Chapter 54
Maxime
At a concert by Joshua Friedberg.
I have no idea where the music is coming from; I only feel it permeating me as I stare in disbelief at Aurora's outstretched hand.
She wants to dance with me?
I swallow hard against the indescribable feeling that spreads inside me—a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. But there is something else: hope.
Beside me, I hear a rattling sound, but I don't look. My eyes are solely fixed on Aurora, standing barefoot before me in a simple white summer dress. Her hair gently falls over her shoulders, and her gaze is full of brave determination. Behind her, the evening sky glows in intense shades of orange.
She nods toward my shoes.
As if in a trance, I kick them off.
Barefoot.
I take her hand. It trembles yet exudes so much confidence that it's enough for me too.
One last time, I look deeply into her eyes. "Are you sure?" I ask incredulously.
"I've been running away for too long," she answers. "It's time to let go."
To the rhythm of the music, she steps closer to me, pressing her back against my chest. I place my hand on her belly, intertwining our fingers. Her scent surrounds me, and her warmth tingles on my skin.
Our bodies merge into one as we both wait for our cue.
Now.
Aurora sways her hips, and I follow suit. We bend our knees slightly and rise back up again.
What we've done so far doesn't count as dancing. But that changes now. I give her the impulse for a turn, and at the same moment, I feel her body stiffen.
She can't do it. Not yet.
What does that mea…?
Before I can complete the thought, she twirls around and transitions into the basic step of the mambo in open position. Dancing, she smiles at me.
Even if I wanted to, I couldn't escape this moment.
I see a woman with infinite fire in her eyes, a fire that speaks only of love. Someone who is ready to embrace her destiny. An Aurora whose heart beats today with an intensity that the mind cannot comprehend.
I, too, now take the first dance steps, and with every second, I feel the weight of the past years falling away from me.
We dance the mambo in the heart of Paris.
We whirl across the square, and suddenly, my hair becomes damp. At first, it's just a few drops, but soon countless raindrops pour down on me.
In the summer rain.
I don't understand where the rain is coming from, and that doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is Aurora and the fact that we are dancing together again after all this time. Thefact that the visitors of the Sacré-Cœur form a semicircle around us registers only at the periphery, just like their enthusiastic cheers.
Before the eyes of the whole world.
My God. She has actually made it come true. What we dreamed so intensely is happening right now, in this very moment.
