Chapter 26

Monday night. Stan was late — he'd been pulled into a 'five to five' meeting with Percy, much to his annoyance - and didn't get home until well after his normal time. He hurried, but Anne still rang his doorbell before he'd finished getting dressed.

"Come in, Anne!" he called, and Anne used her key to open the door. She found Stan sitting at the bottom of the stairs, bare-chested, with one sock on and trying to get the other one on his still-damp foot. She couldn't help but laugh, and Stan saw the funny side too, but they were late leaving.

Anne provided the solution - she drove. Well, that is to say, Anne piloted her car. She seemed unaffected by Stan's grimaces, the tension in his arms or the frequent use of the non-existent brake pedal his foot was continually searching for.

On the other hand, Stan had to admit that Anne drove with great skill. Even in the gathering gloom of a mid-September evening the car was expertly placed in exactly the right place at all times. Anne didn't even have to exceed the speed limits — much.

They arrived at the school a few minutes early. Stan sighed theatrically and Anne turned to him and said sweetly, "That's how you drive a sports car, Stan. I told you we'd get here in time!"

Stan was wise enough not to make any further comment.

They walked in through the main entrance and were greeted by Yves. Stan was pleased and relieved to find that the greeting was just as warm as always. Anne's black-and-gold dress that she wore again may have had something to do with it, but Stan imagined Yves was too professional to pay too much attention to that.

They went through the normal formalities and Yves invited them through. His one concession to the previous week was when he told Anne, quietly, "Miss Bottomley and Mr. Orbison are here already." He said no more, merely gesturing them on.

Stan let Anne go in front of him through the doorway into the hall, and they both looked to see who was there. Stan quickly located Tom and Denise, to their left, and was a little surprised to see Denise catch his eye and nod slightly. Tom merely gave him one of his trademark smirks.

Having found Denise and Tom on the left, Stan wasn't surprised to see Pamela on the other side. She greeted Stan warmly, and gave Anne a peck on the cheek. Belinda was there as well, in the middle of the hall, preparing music.

Yves entered the hall and moved to Belinda, exchanging a few words. Then, before he began the lesson, Yves addressed them all.

"The Tango is a very passionate dance, in its original form it was about prostitutes and their pimps, very, very sexual. It's progressed since then of course, but still, it's full of emotion and sensuality, of exaggerated moves and, yes, plain lust." He nodded at them all as he finished that last part.

"Now, in this beginner's class we're only going to teach the basic moves, what we call the Eight-Count Basic. This is actually technically American Tango, not the international ballroom type, but since I doubt any of you are expecting to compete in the next two weeks, that won't matter, and it's easier, we think, to learn — and to teach!"

"But remember, everyone," interjected Belinda, "the Tango is theatre, you have to let yourselves go, to feel it. That's why we teach it last, so that you're already used to dance, to movement. Now, I think we're ready to start?"

Before the lesson proper began, Yves came over to Stan and Anne, and spoke to them.

"I hope you realize that with you four we're taking a bit of a chance, hmm? This is a dance step that requires emotion; but it has to be controlled emotion. Please, no repetition, yes?"

Anne nodded, and Stan told him "That's fine, Yves. There'll be no problems."

Stan looked over and saw that Belinda was talking to Tom and Denise, who had serious faces of their own. It appeared that they'd received a similar message.

Yves and Belinda showed the class how to Tango. Eight-Count Basic Tango is the classic 'slow, slow, quick-quick, slow' that everyone's heard of. It's actually more like 'walk, walk, step-step-together', but it's not the steps, it's the character of the dance that's important. Feet are picked up and placed onto the floor using a sharp staccato action. Sway, rise & fall, and continuous body flight should be avoided; they aren't in character with the dance.

Stan found it difficult. Not the steps, they were easy once he'd got used to it, but relaxing into it, letting his body lead. Belinda came and partnered him for a while, and with her encouragement and gentle persuasion he began to see, and feel, what was needed.

At one point he was able to spare a glance when Anne, partnered by a guy Stan didn't know well but who'd been to each of the lessons, danced across their path. She was clearly enjoying herself, but didn't look much more comfortable than Stan.

At the break, Anne said to Stan, "I'd thought with the ballet that this would be easy. It's not — I just find it difficult to get the right balance of tension and relaxation, I think."

"You've been thinking about it, haven't you? That's my Anne, analysing everything," Stan replied with a smile.

"Hey, it helps if you can think, you know!"

Stan and Anne hadn't actively avoided Tom and Denise, but it certainly seemed to have turned out that way. Stan stole a glance over towards the pair, to find Tom standing next to Denise, one hand resting on her hip, while Denise was in agitated conversation with another lady. Denise looked happy, and Stan was pleased to see that.

He didn't notice Anne watching him.

The second half of the lesson was very much like a repeat of the first. Stan still found it hard to get the right snap to his moves, while Anne was, herself, getting a little frustrated.

Towards the end Stan and Anne were able to partner each other. Stan found that dancing the Tango with someone who you connect with was a greater experience than even dancing with Belinda. They blended better together, and Stan was even able to execute a snappy layback at the end. They stood and clapped with everyone as Belinda and Yves showed how thrillingly it could be done, then wished everyone a good night and hurried out to Anne's car.

They passed Denise and Tom on the way out. Stan noticed that Denise looked happy and a little flushed.

Tom had a wolf's smile.

Anne was ahead of him, pulling his arm, so Stan couldn't stop to ask Denise anything. Not that he could think what to ask, just that he wanted to ask her something...

But then he was outside in the cooler air. Anne, laughing, pulled him to her car, almost running to it.

Anne drove home quickly. Stan was, again, tense and a little white knuckled, but they got to his house in a very short time. He was a bit surprised when Anne turned the engine off and got out with him, but got the idea when she leant close and told him in a low purr, "Inside, Stan. Now!"

She quickly walked up the path. Stan fumbled in his pocket for the key, only to see Anne holding up her shiny new one, and unlock the door.

"Fix us some drinks while I freshen up, please, Stan?" she called as she walked quickly up the stairs.

Stan went to the kitchen and got some glasses and a bottle of white wine from the fridge. "I've only got a cheap Frascati, Anne!" he called, but Anne didn't answer, so he shrugged and put it on a tray anyway along with a shot glass and a tumbler of water.

In the living room Stan went to his drinks cabinet. 'I fancy a change' he thought to himself. He selected a Talisker, from the Isle of Skye.

He went to the stereo and put on something new he'd found, the eponymously titled "Wolfmother". The hard edged rock poured out of the speakers, and he turned the volume down, caught between wishing he could turn it up and wishing Anne would be here.

Then there she was... her hands came around from behind him to embrace him as Anne nuzzled into his neck. He turned in her grasp and they kissed, hungrily.

"Mmm. What's got into you?" he asked, as they swayed together.

"I've discovered that dancing the Tango makes me horny!" Anne giggled, continuing, "Do you have any music for a Tango, Stan? I fancy dancing up a storm, with you!"

Stan smiled. "Wait a moment," he said, and turned back to his CD collection.

"You do realize that you could put that whole collection onto a single MP3 player, don't you?" she told him, as he searched through for a disc.

"Yes, but they... Umm. I was about to sound like my father. He told me that these new CD's didn't sound like the good old vinyl, you know! But you're right, I could. Mind you, I'd still want the CD — partly as primary source and partly for the artwork, in some of the cases at least. Aha!"

Stan held aloft the CD of ballroom dance music he'd bought back in July. "Yup! This has got half a dozen Tango tracks!"

Stan's living room was small and cluttered, and difficult to dance in, so it wasn't long before they fell, laughing, onto the couch. Stan stopped laughing and kissed Anne.

Anne kissed him right back. He felt her hand behind his head, pulling him to her, and his own arm, trapped underneath them, squeezed and pulled in response. Anne's tongue wormed its way into his mouth, duelling with his own, and Stan started to lose himself in the sensations, overwhelmed by the scent, the feel, the taste of the woman in his arms.

Anne pulled away, blowing a stray strand of hair way from her mouth, looking at Stan wide-eyed. Standing, she reached for the zip of her dress and pulled it down, shimmying as she did, the dress pooling like oil at her feet. Seeing Stan's face, she grinned a moment and threw a cliché model's pose, right hand behind head, left at her hip, throwing her body into a figure 'S'. Standing there in a lacy black half-bra and matching panties, her blonde hair in complete contrast to the outfit, Stan was once again struck by her beauty.

One eyebrow lifted. Anne queried, "Are you going to join me, or... ?" Stan lost his balance as he tried to stand up and take off his shirt and tie all at the same time, which gave Anne a fit of giggles, and then she stretched out a hand for him. Once he was standing, Anne reached for his tie, deftly removing it before undoing his shirt buttons.

She was swaying in front of him now, in time to the music that was still playing. Stan responded by moving with her, while giving her space in which to work, placing his hands on Anne's hips. He leaned in to give her a kiss, and she responded before nudging him gently back as she continued to unbutton his shirt.

After the front was undone, Anne reached down and unfastened each of Stan's cufflinks, before removing the shirt altogether. Stan faked a pose of his own, both hands behind his head, his stomach tightened in a futile attempt to reduce the slight paunch. Anne giggled a little again, and Stan smiled, then Anne's hands were at his belt, undoing it and drawing it through the loops slowly, before dropping it on top of his shirt on the floor beside him. A few seconds later his trousers were on the floor, and Stan was trying, unsuccessfully, to remove them while still wearing his shoes.