Right in Time (3 page)

“Okay,” piped up Alexis, “this year we decided to go together on a present for you.  So, this is from the three of us.” Reaching in to her purse, Alexis pulled out a sparkly yellow envelope that Maggie quickly grabbed, excited to see its contents.  As she opened the flap, revealing the gift, her heart, and probably her face, dropped.

“Shit.
She doesn’t like it.” Callie cut in.

“You guys bought m
e dance lessons.” Maggie choked out.

“
Remember the other night we talked about you getting out there? Shaking your money maker?”

“Taylor, I thought you were kidding!”
Maggie was quick to reply.

“Well, okay, maybe you don’t want to go out shaking your ass, but come on, I think it will be good for you.  It’ll be great exercise, first off, and second maybe it will help you get out there.  And I mean that in more ways than one.”  The
last sentence Taylor said barely above a whisper, but Maggie heard her loud and clear.  “You just moved back in to the city.  You should look at everything as a fresh start. And nothing screams fresh start more than tackling something new!”

As she took her eyes off of the gift certificate that lay in the envelope, she looked each one of her friends square in the eye.  They all said the same thing and she knew she wasn’t getting out of this.  When she finally gave in to their resolve, Taylor clapped her hands together in excitement.  “Yes!  Now, don’t think because I’m going to be gone for 2 weeks that you can just skip.  Lexi and Cal have promised me they’re going to be on your ass about going.  Plus, I expect updates every Tuesday and Friday about your new moves, k?”  Maggie could only stare back at her. 
Great
, she thought to herself sarcastically,
this is going to fun.

Chapter Six

6:50pm was what stared back at her on her watch as she stood in front of the large brick building that, according to the sign, housed her impending doom. 

“Generic Dance” appeared in bold blue letters on the door and following one last deep breath, she opened it and went on through.  After going up the two flights of stairs at a snail’s pace, Maggie begrudgingly approached the young girl at the reception desk.

“Hi, welcome to Generic Dance Center, how can I help you?” the girl asked in an overly perky tone.  Now usually, Maggie would haven’t even noticed as she is quite fantastically perky herself, but being forced to dance against her will was definitely top on the list of things that would cause her to throw perky out the window.

“Yeah, my friends signed me up for some sort of c
lasses for my birthday.”

“Oh, you must be
Maggie Sloan!” the girl replied after checking her notes.  “We’ve got you in Studio Three with Caleb.  Just down the hall, first door on the left.”

With that, Maggie headed off to the designated door, opening it to reveal an empty dance studio.  There was nothing there except her, hardwood floors, a ballet bar, stereo, and mirrors. 

“What the...”
Maggie thought out loud until she heard the door open behind her, causing her to spin around. 

There she came face to face with a beautiful man and she felt that everything around her stopped. This was the first time that had happened since Thomas.  A fact that Maggie became aware of that fact quite quickly as she shook herself out of her stupor and asked if she was too early. 

Caleb
took the duffel bag he had been carrying off his shoulder with a laugh.  “No, you’re good.  Ready to get started?”

“Aren’t we waiting for the others?”
Maggie asked, unsure.

“Others? You’ve booked the private lessons.”

And with that,
Maggie’s jaw literally dropped.  Faster than her feet could carry her, she excused herself and walked out of the studio and in to the door marked ‘Ladies Room,’ whipping her phone out.  Going to her contacts, she hit send on the first name she came to; Alexis.

“Private lessons?!”
Maggie screamed at Alexis when she picked up.

“Yeah, um...surprise
!?”  Dead silence was all that met her.  “Seriously, regular classes didn’t fit in with your baking schedule.  Plus, this way, we thought you’d be less timid and more willing to try the steps and such.”  There was a pause on the other end of the line as Maggie contemplated what Alexis was saying, trying to calm herself down.  “Please don’t hate us.” Alexis added in, probably complete with puppy dog eyes.

“Ugh, fine.”
Maggie said and hung up without a good bye.  She wasn’t herself today.  She was forced to do something she had absolutely no desire in doing. 

Caleb, you may be pretty, but beware; she was on a war path.

Maggie quietly slipped back in to the studio to find Caleb standing at the stereo with his back towards her.  If he was what she was to face every lesson then maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she thought.  There he stood, tall and muscular, but not bulky.  He was wearing a black wife-beater tank top and well-fitting sweatpants. 
Very
well fitting sweatpants she noted as he turned around to face her.  His light ivory skin contrasted nicely with his dark brown hair which was sticking up ever-so-slightly as it must have got rustled when he took of his sweatshirt, and his light brown eyes met hers as he broke in to a large smile.  His jawline was strong, yet the lines bore a softness that was calling out to be traced with her fingers. 

“Everything okay?” he asked casually.  All
Maggie could do was nod, and Caleb took this as a sign for him to continue.  “Great. Well, I’m Caleb, your instructor.  So, what types of dance are you interested in?”

“None.”
Maggie replied bluntly and honestly.

Taken slightly aback,
Caleb responded “Can I ask why you’re taking dance lessons then?”

“Because my friends signed me up for them as a birthday present.  Th
ey think it will help me...grow.”

“Ah, so you’re here against your will?”

“Basically.  Sorry, no offence.”

“None taken.”
Caleb laughed. 

Wow, he had a great
laugh
, Maggie thought to herself. 
Stop it!
she scolded herself internally.  “Um, what types of dance do you teach?” Maggie asked aloud to continue the conversation, but to also get her mind off how attracted she was to him.

“Everything really. 
Ballroom is my specialty, but that covers a lot too; from tango to salsa to the waltz, etcetera.  But I can also break it down if you’re up for hip hop.  We cover it all.”

“Is that why your studio is called ‘Generic Dance’?”

Caleb laughed in response to this. “Yeah, see, I’m not the best at coming up with names for things.  We teach it all, so...Generic it was.  Lame, right?  What can you expect; my pet cat growing up was called ‘Cat.’”

“No, not
lame at all.  Just...generic.”  Maggie responded with a slight lilt in her voice.

“
Touché” laughed Caleb, causing Maggie to break her tension and crack a smile herself.

Just then, Caleb pressed a button on the stereo behind him and a fun, familiar tune came blaring out.  Caleb stepped towards Maggie and took her hand in his and put his other on her waist and held her close. 

My God, he smells good!
Maggie mused. 
Stop it, bad Maggie!
she scolded herself once again. 

As
Caleb looked down at Maggie with a smile on his face, she couldn’t help but thinking that this could be trouble.  As they began to dance what turned out to be the Patty Cake Polka, reminiscent of high school gym class (“Hey, it’ll help get you in the rhythm while having fun with something familiar!” Caleb told her), Maggie found herself having fun and looking forward to her next class.  She just wasn’t sure yet if that was because of the dance, or the instructor.

Chapter Seven

Wednesday and Thursday; the days following her first lesson, dragged on for Maggie.  She wasn’t sure why however, but when Friday rolled around the answer became crystal clear.  This Friday was one of the busiest days that month as she had a birthday cake delivery for tomorrow and another order that was to be picked up right before she had to leave for class. 

Ah, class; the reason why time moved so slowly. 

With two large cake orders to fill, she would usually be stressed for time and panicked over getting everything down, but she was on top of her game.  The cakes were executed exquisitely, as usual, and done earlier than expected, leaving Maggie time to sit and count down the hours until their pick-up.

Just as she was saying good bye to the gentleman who came for his cake, Maggie quickly rushed to the back to make sure everything was turned off, flicked the lights off, and ran out the door, turning to lock it behind her.  Fumbling with her keys in the process slowed Maggie down as her brain took a moment of pause.

“What am I doing?  It’s just a stupid dance c
lass.  Calm down, Maggie.” she told herself as she finally managed to accomplish the simple task of locking the shop. 

Maggie was known to be smitten easily, but ever since Thomas, she was a much harder egg to crack. But even she had to admit that there was something about Caleb that had her wanting more.  When she spoke with her friends following the first class, of course the three of them asked about the instructor.  Turns out they saw his picture online when they Googled local dance studios and Caleb was their selling point.  Maggie couldn’t help but giggle at this admission, but she still held back any thoughts of her attraction to him, simply noting that he was definitely attractive (something a blind man could see!) and leaving it at that.  Maggie wasn’t sure what her heart and head were telling her.  Maybe she was just lonely.  All she knew was that there was something there, but it was certainly too soon to start fantasizing about a future or anything like that.  However, the fantasizing in general couldn’t be ignored; she was a woman after all!  Anything else would just happen with time, if at all.  Heck, she didn’t even know if he was interested in her.  He could have a girlfriend or a wife even...or maybe a boyfriend!

As Maggie walked up
the stairs to the studio, she waved hello to the girl behind the desk, more tolerable to her perkiness now that she knew what was waiting for her on the other side of the door to Studio Three.  When she entered she saw Caleb with his arms around a tall, leggy blonde.  She wore a sports bra and booty shorts that only helped to accentuate how perky her ass still was. 

“Wait until gravity and cellulite say hello” Maggie couldn’t help cursing to herself before her eyes drifted up to theirs.  Just as Caleb finished dipping her, he whipped her up in a swift move that brought their faces together, their foreheads and noses pressed against each other. 
Just as the music that was blasting out of the stereo came to its final notes, they pulled each other even closer as Caleb put his hand to her face as their bodies clung to each other.  She could see them breathing heavy and felt a heat rush over herself, followed by feeling slightly awkward as if she were walking in on something she shouldn’t have seen, all the while secretly thinking “I want to learn how to do that!” 

Just as she turned on her heels to go, Caleb’s voice stopped her in her tracks.  “Maggie! Hey, sorry, we ran a few minutes over.”

Maggie
turned back to face the couple who were now in their own personal spaces.  She went to speak only to realize that her throat had gone amazingly dry.  Clearing it, she responded quickly and quietly that it was no problem at all.  She watched with lowered eyes as the blonde went to give Caleb a kiss on the cheek and headed her direction to grab her bag.  “Sorry for cutting in to your time.”

“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?