They would avoid injury. They would make a new show dance. Perhaps he would help. The year after, they would – God willing – win again, and they would stop. He knew they would both be happy to call it ‘done’ with two titles.
And then … what? The house would be paid for. The studio would be flourishing. Dmitri would be sixty-one, and Patrick sixty-five. Perhaps he would wish to retire. Even if not, Dmitri knew, he would never again work the long hours of years past. Nor would Dmitri. He would ask Vince and Michelle, next November. Ask them to take charge of Shall We Dance after they had that second title. To work with Hiro, and Mateo, and Anya. With Tomás and Richard and the rest of the dance family. So that he could devote himself to Patrick more than ever before. “I am for you,” he said very softly, with a kiss on Patrick’s forehead. Only for you.
Then it was the morning. The scents of coffee and bacon drifted up the stairs; Kristine was in the kitchen. She would go to work later at Kenji’s shop, taking Kaito with her. Hiro would be in the studio, working with one or another partner. Dmitri and Patrick were taking the day off. One of many, during this slow period, though ‘off’ would undoubtedly involve walks to Shall We Dance to supervise the renovations. Dmitri would have rehearsals. Patrick would have the usual work email to deal with.
He woke up slowly, stretched, opened his eyes to find Dmitri gazing at him. “Good morning sweetheart.”
“Bonjour.”
“Sleep well?”
“Mmm.” So well that he wanted to make love. He shifted close, nuzzled Patrick’s neck, ran a hand down his body.
“Oh I see. Okay. Wait, stop.” Patrick was giggling. “Be right back.” He scrambled out of bed and went to freshen up. They made it downstairs for breakfast about thirty minutes later.
Sitting at the breakfast bar with a second cup of coffee, Patrick glanced at his phone, decided to ignore his email for the day, and asked, “So what will twenty nineteen look like? Do you want to go to Ukraine again? Your mom sounded great on the phone but, you know. And you have a grand-niece now.”
That was an amazing thought. “In July?”
“For our next anniversary? Great idea, honey. I know we’re not going to want to miss whatever the Cabaret does in June. Are you going to do something?” The year’s themes were already posted; in June, it was ‘Rodeo.’ Patrick could only imagine what that was going to end up looking like.
Dmitri thought about it for a minute. This wouldn’t be the first time the Cabaret used country or western music, but it wasn’t a genre he used very much himself. “I will ask Vince to find music.” He was the best in the studio at finding unusual tracks that produced great dances.
Patrick was smiling. “And then who will you dance with.” Dmitri gave him a sly look that said ‘maybe you.’ “Oh hell no. Not a chance. Seriously no. Get your music and I’ll go through the list and find you a partner, if Vince doesn’t do that too.”
Dmitri knew Patrick wouldn’t perform with him. The hint wasn’t remotely serious. It was because he wanted his precious, beautiful husband to know that no matter who Dmitri danced with, there was only one perfect partner for him. He touched Patrick’s face, rubbing a thumb across the grizzled stubble, and said, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Patrick slid off the barstool, took a step, and wrapped his arms around Dmitri. “Always you.”
“Only you.”
THE END
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By the same author:
The L.A. Stories (Novellas)
Getting Off – Vicky & Sharon’s story
All the Bars on Sunset – Vince & Kelli’s story
Chrome – Michelle & Kenji’s story
The Continental – Elena & Tony’s story
Chai at Midnight – Tyrone & Indira’s story
Speed Date – Danny & Kate’s story
Set Dressing – Lucy & Nick’s story
Mating Dance – Ray & Julia’s story
Benchwork – Charlene & Juan’s story
Vintage – James & Silvia’s story
The Whole Truth – Stella & Frank’s story
Toward Love – Cameron & Marco’s story
Green Man Walking – Red & Mary’s story
A Random Sequence – Linda & Diego’s story
Drawn Out – Tina & Reza’s story
Stripped – Rory & Dana’s story
Illusion – Lesley & Yoshi’s story
When It’s Time – Hiro & Kristine’s story
Shaken & Stirred – Anya & Terry’s story
Overboard – Luis & Ricky’s story
Breathing Space – Paul & Kevin’s story
Torch – Tomás & Rosa’s story
Lift – Zach & Karen’s story
Revved Up – Rita & Dexter’s story
A Secret Chord – Janis & Niall’s story
Here to Stay – Gino & Sergei’s story
No More Words – Max & Anton’s story
Take a Note – Kathy & Scott’s story
L.A. Stories Novels
Exposure (featuring Andy Martin & Victor Garcia)
The Ghost of Carlos Gardel (featuring Andy Martin & Victor Garcia)
Never Enough (featuring Andy Martin & Victor Garcia)
Beat (featuring Sam Lee & Mateo de la Cruz)
Face the Music (featuring Paula Ross & Mike Borodin)
Take Everything (featuring Willem van der Meer & Richard Hollister)
Today, Tomorrow and Forever (featuring Grace Hart & Lucas Gutierrez)
Million Dollar Death (featuring Tanith Salazar & Ysidro Palacio)
A Few Kisses Ago (featuring Tasha Jefferson & Sandesh Prasad)
A Braid of Love (featuring Janis Vaughn, Niall Phelps, & Geoffrey Anand)
Lost & Found (featuring Charlotte Montgomery & Sacha Lebedev)
A Winning Hand (featuring Gloria Louise Bartolo & Lou Kravitz)
Nonfiction
Other Voices: Social Commentary in the Novels of Frances Burney
Drama
What Went Down
www.thelastories.com
Change Partners (The L.A. Stories) Page 25
