“It is.”
“And you simplified it for me, didn’t you?”
“Just a mite. You have excellent rhythm, though you are a bit… rusty? Is that the correct word?”
“Rusty is the polite word. In order to be rusty, I would have to have some skills to begin with. I don’t dance. I love music, and I can sway with the best of them, but I’ve never danced. But I’ve already told you that.” He moved over to the couch and sat heavily.
“Yes, you have. And that is why we are keeping it uncomplicated.” She unplugged the laptop and carried it over to the couch, where she joined him. “Let me show you what a Viennese waltz can be like. This one on YouTube is the best I have seen. According to the accompanying text, they are World Champions—a husband and wife team from Austria, which is quite appropriate, as Strauss was Austrian.” She started the video and the loft was once again filled with Strauss the Younger’s “Blue Danube”. Jerry could only stare, awed and numb, as the world’s best tripped the light fantastic on the screen before them. When it was all done, he sighed.
“And you want me to learn to do that, in two days?”
“Of course not, silly. I simply wanted to show you what a waltz can be. Let us watch it again, but this time, forget about yourself and simply watch how Karl moves. Watch for the simple things like his posture and arm position. Watch how he bends at the waist and turns his head a certain way. Those are the simple things that anyone can master quickly but will add shine and polish to even the simplest of steps. Of course their choreography is elaborate and complicated, and far beyond us both, but his straight back and light touch on her waist are always the same.
“You cannot tell by observing this film, but what little guidance he gives her is done through small points of contact only. They have danced together for so many years that he simply has to tilt his wrist or apply two fingers of pressure on the small of her back to guide her and steer her around the dance floor. A simple dip in his shoulder communicates a world of meaning to her, his true partner. At least, that is how I was trained.”
She started the video again; then paused it. “If you can manage the posture and some sure-footedness, then I will lead you with simply a touch. My sisters could dance circles around everyone at court, including myself. Tatiana was an angel in slippers, and I was just a lump, but poor Alexei could never keep up with any of us so we created a simplified waltz, which would not strain him and yet make him appear masterful. He was the heir, the Tsarevich, and he at least had to be able to show a modicum of grace and control in all things. I will teach you that.”
“The dumbed-down version. Gotcha. Start that thing up again, and let’s take a closer look.” He squeezed her arm and turned his attention to Karl and Agnetha doing the impossible.
THE HEADACHE WOKE Jerry so abruptly that he thought Ana was calling to him, but when his eyes finally focused in the dark, he could clearly see that he was alone. They’d danced for hours, until Ana was so exhausted that his hand passed through her waist halfway down the Danube. She blew him a kiss and faded into her book. He wolfed down a tuna-on-toasted-bagel, chugged some Gatorade, and had a quick shower before dousing the fire and climbing under the duvet. He was asleep in seconds, until the headache.
The alarm clock’s red digital numbers finally came into focus, and he groaned. “Three in the morning? Damn.” He popped a couple painkillers from the bottle on the nightstand and rinsed them down with warm water before sinking back onto the pillow. He listened to his body, feeling the headache growing slowly, but it levelled off at a dull roar, so he closed his eyes and listened instead to the creaks and groans of the old building, the light hum of the nearly non-existent traffic, and rehearsed the dance steps in his head. He finally fell back to sleep at 5am, with the alarm set to wake him for work in two-and-a-half hours.
Chapter Fourteen
@TheTaoOfJerr: “If music be the food of love, play on.”
IT TOOK LEE-Anne all of two minutes to convince Jerry that she knew her job.
“Manny, with all the respect and love I can muster for him, Jerry’s predecessor, Dwight, was way too old school.” She looked at Manny, then went on when he nodded. “He ran the station like the Internet never happened. He wasn’t in touch with social media, and after that fiasco with his internal email joke getting sent to all of our suppliers, he wouldn’t even use email. Jerry doesn’t just know what a blog is, he has a considerable online presence.”
“You’ve read my blog, The Tao of Jerr?”
“Your blog, Twitter feed, Facebook fan page… Manny sent us all the links when you made it into the top three for consideration for the job. He wanted to know what we all thought. You absolutely killed the competition.”
“Cool. Thanks.”
“My point is, bosses, we need to kick it in these areas, too. The rest of the country calls Victoria the ‘City of the Newly Wed and the Nearly Dead’. Our no-repeat, oldies-to-hits pop playlist appeals to everyone, but we sponsor events like whale watching when we should be hanging out at music festivals with live Twitter feeds, and having Facebook contests. Our website is five pages of who we are and what we play. Boring! We need to invest time and money into online trivia contests and cooler giveaways. A spa weekend at an oh-so-chic resort is lovely and all, but we need to attract spenders who will attract advertisers. Trips to Seattle for Seahawks’ and Mariners’ games. Free passes to Van’s Nicely Naughty trade show, which I, myself, will be speaking at, and can offer VIP passes for. Also, Whistler passes and transpo for the Snowboarding World Cup.
“Of course, I can and will keep signing the funeral homes, hearing aid suppliers, and carpet cleaners to mix in and fill space, but we need a transfusion of fresh advertising blood. We don’t just want the Chevy dealership; we want the Subaru Customizer who makes those Fast and Furious machines the guys love, here and on the mainland. And speaking of the mainland, we need to reach beyond this colonial little island and start playing hardball against the teams in Van and beyond. Dwight hated Vancouver and kept us out of that loop, but we need in the loop, soon, or we’ll be one of Victoria’s nearly dead.” Lee-Anne took a deep breath and sat back, flushed.
Jerry was silent. He’d come to all of the same conclusions when he was reviewing the numbers for the station, but the fact that his Sales Manager was on the same page, was great. He wanted to hear what Manny thought, though. He was the one who’d hired this Dwight person, so it wasn’t Jerry’s place to trash-talk someone he’d never met.
Manny scratched his head and looked Lee-Anne straight in the eye. “Girl, if I’d known you had these great ideas, you mighta been sitting in Jerry’s seat instead of him. Two things I need from you starting right now, Missy. I need to you put all of this on paper, so to speak, and get copies to Jerry and me, both. Email is just fine. Dwight kept me out of the loop for far too long and that’s my fault as much as his, but that changes, as of now.”
“And the second thing?” She leaned in, pleased with herself, and Jerry did his best not to stare at her breasts, straining at her sweater’s few buttons.
“Start dressing like a trained professional, please. I'll try to find you a copy of the company dress code. Lee-Anne, I don’t want clients who come on board just because they like looking down your blouse or up your skirt every time you drop by their offices. Young as he is, I hired Jerry because of the respect he has in the industry. You’re already the best looking one at all the sales awards banquets; so let’s make sure you’re the most respected, because even though this is a business built on voices, you’re dead-on right about getting the faces out there. Facebook, Twitter, the works.”