Harrison hired two teachers for us and they’re dressed in full Regency costume. Now I really feel underdressed in a dark blue tea-length dress.
And I contemplate twisting my ankle as a defense against participating in this.
The teachers take over, dividing us into groups to take us through the dance, which apparently has five parts to it, involves a lot of partner switching, and looks better when you have a large skirt to swoosh around in.
Harrison’s staff are good at their jobs, so they make sure the alcohol is flowing while we dance. I don’t think I’ve drunk this many days in a row since college. Back then I didn’t have to worry about Loot’s employees, revenue or the market.
When the teachers feel they’ve taught us all they can in forty-five minutes, they let us loose on each other, promising to be around in case anyone needs help.
Gavin strides toward me, eyes capturing mine and not letting me avoid him. “Can I profane your holy shrine with my unworthiest hand?” He bows in front of me and offers his hand, in the most Shakespearean way possible.
I laugh, not doing well on my resolution to not be affected by Gavin. “Sure. But if you see me napping later and I appear to be dead, please don’t stab yourself. Until a reputable doctor confirms the death and a week passes just in case, then, do what you feel is necessary.” I take his hand.
“Good policy. Kind of you to care about me.” Gavin tucks my hand into his elbow, resting his hand on top of mine so my hand is sandwiched between his forearm and palm.
“On second thought, do stab yourself but not fatally.” I don’t want to feel guilty over his death, but I’ll take the advantage of him stopping work long enough to heal.
“There’s my Riya,” Gavin says affectionately, patting me on the hand that’s on his arm.
The first strains of music fill the room and I immediately regret my decision not to twist my ankle earlier.
“Did you take in anything that they taught us?” I ask as we stand opposite Jack and Cindy. Harrison and Pari and Nate and Naomi are to the left of our group.
“Not a thing. I plan to twirl you whenever I get lost.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I say as people start moving.
The first step isn’t so bad. Gavin and I bow to each other. Then it immediately gets more complicated, with turns and constant partner switches. Twice I go to the wrong partner and a few times I grab the wrong hands.
But I’m not the only one struggling; a few times I come out of a turn and I have two partners waiting for me. Or none.
This looks a lot cooler in thePride and Prejudicemovies.
No one crashes into each other hard enough to cause injury, so I think we can call it a mild success. Or at least not an abject failure.
When the dance is over, Harrison, Pari, Naomi and Nate stay in the center of the room to do a smaller quadrille. They’re much better at it, and it looks a lot more like the movies.
“I think they’ve done this before,” Gavin whispers at me, snagging two wineglasses from a passing server.
“I doubt Harrison would have us do something he wasn’t already amazing at,” I whisper back, taking the glass offered.
“Oh no, do you think he’ll want to do a dance as part of his show?” His breath tickles the hair near my ear as he leans down to make sure the person we’re wooing doesn’t hear us talking shit.
“If there is, you can have him. And enjoy.”
Gavin snorts. “No, I’ll make Dad do it at that point.”
After a few more dances, the teachers spring back into action. “That was great, everyone. Now we’re going to move on to something a little different and do a waltz. This was a scandalous dance for the time because it let couples dance in each other’s arms. People thought it was going to lead to licentious consequences.”
Well, it’s not grinding but okay. Not that there’s anything wrong with licentious consequences. Or grinding.
Nate walks to me and extends his hand. “Can I have this waltz?”
“Of course.” I take his hand and hear a small, unhappy grunt from next to me. I whip my head around and look at Gavin with brows drawn low over my eyes, but he’s sipping on wine and looking innocent. So I know he’s suspicious.
But I’ve got a young VP in front of me who has expressed interest in building an art collection. He’s going to be a very, very rich executive one day, so I need to get him hooked on art and Loot in the early stages.
We get our hands in position and try to move our feet like the dance teachers are telling us to. Nate knows what he’s doing, but I keep stomping all over his feet. He’s a good sport about it, and we end up laughing more than actual dancing.
