Falling Apart©
By
Meg Galganowicz
“Are you and Laura still together?” she finally asked, raising her voice just enough so that he could barely hear her over the music.
“No,” he said slowly, lifting his head again.
“That sounded hesitant.”
“It was only a week or two ago so I’m not adjusted to the idea.”
Aly nodded. “What do you miss the most?”
He played with a napkin left behind under a drink before answering. “Having someone to talk to before I go to sleep at night. Sometimes it was so late that all we could manage was a short ‘hello, goodnight, goodbye’ conversation.”
“Did you love her?”
“I think I wanted to, but it just didn’t work out that way. That’s why I broke things off. What about you?”
“I don’t swing that way.”
He chuckled at her wry smile. “Cute, very cute. You have a boyfriend?”
Aly shook her head. “I did, but I had to get out of it.”
“What do you miss the most?”
She smiled affectionately, “Probably watching movies. We would just curl up on the couch on Friday nights and watch a couple movies.”
“You loved him.”
His forward statement surprised her. “Riley? No. Like you, I thought I did or I would…but that disappeared quickly.”
“Mind if I ask what happened?”
“You can ask all you want but I’m not gonna tell you. Let’s just say it all came to a head at Jake & Kay’s engagement party and that was it for me.”
“Sorry to hear that. Wait, did you say they got engaged?”
“Well yeah, I would have done it myself by now if they hadn’t. But at this very moment they are off on their honeymoon,” she replied, her lips twisting to cover the meaning of the last word.
JC’s face lit up. “That’s great! Tell them I said congrats when you talk to him. Assuming I’m not on his hitlist.”
“No, Riley kicked you out for top spot about six months ago.”
“You still working together?”
She rolled her eyes and he felt his muscles tighten at the playful action. “Riley won’t be around much longer, but for now we are while I take over Jake’s lessons. Did I mention I’m teaching some dance, too?”
His grin grew, as he understood where her natural ability to move on the dance floor had been enhanced. They continued to talk into the night until Justin finally found them, with a bodyguard in tow, saying they were heading back to the hotel for the night. Aly got her black top that she had worn coming into the club and walked out after them.
“You have my number?” she asked quietly, her eyes flitting nervously back and forth between the man in front of her and their friends. Britney gave her a thumbs up, causing her to laugh lightly.
“Definitely. I’ll give you a call toward the end of the week, that sound okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. If you can’t, it’s cool-“
He hastily put his hand over her mouth to cut short her rambling. “I’ll call you. If not I’m sure the guys will kick my ass.” JC pulled her toward him in a friendly hug, holding tightly, before stepping back and waving as he walked off with the others.
Aly smacked her forehead as she climbed into her own vehicle and let her head fall against the steering wheel. “Just what have you gotten yourself into this time,” she scolded, unable to get his bright eyes out of her head.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(Friday Evening later that Week)
She dimmed the lights and locked the front door of the school before heading to one of the four classrooms. “I can’t believe she let me stay,” she muttered to herself as she mentally thanked the head instructor for allowing her to stay late and practice.
All week her mind had been twisting around hidden corners, leaving her in the middle of a vast balancing act that left her exhausted. On one hand she wished that JC would have already called her, wanting to talk to her more. On the second hand she wished he’d lost her number or forgotten to call her. The last two were unlikely to the point that she didn’t want to go home. Probability taking it’s course there would be a message on the machine by the time she got back and confrontation wasn’t a strong point.
After careful contemplation over a Healthy Choice meal that she shared lightly with Aurora Wednesday night, Aly had decided that there wasn’t any sort of future with her former boyfriend and any close connections that were made would only make them uncomfortable eventually. So all she had to do was turn him away. Problem then being that she didn’t really want him to go away, which made her stomach tumble.
Her arms reached up over her head as she stretched, bending from one side to the next slowly and deliberately as she finished the last of her stretches. The last class she taught had only been an hour or so earlier, but she didn’t want to cause unnecessary damage. Gently rotating her ankles and then shaking everything out she let out a deep, cleansing breath that allowed her to focus. Picking up the remote from the floor in front of her, she pointed it toward the stereo in the corner and pressed play, raising the volume up before tossing it toward the mirror in front of her.
A wry grin curled her lips in the corners as she began to dance, throwing herself into the moves she had ingrained in her memory as the beat pulsed. Sure, she couldn’t dance as well as they could, but she neither did it every night nor had been doing it for ten years.
It’s
hard to make the things I did undone
A
lesson I’ve learned too well, for sure
So
don’t hang up the phone now
I’m
trying to figure out just what to do
I’m
going crazy without you
She shook her head shortly as the words sank in; it was too much of a fluke that this was the dance off their debut CD that she remembered. She’d seen them do it a thousand times and spent part of a summer learning it. Still, the moves sparked exhilaration in her that forced her moves to be acute and accurate.
“Amazing technique you’ve pulled together there, kid, but I think the song is a bit too ironic for me.”
Aly’s gaze flitted around the mirror in front of her until she landed on the owner of the voice and a broad smile lit up her face. “You’re back!”
“Perfect timing, too, I’d say. When did you start learning that one?”
“Kay, this is so not the topic we should be discussing,” Aly teased, walking over and giving her a sweaty hug. “How was the trip?”
“Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I still don’t know how we got him to propose, but thank the Lord we did. Anyway, when’d he show up?”
“When did who show up?”
“NSYNC-man, love-of-your-life, tall-dark-haired-stranger-in-the-night, musician, muscular-man-of-the-month, sex-fiend, former-boyfriend…should I continue? I’m sure I could come up with more.”
Aly turned off the CD and began to close up the room, grabbing her back just outside the door as she closed it behind them. “No, no, that’s fine, I catch your drift. When did he come back? He isn’t back.”
“Oh really, then why pull out the moves?”
“Because I needed something to dance to.” She shrugged and locked the main door after setting the alarm.
“You would have danced to Brit if that was the case, she’s got better stuff.”
“She’s a really sweet girl,” Aly commented.
Kaylie looked triumphant as they walked to the parking lot. “So you did hang out with all of them.”
“Fine! I ran into Tyler and Steve in the mall between tennis and dance…then went to the concert after Justin and Lance stopped by my apartment…then agreed to hang with the crew at a club…and gave Jez my new apartment number. Satisfied?”
“I’m not, but for now she’ll have to be.”
Aly leaned back against him when he hugged her closely from behind and closed her eyes. “Why can’t I find a guy like you?”
“Coz I’m one-of-a-kind. Besides, you’ve just got to get back on track with your man and he’ll do anything for you.”
Aly turned and hugged him in return, whispering to him softly, “You have no idea how glad I am that you’re back.”
He looked questioningly at his wife as his arms wrapped around his close friend in concern. “Al, something happen while I was gone? Did Riley try something?”
She shook her head, pulling back finally. “No, not really. Tried to pull rank a few times, but that’s all. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Come by tomorrow and we’ll talk over lunch, ok? I don’t have to start until Monday. Kay is taking your morning classes.”
Aly glanced at the older woman. “You are?”
“Yeah, I just left a note for Symone. I want to get back into the swing of things before Monday roles around and we’re packed. Get some sleep and we’ll all do something tomorrow, ok?”
“Sounds good. ‘Night guys, love you!” Aly called to them as they walked to their car and she climbed into her own. The first thing she noticed was the cell phone that she had left sitting in the driver’s seat and groaned when it made noises at her. “Shut up.” It persisted to beep so she relented and checked the messages.
Just one.
Alison, hi, it’s me…JC. Um…I was hoping to catch you but I guess you’ve gone out. I’ll be up working on some song ideas for awhile with J so if you want to call back go ahead. (He paused and she heard him take a deep breath.) Please call, Aly, I need to talk to you. Bye.
Aly coughed lightly as she turned off her phone and tossed it to the floor of the back seat, turning out of the drive toward home. She shouldn’t call him. Really, she scolded herself, she didn’t have to set herself up to get hurt again. He couldn’t have changed.
She had to call on the off chance that he had.