The ride is too short. I want to keep hanging onto him until my arms fall off. But we motor up to the studio, the parking lot quieter than last week since we’re early.
When we enter, only one class is going. A dozen women in jazz shoes kick up their heels as a male instructor shouts instructions. They’re concentrating hard and don’t notice us walking past the glass.
When I arrive at the back studio, Terra’s inside, climbing one of the poles. The colored lights spin and flash. She has the space in dance mode.
Merrick and I pause to watch. Terra’s been pole dancing for almost a decade. She wears all white today and spins down the pole in a blur.
“I’ll never be that good,” I say.
“I think you’re pretty great,” Merrick says.
I turn to him. His gaze rests on my face. I can’t tell his emotion by his expression. Matter of fact? Pride? Buttering me up? Or is he smitten, maybe?
I can’t tell.
Terra spots us and slides down the pole. She motions me inside. I pull off my sweatshirt and hand it to Merrick.
He sits on the bench with it in his lap. When I enter the room, Terra heads to the sound system to lower the volume of the music. “I’m so glad you could come early,” she says. “Have you figured out a pole where you can practice?”
“Yeah. Merrick set one up for me. I haven’t seen it yet. We’re going to look at it after class.”
She glances his way. “Nice. Let’s make sure you have some sweet moves for him.”
I kick off my sneakers and follow her to the center pole.
“You should know the pirouette,” she says. “We do it a lot.” She demonstrates it, holding the pole up high and turning in a circle before grasping the pole with the other hand.
I nod. “Yes, I can do that.” I move to the pole closest to her and do the spin.
“Great. This is a move you can put between most of your standing moves or prior to doing a climb. So, this time, pirouette to climb.”
She does the two moves herself, then slides down the pole.
I try another pirouette, but when it’s time to climb, my legs are in the wrong place. I awkwardly straddle the pole to go up.
“Close. Check your foot placement. Start with the pole climb position. Then, move to the pirouette position and imagine yourself ending where the climb begins. That will help you know where to start and end.”
Right. I face the pole with both hands high as if I’m about to climb. Then I step in front of the pole, grasp it with one hand, pirouette, and make sure my feet end on either side of the pole. Then, I easily wrap my ankles around it to climb.
“Good! Do it a few more times.” Terra walks to the sound system to turn up the music.
I’ve done five or six versions of the move before I even think about Merrick again. I glance over.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Terra says. “He’s watching you like nothing else exists in the world.”
It’s true. He’s sitting on the bench, knees wide, his elbows braced on top of my sweatshirt in his lap. He gives me a nod.
I wave.
“Let’s try a transition out of a climb so you can connect floor work to aerial and back down again,” Terra says. “Once you can do those two things, you can do a fairly long routine with minimum repetition.”
Terra pirouettes into a climb, goes up, does a quick Flying V, then twirls down the pole. As she nears the bottom, her knees pop out into a diamond shape. “That’s called the Diamond,” she says. “It’s a prettier way of coming down than sliding and having your feet hit the floor.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s do it together.” She climbs the pole.
I rush to catch up.
