Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok

Author:Jean Kwok [Kwok, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Now that Ryan was officially in private lessons with me, I had to teach him how to dance for real. I’d already shown him all of the different dances and it was time for him to start learning how to lead. We’d managed to wrestle our way through until now, but it was hard to move together with him. Even so, I found myself looking forward to his lessons. Since Ryan worked for an urban landscaping company, the winter was a quieter time for him and he often came in the late afternoons.

“Mmmm hmmm,” said Irene as the elevator doors opened and he strode out. We both watched him from the mirror in the reception area. His winter work jacket made him look even broader as he pushed through the first set of double doors, and I noticed the snowflakes on his hair and shoulders. He spotted me, then shook his head in my direction like a dog.

“Hey!” I jumped off of the couch and out of his way.

“Whoops,” he said.

“You can shake anything you like my way, honey.” Irene gave him a broad wink with her thickly mascaraed lashes, then took his jacket from him to hang it up in the closet. He was dressed casually as usual, in jeans and a dark gray long-sleeved cotton shirt.

His smile lit up his entire face. “Good afternoon, ma’am. May I say that you are looking lovely today.”

He never said anything like that to me. “Are you done flirting with the studio owner’s mother now?”

Irene came out of the closet, pulled down her bifocals and pretended to look severe. “Widowed mother. And just because you don’t know how to have any fun, don’t begrudge the rest of us.”

“I’d be afraid to have as much fun as you,” I muttered as I walked toward the ballroom doors Ryan was holding open for me. I turned to him. “How’s your girlfriend doing, by the way?”

“Fiona’s just fine. Really busy.”

“Must be hard being long distance.”

“Yeah, it is. And she’s the type of person who’s always on the go, so it’s not like she’s that good with e-mail or on the phone. But we catch up when we see each other again.”

I bet they did. I had no right to be jealous, just because she had a feminine name like Fiona and was probably brilliant and beautiful too. And had Ryan for a boyfriend. “Well, today, I’m going to make sure you’re a fit partner for her.”

I turned Ryan around, put him in the lady’s place and then took up dance position with me leading. “Okay, I want you to feel what it’s like to dance with you. Don’t worry about which leg you’re on, just start moving backward when I go.” I went forward the way he always did, taking huge strides and only lightly holding him with my hands. He took one step back, and another, then looked over his shoulder.

I said, “You’re not allowed to do that.”

“But I can’t see where I’m heading. I’m not sure where you want me to go.

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