Forever And Never
75
"I was able to schedule in two hours for today, and if you want additional practice then I can see if there are anymore openings," Ramsey voiced as he walked through the busy main room of Branch Wood, dodging groups of people as he made his way to the doors of the large room reserved for eating, walking so quickly that I had trouble following him. Once inside the big wooden doors and into the room with the long tables where a few people sat, Ramsey walked over to the right of the wide area and where three sets of double doors were, each of them white with squares of glass in them. I recalled seeing them when I was filling out papers to become a member of Branch Wood, but hadn't thought anymore about them since that day.
He approached the double doors in the center and opened one, waiting for me to catch up to him before stepping though. Inside was a wide fancy room with a marble floor which held murky swirls of brown and white, big wooden windows with elegant curtains drawn back to allow sunlight to pour in, white wallpaper with gold decorations so small that they were hardly noticeable unless you were close, and long tall pillars which circled the room acting as a support for the high ceiling painted white above our heads.
Around the room were various chairs and couches and potted plants, as well as four or five white, metal tables with three chairs around them with similar designs. I was so consumed in taking in the beauty of the room that I didn't even notice the man leaning against one of the tables until Ramsey took my arm and led me to where he was.
"This is Nicolette, they girl who wanted dance lessons for the Ball coming up," Ramsey said to the man, and upon me realizing that there was another person in the room I pulled my eyes from the decorative wallpaper and looked ahead at whoever was there. The man before us seemed a little older, maybe early thirties, and was tall and thin with broad shoulders and pale skin. He had short black hair with a row of bangs on the left side of his face which had the tendency to fall in front of his eye when he leaned forward.
"Good afternoon Nicolette," He said with a smile as he offered his hand for me to shake, and I noticed his thick French accent almost immediately as I shook his large cold hand. When I made an attempt to draw my hand back to my side, he kept his grip around my fingers and brought it closer to him, kissing the back of my hand lightly before letting me go.
"This is Léonce," Ramsey explained after a second of silence, "He's visiting Branch Wood for the Yearly Ball and heard that you were in need of someone to teach you the dances at the event so he volunteered to help." Ramsey looked to the other man and he received a smile from him before Léonce looked back at me.
"I came to Branch Wood back in the late 1800's to help establish an alliance between this institute and the one I'm a member of in France, and I've come back for the Yearly Ball ever since," He explained with a laugh. "I loved it here very much; it's almost like a second home-" the white doors to the room slammed suddenly, the sound of them being pushed opened echoing through the small room and forcing the story to be put on hold as both Ramsey and Léonce looked up and I turned around to see what the sudden interruption had been.
"I'm here," A girl said with an undertone of frustration and annoyance as she walked over to where the three of us were, carrying a radio in her right hand. She seemed young, maybe twenty years old, and was wearing a school uniform with a dark blue blazer, a green and grey plaid skirt, and dark grey stockings. She had shoulder length brown hair and straight bangs which stopped right at her eyebrows, and once she reached us she put her free hand on her hip and said, "I'm Rachel, sent here to help you with whatever."
"Ah yes," Léonce said, walking in between Ramsey and I and over to the irritated girl, taking the radio from her hand and setting it on another table as he instructed her on what to do. I watched them quietly before glancing at Ramsey curiously. "She works for Branch Wood part time doing random things for people," Ramsey explained, and I nodded understandingly though still didn't completely comprehend why she seemed so flustered about her job.
"Alright Nicolette let's get started," Léonce called from where he stood next Rachel who had seated herself at the table with the radio. I nodded and walked to where he stood, glancing back as Ramsey sat at one of the metal tables, then turning my attention back when I reached Léonce and felt him put a hand on my side and laced his fingers with those of my right hand, lifting up my hand to where my arm made an L shape. I jumped slightly at the sudden contact, but tried not to draw attention to how awkward it felt being touched by him. "We'll start with the steps to the Waltz, which is one of the most common dances at the Ball," He stated as he led me to the center of the room with a smile that I returned as politely as I could in hopes that he wouldn't be discouraged by how strange this felt to me.
Over the course of the next two hours Léonce walked me through the various dances which would be expected at the Yearly Ball, showing me the steps to each dance slowly first then calling on Rachel to begin the music what went along with each dance, remaining patient with me when I forgot the steps or couldn't keep up with him. If at all possible, Léonce was more intimidating to me than Ramsey had ever been, his arms and shoulders strong and rigid as well as the fact that he was several inches taller than me and that he constantly kept eye contact, his electric blue eyes piecing into mine the entire time we practiced.
I must aggravated Rachel countless times, indirectly causing her to have to rewind the cassette tape in the radio over and over again when I couldn't get the steps down correctly. She glared at me a couple times and I tried to apologize when I noticed her annoyance towards me, but she never voiced anything related to her frustration and mainly remained sitting next to the radio with her head in her hand looked bored.
At last when I successfully completely the Waltz all the way through the composition of music which played from the radio, I squealed happily in excitement and grinned over at Ramsey where he sat watching us. "I finally did it!" I exclaimed loudly, my voice echoing through the large room, and he agreed with a smile and a nod in my direction. I glanced at Léonce behind me to my left with a grin and thanked him generously, receiving a one-armed hug around my shoulders which I awkwardly accepted.
After that, I was taught the steps to the Viennese Waltz, the Slow Foxtrot, and a few other various dances that we were able to fit into the two hour time frame. I struggled with the Viennese Waltz for a while, confusing the steps with the original Waltz I'd previously learned for a long time before finally being able to distinguish between the two. The other ballroom dances I learned were easier to remember, and once I was able to complete the Foxtrot I was determined that dancing at the Yearly Ball would be no trouble at all and had all the confidence in the world.
"Excellent," Léonce complimented as we completed the last steps of the Foxtrot and the music came to a slow end before fading away entirely and leaving the room in silence. I let out an accomplished sigh as he let go of my hand, smiling at me as I turned to Ramsey and asked if I did alright. Ramsey took the opportunity to stand from his seat about ten feet from us and walked towards the center of the open area we'd used for dancing. "You did a great job," He complimented, reaching Léonce and I then looking at him where he stood to my left.
"Well, our two hours are up. Thank you for helping us out." The two men smiled in the direction of the other and Léonce turned to me, taking my hand and kissing my palm once again before saying, "I'll see you at the Yearly Ball." I nodded with a small smile, then noticed Ramsey had stepped past us and towards the doors of the room. Not wanting to be left behind, I said goodbye to Léonce as well as Rachel who was about to leave as well and rushed to catch up with him, my mind buzzing with excitement over the upcoming ball.
He approached the double doors in the center and opened one, waiting for me to catch up to him before stepping though. Inside was a wide fancy room with a marble floor which held murky swirls of brown and white, big wooden windows with elegant curtains drawn back to allow sunlight to pour in, white wallpaper with gold decorations so small that they were hardly noticeable unless you were close, and long tall pillars which circled the room acting as a support for the high ceiling painted white above our heads.
Around the room were various chairs and couches and potted plants, as well as four or five white, metal tables with three chairs around them with similar designs. I was so consumed in taking in the beauty of the room that I didn't even notice the man leaning against one of the tables until Ramsey took my arm and led me to where he was.
"This is Nicolette, they girl who wanted dance lessons for the Ball coming up," Ramsey said to the man, and upon me realizing that there was another person in the room I pulled my eyes from the decorative wallpaper and looked ahead at whoever was there. The man before us seemed a little older, maybe early thirties, and was tall and thin with broad shoulders and pale skin. He had short black hair with a row of bangs on the left side of his face which had the tendency to fall in front of his eye when he leaned forward.
"Good afternoon Nicolette," He said with a smile as he offered his hand for me to shake, and I noticed his thick French accent almost immediately as I shook his large cold hand. When I made an attempt to draw my hand back to my side, he kept his grip around my fingers and brought it closer to him, kissing the back of my hand lightly before letting me go.
"This is Léonce," Ramsey explained after a second of silence, "He's visiting Branch Wood for the Yearly Ball and heard that you were in need of someone to teach you the dances at the event so he volunteered to help." Ramsey looked to the other man and he received a smile from him before Léonce looked back at me.
"I came to Branch Wood back in the late 1800's to help establish an alliance between this institute and the one I'm a member of in France, and I've come back for the Yearly Ball ever since," He explained with a laugh. "I loved it here very much; it's almost like a second home-" the white doors to the room slammed suddenly, the sound of them being pushed opened echoing through the small room and forcing the story to be put on hold as both Ramsey and Léonce looked up and I turned around to see what the sudden interruption had been.
"I'm here," A girl said with an undertone of frustration and annoyance as she walked over to where the three of us were, carrying a radio in her right hand. She seemed young, maybe twenty years old, and was wearing a school uniform with a dark blue blazer, a green and grey plaid skirt, and dark grey stockings. She had shoulder length brown hair and straight bangs which stopped right at her eyebrows, and once she reached us she put her free hand on her hip and said, "I'm Rachel, sent here to help you with whatever."
"Ah yes," Léonce said, walking in between Ramsey and I and over to the irritated girl, taking the radio from her hand and setting it on another table as he instructed her on what to do. I watched them quietly before glancing at Ramsey curiously. "She works for Branch Wood part time doing random things for people," Ramsey explained, and I nodded understandingly though still didn't completely comprehend why she seemed so flustered about her job.
"Alright Nicolette let's get started," Léonce called from where he stood next Rachel who had seated herself at the table with the radio. I nodded and walked to where he stood, glancing back as Ramsey sat at one of the metal tables, then turning my attention back when I reached Léonce and felt him put a hand on my side and laced his fingers with those of my right hand, lifting up my hand to where my arm made an L shape. I jumped slightly at the sudden contact, but tried not to draw attention to how awkward it felt being touched by him. "We'll start with the steps to the Waltz, which is one of the most common dances at the Ball," He stated as he led me to the center of the room with a smile that I returned as politely as I could in hopes that he wouldn't be discouraged by how strange this felt to me.
Over the course of the next two hours Léonce walked me through the various dances which would be expected at the Yearly Ball, showing me the steps to each dance slowly first then calling on Rachel to begin the music what went along with each dance, remaining patient with me when I forgot the steps or couldn't keep up with him. If at all possible, Léonce was more intimidating to me than Ramsey had ever been, his arms and shoulders strong and rigid as well as the fact that he was several inches taller than me and that he constantly kept eye contact, his electric blue eyes piecing into mine the entire time we practiced.
I must aggravated Rachel countless times, indirectly causing her to have to rewind the cassette tape in the radio over and over again when I couldn't get the steps down correctly. She glared at me a couple times and I tried to apologize when I noticed her annoyance towards me, but she never voiced anything related to her frustration and mainly remained sitting next to the radio with her head in her hand looked bored.
At last when I successfully completely the Waltz all the way through the composition of music which played from the radio, I squealed happily in excitement and grinned over at Ramsey where he sat watching us. "I finally did it!" I exclaimed loudly, my voice echoing through the large room, and he agreed with a smile and a nod in my direction. I glanced at Léonce behind me to my left with a grin and thanked him generously, receiving a one-armed hug around my shoulders which I awkwardly accepted.
After that, I was taught the steps to the Viennese Waltz, the Slow Foxtrot, and a few other various dances that we were able to fit into the two hour time frame. I struggled with the Viennese Waltz for a while, confusing the steps with the original Waltz I'd previously learned for a long time before finally being able to distinguish between the two. The other ballroom dances I learned were easier to remember, and once I was able to complete the Foxtrot I was determined that dancing at the Yearly Ball would be no trouble at all and had all the confidence in the world.
"Excellent," Léonce complimented as we completed the last steps of the Foxtrot and the music came to a slow end before fading away entirely and leaving the room in silence. I let out an accomplished sigh as he let go of my hand, smiling at me as I turned to Ramsey and asked if I did alright. Ramsey took the opportunity to stand from his seat about ten feet from us and walked towards the center of the open area we'd used for dancing. "You did a great job," He complimented, reaching Léonce and I then looking at him where he stood to my left.
"Well, our two hours are up. Thank you for helping us out." The two men smiled in the direction of the other and Léonce turned to me, taking my hand and kissing my palm once again before saying, "I'll see you at the Yearly Ball." I nodded with a small smile, then noticed Ramsey had stepped past us and towards the doors of the room. Not wanting to be left behind, I said goodbye to Léonce as well as Rachel who was about to leave as well and rushed to catch up with him, my mind buzzing with excitement over the upcoming ball.
♠ ♠ ♠
I came up with the idea for this chapter about a year and a half ago, and when It was actually time to write it I was thinking about cutting it because it's a little random but I just ended up keeping it. Plus, I wanted to have Léonce in the story before the actually Ball.I managed to pick like the most French name known I could think of, excluding the name Pierre. I think I was reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin, and the husband of the main character's name is Léonce, so maybe that's where it's from. It's actually pronounced Lee-on-ce, but I was too lazy to read the name at first and was saying it like Beyonce but with an L. :P
The problem with 1st person point of view is that Nicolette isn't all knowing, so I can't explain that Rachel attends a Catholic University in a town about fifteen minutes east of Branch Wood, and that she was annoyed because she had just returned from her classes that day and wanted to rest when she was told she would have to sit there and press the play and pause button on a radio for two hours. :P Also, Rachel isn't in the Youth Group, as she is twenty.
In other news, college is great still except that I'm not used to strangers talking to me. :P I basically ruined my reputation early on in high school, so going to a place where people don't think of the rumors they heard about me is pretty nice. :) I've also got a creeper... :/ And was dumb enough to give him my number (before I considered the fact that he might want to stalk me lol)