Dangerous Light

“Getting you out here is like pulling teeth,” Athena jokes, smiling up at Jordan.

Smiling, Jordan shakes his head as he takes Athena’s right hand in his left hand. “You know I don’t like to dance.”

“I don’t see why not,” Athena places her free hand on Jordan’s shoulder, “you’re not bad at it.”

Shaking his head, the tall blonde man smirks. “Well, it’s not as awkward as last time. Those heels add a few inches to your height, so…”

Chuckling, Athena slaps Jordan’s shoulder. “Don’t make fun of my height!”

“You mean lack of, right?” Jordan whispers.

Playfully glaring up at her best friend, Athena tries to keep a straight face. Failing, she shakes her head.

“Looks like Max found somebody,” Jordan mumbles to Athena under the music playing.

Athena glances over her shoulder, to see Max dancing with a raven haired woman. Turning back to Jordan, she nods, “that’s good.”

After a few minutes of dancing in silence, Jordan slowly removes his hand from Athena’s waist and digs into his pocket. Pulling out his phone, he looks down at the screen. Mumbling a curse under his breath, he slowly looks up at Athena’s face.

She is staring directly at him. Smirking, she takes her hands back. “Go take it.”

Wordlessly, Jordan makes a beeline for the door and leaves Athena standing at the edge of the dance floor.

Folding her hands in front of her, Athena slowly walks back toward the table.

Sidney looks up from his phone and smiles at Athena.

The woman smiles back, keeping her hands folded and making no move to sit down. “You should come dance.”

“I thought you were dancing with Jordan.”

Athena shrugs, “he got a phone call. Just went outside to take it.”

Sidney slides out of the booth, locking the keypad to his phone before sliding it into his pocket and straightening his dress shirt out.

Picking her purse up, Athena tosses the black bag under the booth seat allowing it to hide in the shadows. Standing up straight, she smiles and holds her hand out, “ready?”

Grabbing her hand, Sidney smiles as he leads her to the dance floor.

“So, we’re going school dance style?” Sidney chuckles as he puts both of his hands on Athena’s waist when she locks her hands behind his neck.

“Yeah,” Athena nods. Under her arms, she can feel tenseness in Sidney’s shoulders.

After dancing through three songs, Athena’s temple is gently resting on Sidney’s shoulder and their bodies are nearly pressed together. The awkward feeling that had been is long gone.

When Sidney first speaks, Athena has to strain to hear him, “so, you’re just going back to Thunder Bay?”

“It’s my only option at this point,” she says, not moving her head.

Sidney gently bows his head, “you’re still trying to convince yourself, huh?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Athena’s voice remains monotonous as she slowly moves so she can make eye contact with Sidney. In the dim lights of the restaurant, his brown eyes appear foggier than usual.

Sidney slowly licks his lips, “you need to do what’s best for you.”

Blinking, Athena slowly diverts her gaze from Sidney and lets out a deep breath.

“What’s the real reason you don’t wanna go to Pittsburgh?”

Looking up at Sidney, Athena’s eyes widen slightly. “I never said I don’t wanna go to Pittsburgh.”

He smirks, “you don’t have to. Your reaction earlier said it all.”

“I just…” Athena shakes her head. “Jordan has his own life there. A completely separate life from his life in Thunder Bay. I’m not just gonna stroll in and mess that up. Does that make sense?”

Sidney shakes his head and shrugs, “a little bit. But who says you’ll be messing anything up?”

“I just know,” Athena says gently, shrugging one of her shoulders. “Plus, Jordan wouldn’t want some girl clinging to him all the time. He has a girlfriend for that.”

Chuckling, Sidney bows his head. “You don’t have to cling to Jordan if you come to Pittsburgh.”

“I’ve tried the loner thing in a big city,” Athena scrunches her nose, “not as fun as it sounds.”

“You don’t have to be a loner, either.”

A small smile pulls onto the Athena’s lips, “you must really think I’d like Pittsburgh, huh?”

He nods.

“Are you always this persistent?”

“Sometimes,” Sidney chuckles, nodding.

Athena smiles, “that’s the key to your success, isn’t it?”

Leaning down, Sidney whispers in her ear, “don’t tell anybody.”

“I’ll try not to,” Athena giggles, shaking her head lightly, “no promises though.”

Sidney shakes his head, “you have to promise.”

Pulling back slightly, Athena tilts her head to the side. “I have to?”

Nodding, Sidney gently pulls the blonde woman back against his body by her waist.

Lowering her head, Athena continues to sway to the music with Sidney. “You know, I feel kinda bad.”

“Why’s that?”

Looking back up at Sidney, Athena lightly shakes her head. “I should’ve shown you more of Vegas. There’s actually some pretty cool stuff here.”

“Well, I’ll make sure that when you come to Pittsburgh, you see all of the cool stuff there.”

Athena smiles, “you talk as if I’m actually going.”

“I’m really hoping that you will.”

Biting her lip, Athena gazes into Sidney’s eyes. Slowly, she opens her mouth and her lips move, but the words barely leave them, “me too.”