Chapter 32

Despite all of the dancing, standing and walking of the previous day, we all woke up refreshed and ready to go.

Our second day at Walt Disney World was going to be at Epcot Center. Not having ever been there before, the first thing I found out was that EPCOT was an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.

Fascinating!

We had a great time with Sandy back, giving us the Tour. I talked to Claire and we decided not to perform today anywhere.

We had many people recognize us and we gave autographs to all who asked, having an easier time of it then yesterday.

We went to the American Gardens Theater, spent a while perusing Future World and had a wonderful time going to ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.’ There were hundreds of youngsters come up to us asking for our autographs ... we probably did half of them.

We also went into Innoventions, had a fun time, saw a very heavy-handed movie about becoming an ‘environmental steward’ about how waste will be up to our necks if we don’t do something about it, and now.

Kalista said that we had to go see ‘Journey into Imagination’ with Figment, the fun-loving Dragon. Sandy got Kalista a full-sized Figment to take home with her, after the show. Well, it was almost as tall as she was!

We decided to have an early night and head on our way to Orlando, where we’re meeting with Michael and his gang tomorrow morning.

At the end of the evening, everyone gave Sandy a big hug and thanked her for everything she helped us get done over the last two days.

She got her set of our posters from behind the check-in counter and we all gladly signed every one of them for our Georgia Peach.

We got back to the room, packed up and were on our way in less time, then I had expected. They brought the Suburban around and Sarah did the 30-minute drive to our,

14^th City
Orlando, FL
Peabody Orlando Hotel

We were adjacent to the Orange County Convention Center, where we were performing. We’re doing our thing in the West Concourse Hall WE2, which will hold just under 5,000 people, after Michael and his orchestra move in.

We checked into the hotel, where everybody seemed excited to meet Charles & Claire. They had a very nice set of rooms for us and we went up to them and immediately decided to get ourselves something to eat, so we went down and found the B-Line Diner, open 24 hours and had a very satisfying meal. A few people came up to us, congratulating us for the awards we’d won in our most recent Competitions.

Claire and I ordered an in-suite couples massage for when we come back from performing tomorrow. Annie frowned when I told her this and Sarah, of course was heartbroken someone else was going to touch ... my back. She had said that with a big smile on her face!

The next morning, we all went to West Concourse Hall WE2 and found Michael. He wanted to change some music and asked us for our opinion. I told him about an older song I heard recently called “You Light Up My Life.” He remembered it as well, saying he’d always wanted to learn it and perform it, so he got on the phone with somebody to get him and his pianist sheet music. Michael figured he could have it ready by the time we get to Atlanta.

I also told him how much Claire and I have always liked the song “Blue Moon” a Paso Doble, which he thought we could immediately add to the set list.

The rehearsal went well, we replaced two additional songs and went through all of the music in order and Michael cut us loose, reminding us to be back at seven pm for the eight o’clock show. That gave us a couple hours to go back and rest before the show.

As I walked towards my bed to lie down, Annie came up to me and sat down next to me.

“Charles, do you know what a ‘couples massage’ is?” she asked.

“What it sounds like, Mom – we both get a massage at the same time, is there any more to it than that?” I asked.

“Well, two people come up to your room, each bringing a special massage table with them.”
“OK?”

“Then they ask you both to get naked and...”

“Naked, you mean as in nude – no clothes on at all, oh my! Mom, I didn’t know that. Should I cancel, or what?” I said, semi-terrified now.

“They will probably charge you for cancelling last minute. Why don’t you just do it in your swimsuits?” she suggested with one of her Mom smiles.

“That’s a great idea mom, I am sorry – it sounded like fun and so I just called down and set it up for midnight. I had better go tell Claire, so she isn’t surprised ... like I just was.”

“Charles, remember that you will be seeing Claire nude eventually, you know?” She blushed.

“Yeah, mom ... I understand that, only I don’t want anyone else in the room at the time, do I?” I smiled a great big smile.

“Well, Charles – There is a different kind of Couples Massage where you massage each other and then afterwards...”

“Please do not finish that sentence, mother? At least not out loud?”

Chuckling a bit, she said, “OK, honey, take a nap. I will wake you up in an hour.”

I felt a pair of lips on mine that tasted just like Claire. I put my arms around her and we kissed for a little while, separating just to catch our breath.

Claire said, “Your mother sent me in to wake you up. She told me to use my imagination, but I kissed you instead. I think my imagination might get the better of both of us one of these days, Loverboy.”

“Claire, I need to tell you something about the Couples Massage we scheduled.” I went on to tell her the expectation of nudity and she blushed a great deal and then said, “Well, eventually, we can do that, can’t we?” she said with almost a kittenish look in her eyes.

“After we’re married, we can. I have a list of things I want to do with you, after we’re married.”

“Oooh. A list? Can I see it?” she asked, with a pleading sound in her voice.

“No dear – you can’t – it’s on the computer, in a security code protected file.”

“Tell me ... Come on, tell me ... tell me, tell me, tell me, what you want to do with me, Charles – Pleeeaaaasssee?” she sizzled as she said all this.

She’s never gotten like this before, it was rather amazing to watch, but I kicked her out of my room, kissing her and changed into performance clothes.

We all went back to the Orange County Convention Center West Concourse and limbered up a little. I talked to my girls and asked if we could trade off and I could start with ‘The Sparkling Kalista’ first dance. They thought it was a good idea, so I went to Michael telling him what we’d planned. He thought it would make a nice change of pace and thanked me for telling him.

The evening’s performance started quite well, with Michael doing his first song all by himself, then K and I jumped right in to “Heartache Tonight” which was a change from before. Michael likes to mix it up.

The next song was “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and after Michael sang until the first musical break, then Claire and I came out, and the crowd started applauding for us. We smiled as we danced. Claire performed a Developé and there was a crush of noise, as the crowd loved it. My girl is such a marvelous dancer—I love her.

There is a long stretch of music, over a minute long, about halfway in, where Michael backs off and we dance, using the whole stage. We moved all over the stage, left and right, upstage and downstage, Claire included an Arabesque, which she did en pointe as I held her hand for balance. The crowd again applauded wonderfully for her, as the music changed and Michael started to sing again.

Claire and I were ‘on,’ smiling at each other as the song was coming to an end, when we finished with pot stirrers until the orchestra was through.

Michael motioned to us and we bowed and scooted off stage. K was changed and ready for the nightly performance of “For Good” which we’d started, back in New Orleans.

Everybody seemed to like it, so why not?

The Moms were just off-stage, helping the girls with their costume change. K was practicing going to pointe. I came up behind K and grabbed her around the waist, which made her squeal. She turned around and smiled at me and said, “Sorry Charles ... you surprised me, that’s all.”

“Sorry Princess, you just looked so beautiful standing there and going to pointe so easily, I just had to hold you – I don’t get to hold you as much as I’d like to.”

Claire bounded back and said, “Miss me, Loverboy?”

“Actually, Kallie and I were making out, while we were waiting for you.”

Kalista blushed saying, “We ... were not, Claire!”

Claire gave me a light slap on the chest and a quick kiss. Our announcement came on, the girls went out to position, and I walked on stage.

We performed our routine, once again to a standing ovation.

The rest of the evening went well and we got back to the hotel. There was a knock on the door and a pair of masseuses came in, a man and a woman. Claire and I were in our suits, in robes, waiting for them.

The fact that we looked awfully young appeared to worry them, but our Moms were there to assure the hotel employees that all was on the up and up.

They unfolded and setup their portable tables, side by side. Annie and Sarah seemed to be enjoying themselves lying on the bed and watching what was happening. The man masseuse said he was ready and Claire removed her robe, revealing her swimsuit and lay down on her stomach.

The young lady said she was ready and I got up on her table, putting myself face down as well. They mentioned since we were underage that they would only rub on the back, arms and legs.

Sarah mentioned that I had a trouble spot four inches below my neck in the middle of my back and told the young lady to please avoid it.

After the initial tension of somebody I didn’t know doing this to me, it started feeling pretty good. Claire and I started to talk to each other while we were getting the massage and the 90 minutes flew by very fast.

Claire and I thanked the couple, I went to my robe and got out some cash to hand them for a tip and they thanked us and left.

I asked Annie and Sarah to leave us alone please, and surprisingly they did without giving us any grief.

“Claire may I say just how beautiful you look in that swimsuit. Maybe we will come back here someday and get the ‘full treatment’ massage, instead of the ‘mom’s watching version’ we had tonight.”

“Charles, I always wondered what a full-body massage felt like and I must admit, I feel awfully tingly right now and not just in my back, arms and legs.”

Uh-oh!

“Well, Claire – go ahead and change into something for bed, I will wait out here on my single rollaway bed they got for me.” I am sharing a room with a king for the girls. We’d decided to wait until morning to leave for,

15^th City
Jacksonville, FL
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville

16^th City
Savannah, GA
Staybridge Suites Savannah

After that was one of our longest drives between cities, almost 250 miles to our,

17^th City
Atlanta, GA
Westin Peachtree Plaza

We were performing at the Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre, which has 4,000 reserved seats under a pavilion roof, 3,000 reserved starlight seats, along with a massive gently sloping lawn that holds up to 12,000 more people to stretch out under the stars. So, as many as 19,000 people, may be seeing us in Atlanta.

I had asked Sarah to schedule a tour of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company while we’re in Atlanta. When we got to our lodgings, they realized whom we were, we got our Nightly Rate cut in half and they had a shuttle that would take us to the Lakewood Amphitheatre, as needed.

After a terrific night’s sleep, we all were shuttled to the Lakewood Amphitheatre where we caught up with Michael and his gang. We’d been doing the exact same set list, going back to Tallahassee, so Michael was ready to change it up.

Since he was willing to change, I thought we should as well, so I discussed it with the girls and we decided to replace “For Good” with the ‘Six-Pack,’ and we would switch back and forth during the number about every 30-35 seconds, allowing me to finish with whom I started.

Our idea was to use this number for a while, but alternate who I start the number with, to keep it fresh and the girls happy. Kalista had the idea that they would do it in their ballet shoes, so they could try some leaps or lunges during the number. Due to the crowd size, we would be performing two nights in a row to let everyone who wanted, to come see it. There are close to four hundred thousand people in the city and six million people in the region and Michael thought and I agreed that two separate shows were a good idea.

Claire and I started practicing the ‘Six-Pack’ to see where we could jazz it up a little, so I turned up my iPod, slipped it in my shirt pocket, while we played around with the dance. We were starting and stopping a lot and then we heard Michael’s first violinist, start the opening of the song “Bad Romance” and I paused it on my phone, so we could hear him; another violinist joined, playing the counterpoint.

In a matter of seconds, the entire orchestra was playing and Claire and I were really going to town, but this time, instead of together spins, Claire did three, different speed spot spins, causing Kalista to scream in excitement.

Michael turned and watched us dance this, shaking his head, as Claire added a Jeté and a Rondé to the number as well. I was truly amazed at her flexibility, along with her instincts.

We got back together as we Quickstepped our way across the floor just as the music ended cold. There had been people arriving to watch the rehearsal, but apparently everybody stopped when we did this and applauded with sincere appreciation for what we just did.

“I hope you were watching Kalista, because I still want to split this up between the two of you,” I said.

“Don’t worry, Charles ... I got it!” Kalista responded with a grin.

Two days later, when the first of the two performances were scheduled, at the midpoint of the event, there was an announcement.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls; Charles, Claire and Kallie won a few awards over the last year or so and there was a dance they did that was called their ‘Encore dance.’ Technically, the song is called “Bad Romance” performed by the Vitamin String Quartet, but tonight, along with the Michael Bublé Orchestra, you are going to get to see, live, the ‘Six-Pack.’“

That announcement generated a great deal of applause, all by itself.

With a flourish and a spotlight directly on his violin only, the first violinist stood and started the song, then sat as the rest joined in. I started with Claire and right after the spot spins, I threw her off the stage and Kalista came on stage performing a set of traveling spot spins, until she was in my arms, then we danced together using face holds for a bit and then we traded back and forth, as rehearsed, with Claire and I finishing together with the orchestra.

It seemed that all 19,000 of the patrons, including those who had been sitting on the grass, stood up, applauded and started to chant, “Six-Pack, Six-Pack, Six-Pack,” over and over again. Kalista came out and there was a big spike in the applause and we all bowed and left the stage.

The rest of the evening went just as well. Michael was on fire, singing his heart out. Maybe we inspired him, I don’t know. He was really throwing himself into his numbers, more so than usual. The evening came to an end and after final bows, the crowd came forward with posters in hand.

Fortunately, Sandy had given us a big box of those great pens we used in Walt Disney World, along with the website to get more. They made signing autographs amazingly easier. Again, even Mom and Sarah, possibly because they were in those smoking hot yellow dresses at the time, were asked to sign autographs. After about 90 minutes, security came in and pointed people to their cars and on their way.

Michael came up to the girls and me saying, “Wow you guys. You have really beefed up ‘Six-Pack’ since the first time I saw it. It was really nice. Well, only ten more cities on this leg of the tour. Are you looking forward to getting home and in your own beds?”

“Yes,” we all replied. “Michael, do you have a minute? The girls and I have something to tell you.”

“Sounds ominous, Charles, is everyone OK?” he responded.

“Yes, everyone is in perfect health. We have all talked about it and we have decided not to attend Nationals in Utah, either of the next two years. We want to focus on what we’re doing right now. We’re enjoying tremendously being in front of smaller, but more enthusiastic and appreciative crowds. We all have become such better dancers and we’re certainly enjoying your company and want to stay straight through without stopping. Is that all right with you?” I asked.

“I have never had as many sold-out events before, Charles. Of course you can keep going. By the way, you should be getting a copy of the next leg of the tour by email. It’s finalized, 22 cities, 25 performances, over three months. After it’s over, in the first week of March, you will get two weeks off, paid, to recharge, learn some new dances if you’d like, then for the third leg, you guys could join with the rest of us and fly from place to place, not getting back home to Columbus until the US Something Special Tour is over, the Sunday before Labor Day.”

“Sometime during the second leg we need to sit down and work out the details, including the raise you three will be getting. We have been doing so well with the crowds that the three of you will be getting a sizable increase in pay, during the second half of this tour. How does $25k each a week, sound, starting in the middle of March?” Michael said, sporting a tremendous smile at us all.

“Well, Michael – I will have my people contact your people and ... we will see what can be worked out?” I said, facetiously.

Michael slapped me on the back and said, “Charles, it’s hard to tell when you are full of crap and when you are serious, sometimes?”

Claire jumped in and said, “He’s always been full of crap, Michael ... that’s why I love him so much.” That made Kalista giggle.

We all laughed as we went our separate ways back to our hotel.

The shuttle took us back to the Westin Hotel and we discussed our raise.

Kalista pondered, “Charles, using the idea of getting paid every day like you did before, how much more is $25,000 than $15,000?”

“Remember when I said,’$2,200 a day’ that last time I explained?”

“Yes, I do?” K replied.

“Well, that $2,200 a day has gone up to around $3,600 a day, or $150 every hour.”

“How do you do that complicated math in your head, Charles?” Sarah said with amazement.

“I guess I just have a head for ... figures, Sarah,” I said with a wink.

The next day our performance was again masterful, with the hoards coming forward with our posters for us to sign. The magnificent Sarah, as always, supplied us with our pens.

We stayed in town one more day to take the Coca-Cola Tour, which was worth it. We saw the Coca-Cola Loft, the Happiness Factory Theater, which the girls all loved. I wanted to see the bottle works, which was last on the tour.

Finally, there were robots! Yeah and empty bottles waiting to be filled, on a very long production line. It was way cool. I wish Brian had been here to see it with me.

Man, I miss him. We’d always talked about a Scouting Event that would take us to Atlanta and see how Coca-Cola was made.

“Charles, why are you sniffling?” Claire asked.

“Brian and I had talked about coming here with our entire troop of boys and their Dads,” I explained, starting to well up.

“Oh, I am sorry Charles?” she said.

“Well, a kiss might help?” I said, loaded with sarcasm.

“You or Me?” Claire quickly responded.

“Us,” I said, getting a soft kiss from my girl. I felt a love tap on the back of my head. It was Annie, grinning at us both.

We then went to an area called ‘Taste It,’ that had 60 different worldwide products to taste and try.

When we were all done, we each were handed a very special plastic card. The young man who was giving us our Tour said that they only give these out to very special people, so we each had a card that would give us a free bottle, or can, of any Coca Cola product a day, for the rest of our lives.

I asked for one for my best friend, who wasn’t with us today and he cheerfully gave me another one.

We left on our way to our,

18^th City
Augusta, GA
Westin Peachtree Plaza

We’re performing at the Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre on the Augusta State University Campus, one of our smaller venues, holding only 944 people.

Our performance there was really good, with the smaller crowd equally enjoying it. As always, we had a group who wanted our autographs. I need to check poster sales. I haven’t in quite a while.

After Augusta, we travelled and performed in

19^th City
Charleston, SC
Charleston Marriott

20^th City
Charlotte, NC
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel

21^ST City
Raleigh, NC
Marriott Hotel & Convention Center

It was on the three-hour drive from Raleigh that I finally checked on poster sales.

We were up to 3.3288 million posters sold, which must have included all that Walt Disney World bought to resale at cost plus 2%. From what Sandy told me at the time, they started giving away the pens, when somebody bought all eleven posters. I had called Ken about that! He found a source.