Wanna Dance

I stood across the dance floor staring at her. All my friends had found girls and deserted me to the slow poison called liquor. She stared back. She too I had noticed had come with friends but there was something about the way she stared…it wasn’t right. She was smiling though, enjoying the music silently and humming the tune. I on the other hand the true sport that I was, danced alone. I had had my offers to dance for the day but I guess my heart wasn’t in for just another dance. My friends waved mockingly behind their dates’ backs. The whisky was doing its trick; I couldn’t stop, I drunk till I couldn’t drink anymore. Then in the trance of alcohol hypnotized by the music I walked up to her.
For a while I didn’t know what to say. Her smile was fading. Without a thought I said
“Wanna dance?”
Now the smile was completely gone, she wasn’t even looking at me. To say the least she was confused.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on what can possibly go wrong?”
I could see she was thinking about it.
“You sure? You seem drunk!”
“Yup I am!”
Precisely at that instant on public request (as I gathered later) pop was given a rest and a slow romantic tune started playing.
“Come on!”
Vaguely pleased she got up. That was all I needed.
Holding her hand I guided her to the dance floor. With her hands on my shoulders, mine on her hips we started dancing.
Slow and steady
She started talking but I guess I was too intoxicated to listen. I could hear her voice. It was sweet and melancholy but I couldn’t understand a word she was saying.
“I am sorry, I can’t hear you. Can we talk later?”
My eyes were on the verge of closing so I couldn’t read her face but she kept dancing so I presumed she didn’t mind.
For a while we swayed on the spot like the trees sway in the wind. I could feel her breath on my shoulder, eyes closed mind at peace, brain-dead it was one of the best moments of my solitary life. The pace of the music was raised just a little. Lazily I opened one eye just to look at her. God she was beautiful. Nice bread brown eyes sensual lips chubby cheeks ….cutie pie. She was a head shorter than me but I guess the heels made up for that. For the first time I noticed, we were alone on the dance floor. Everyone was watching mesmerized. By now my eyes were wide open I looked at everybody reading their minds. I am a master at that. Reading those momentary expressions normal people miss. So I had sensed what was happening, me dancing with a girl everyone barring my envious cursing friends surprised and her friends shock stricken. Yet I wasn’t unnerved the happiness of the being in front of me was too great. Matching the pace of the rhythm we started moving. She was a little wrong footed initially but as she got as caught up in the flow as I was our bodies moved like one single being gracefully and magnificently. In the glow of the night I whispered
“You dance quite well.”
For a tiny instant she met my eyes and I knew she was as taken by me as I was by her. Somehow she muttered thanks. Her name was Alice. When we finally broke up I can’t explain how unhappy I was as if something inside me had died. As she started walking away the only thing that came up from my heart to my mouth was
“Will you come again tomorrow?”
She turned for a moment obviously delighted and then stood there. The blissful aroma surrounding her was lost and out of the blue she was on the verge of tears. Her friends came rushing around her hugging her consoling her. I was flabbergasted. What was going on?
In my pitiable drunken state I still hadn’t realized that the girl I had shared the finest moments of my existence with was blind.