by J. Naomi Ay
“Are you okay, honey?” I moved closer. “I worry about you all the time.”
He reached over and took Katie's hand.
“I am very good, Shelly,” he said slowly. “You do not need to worry about me anymore.”
I laughed. “You should see the pink rose bush and apple tree we have growing at our house now. They are enormous and always covered in flowers and apples.”
“Really?” Katie asked. “What kind are they?”
HIM smiled. “Shoelace.”
“Shoelace Roses or Shoelace Apples? I’ve never heard of either of that kind.”
“Both,” he replied. “They are a new genus created just for Shelly.”
“That's great?” Katie asked as he waved at us to leave.
“Let's go now.” He started to rise.
“Why?” Katie protested. “It's still early.”
“I want to leave.” He stood up, and everyone stood still. “Don't mind me. Play some music.” He waved at the orchestra. The orchestra started a nice dance number as Tim guided me back to our table. Berkan and Luci, Taner and Caroline, Jerry and Janet were out dancing. Only Thad and Gina were sitting at the table, and Gina was pouting because HIM didn't call them up.
“Come on, let's dance a little,” Katie said. “We'll go really slowly so even you can keep up.”
“No,” HIM replied. “Wave goodbye. Let's go to bed.”
“Are you tired?”
“No, but I don't like dancing. I want to go to bed.”
“Dancing is fun,” Katie insisted, pulling him toward the floor. “Just for a minute?” She put her hand on his shoulder and placed his arm around her waist. “Now I'll lead to start with until you get the rhythm.” She looked down at his feet. “You're not wearing shoes. How can you dance if you don't have shoes on?”
“Damn! I can't dance because I don't have shoes. We shall have to leave instead.”
“I'm going to teach you how to dance,” Katie persisted. “Shoes or no shoes. Now step with me, one two three.”
“Why are you leading? I thought I was the Emperor.”
“Ha ha, very funny,” she laughed. “One two three, see you're getting it!”
All of a sudden, a huge gust of wind blew across the terrace and extinguished all the candles. Immediately, after that, a cloud covered the moons and it began to rain.
“Damn!” HIM said again. “I guess the dance is over.”
“Now stop that,” Katie cried. “You're ruining my party. All I asked for is one dance and then…” She pulled his head down and whispered in his ear.
“Oh? Alright then.” He waved his hand. All the candles flared up, and rain stopped. The band started a new song.
“Actually, I do know how to dance,” HIM said, twirling Katie around. She gasped in surprise. “Look how well Berkie dances. I could dance as well as he if I had a decent leg. How many endless hours of dancing lessons did we have, Berkie?”
“Thousands, Sir.” Berkan waltzed past them.
“Can I lead now?” HIM spun Katie again.
“I seem to remember that Berkie was the only one dancing during those lessons,” Taner interrupted, waltzing by with Caroline. “Do you recall, Berkie, if Senya was dancing, or was he pouting in a chair most of the time?”
“He was pouting in a chair all of the time,” Berkan reported. “While I danced for hours with that nasty woman. I don't believe he ever danced with her once.”
“Well, I never wore a ridiculous bow tie either,” HIM retorted, dipping Katie back.
“At least I had shoes on. Shoes and a bow tie,” Berkan told Luci.
“I bet you looked adorable,” Luci said.
“Katie and I used to go dancing all the time,” Caroline said. “We had a disco on board the ship and spent practically every Saturday night there. Remember, Jerry?”
“I do,” Jerry replied. “Katie is a great dancer.”
“Thank you, Jerry,” Katie giggled coming back up for air.
“What about thank you, Senya?” HIM asked.
“Thank you for the dance, Senya,” Katie said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“You're welcome,” he replied and the song ended. Before another one began, HIM took Katie’s hand and headed toward the steps down to the beach.
“Have you got a cig, Taner?” he called over his shoulder.
“Sorry, Sir,” Taner replied. “I gave up smoking. Heart issues, you know.”
“I’ll use mine then.” HIM held a cigarette in his hand. He curled his fist and now there was a ball of silver light. With a flick, he tossed it into the evening sky. The ball soared up like a bolt of lightning in reverse, breaking apart the clouds and letting a billion stars shine through. Then it became a comet shooting among the stars and exploding into a million multi-colored sparks of light like a great pyrotechnic rocket. A rainbow of light hung there in the sky flickering and shining down upon us, illuminating the whole Universe.
“Wow!” we gasped breathlessly gazing at the sky.
“You did it again, Senya,” Taner said.
“I have indeed," Senya replied. "In more ways than you shall ever know." As he and Katie disappeared down the steps and around the corner of the building, I could have sworn I saw a halo of silver light encircling them.
"Do you see that?" I asked Tim.
"What?"
"That…that." I pointed at nothing. "Never mind. Maybe I've had too much to drink."
“Would you care to dance, Dr. Mattson?” Tim asked, rising from his seat and holding out his hand.
“I would love to, Admiral,” I replied. The orchestra resumed playing and the dance floor filled up again as I took my husband’s hand and together, we danced the night away under the stars and two moons of Rehnor.
The adventure continues in
Golden's Quest
The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 6.
Find it on Amazon.com at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008YH72NE
To stay up to date on my new releases, find me online at:
www.jnaomiay.com
www.facebook.com/jnaomiay
Join my mailing list at
http://eepurl.com/bLz0lT
