6. Fondue Favors

Fondue Favors

Nicole

T his is going to be harder than I thought.

I’ve never worked as an assistant. It’s also hard when Dex, who I like very much and gives me nervous butterflies in my stomach every time he comes to my desk, obviously enjoyed time with Felix yesterday afternoon. Dex came out of the studio twenty minutes after Felix told him he wanted to show him new moves. Dex’s hair was askew, and I caught him adjusting the zipper on his pants, his cheeks still flushed with what I don’t think was dancing.

Did they have sex in there? Can sex happen that fast? How does it work when men have sex together? I mean, I know the basic mechanics of it, but is there some special item they need to…make things work ?

I put my head in my hands, thinking about how there’s so much I don’t know, and I don’t have anyone I can ask except for Tima. That seems like an awkward conversation.

Sheltered. I’ve been sheltered and coddled my entire life. Even when adults talked about what my mother called “heavy petting,” I was told to cover my ears. My entire sexual education from my mother was that my husband would know what to do, and I should listen to him for guidance and make myself available to his needs whenever he asked. I was told that any penis slipped inside me could get me pregnant, and I was to avoid that at all costs until marriage. Men were seen as lecherous beings who only wanted one thing. I remember Grandma telling me that women are like a thermostat. Men always run hot, and it’s our duty to cool them down to something normal.

Are men so animal-like that they can’t control themselves? Is this the sexism that I hear whispers of, only in reverse? Why are women in charge of harnessing a man’s control? Shouldn’t he do that himself?

Since I’ve moved here, I’ve seen a different side of things. Tima doesn’t seem to cool any man down. Neither does Mariam. I sure didn’t cool Dex and Felix down the other night. Truth be told, the more I see Dex around the studio, the more I want to do it again.

“Hey, Nicole,” Dex says cheerfully. I lift my head, trying to smile. Dex is looking at me with kind eyes and holding out a red rose. “I thought you could decorate your desk with it. ”

I look around for Felix. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think he likes me as much as Dex does. Call me crazy.

“It’s a nice day and not too cold. Want to grab some lunch?”

I eye the bottom desk drawer. “I probably shouldn’t. I brought a bologna sandwich.”

Dex squints. “Bologna? Baby, you can have bologna tomorrow. Today, you get fondue. Boss’s treat.” He holds out his hand and has my jacket held open for me before I can notice him retrieving it. I slide my arms into it, and Dex ties the belt for me. As his hands whisper over the fabric, I can’t help but watch his eyes. His smile.

He enjoys taking care of people.

Desire moves up my body. At least, I think it’s desire because I very much want to touch him. Feel his mouth on me. And I very much want to feel that mustache rub against my thighs again.

I grab my purse from the drawer, glance at my sandwich in its orange Tupperware container, and lament the carrot sticks in the plastic bag that are sure to go to waste.

I’ve never eaten fondue in a fancy restaurant, but Dex leads me to a cafe a few blocks down. He jabbers about the studio and remarks that he’s happy I decided to work with him. He happily talks about a couple movies he and Felix have seen lately and asks if I like going to the movies. I’m so enraptured by the sound of his voice and his hand in my own that I almost forget to answer .

He holds my hand in a way that I’ve never experienced with other boys. It’s practically childlike, and he even swings my hand like I used to swing my mother’s when we’d go for walks.

“We’ve seen Star Wars eighteen times. I guess they’re making a sequel. Can you believe it?” he asks as he opens the door to the restaurant.

“I’ve never seen it,” I mumble. I’m not big on movies, but if Dex is going, he can see it a nineteenth time with me.

“We’ll have to fix that,” he says, hanging up my coat on the old-fashioned coat rack by the door.

Dex tells the hostess that we need two menus, and I follow the woman and Dex to a corner booth that’s tucked away from walking traffic. The booth has leather seats and a single carnation in a canning jar. Cloth napkins are rolled with normal utensils as well as two fondue sticks.

“Why two?” I ask Dex as soon as the woman walks away.

“One for sweet. One for savory.” He leans over the table. “Have you gone out for fondue?”

I shake my head and put the sticks down, one on either side of my menu. “I had it at group parties at church, but we used toothpicks.”

He shrugs. “To be fair, that’s more sanitary in a big group.” Hell, he’s so kind and rolls with my small-town stories without any disdain or making fun of me. I like that about him.

The waitress introduces herself and puts a stack of small plates in the center of the table by the flower. She reads off a list of specials, but my mind spins. I look to Dex to take the lead. He smiles at me, nods in understanding at my wide eyes, and thankfully orders for both of us.

“We’ll have iced tea to drink, salads for both of us, and a Wisconsin cheese pot with sourdough. We’ll want a melted chocolate pot with strawberries, grapes, and graham crackers for dessert.”

Dex hands the menu back to the waitress, and my stomach growls at the thought. Now…what does one talk to a man about when that man is your boss, just bought you fondue, and has eaten the hell out of your pussy?

“Are you enjoying work so far?” Dex asks, clearly not feeling as awkward about being face-to-face with only the table between us.

“I like it. It’s quiet, and the old people are nice. I can’t believe how many elderly folks there are who take dance classes. I think half of them are here for Felix, though.”

“He’s very popular with the widows,” he chuckles, taking a sip of the iced tea the waitress sets in front of him.

She sets a glass in front of me, and I take a pink packet of sweetener out of the container at the edge of the table. I busy myself with sweetening my tea and adjusting my utensils as Dex looks at me, his eyes focused like he can’t wait to hear what I’ll say next.

The silence stretches between us until I guess he can’t take it anymore. “There’s a contest coming up for all studios and dance teams in Chicago,” he says with clear excitement in his voice. His eyes are ablaze with joy, and he reaches into his back pocket. “A bike messenger brought it over a few days ago. All the studios in town are invited to compete. Should be a good time, and it’s great exposure.”

He flattens a blue paper with curly, black writing I can’t read upside down. “I don’t desperately need the prize money, but this kind of exposure can give me that little nudge I’ve been needing for a year.”

“What kind of nudge?” I ask.

“I want Holden Dance to be a chain. Felix deserves his own studio. He’ll have one, and I’ll run the other. I’ll be able to hire more help. More full-time help – not part-time help of people with a few slick moves.”

The waitress brings our salad, and I pour the little cup of house dressing over the greens and tomatoes, soaking the vegetables. “That’s great. Who is your partner?”

Silence.

When I look up and see Dex staring at me with a smile on his face, my stomach sinks into the floor. “No, absolutely not, Dex!” I shake my head so hard that my hair comes loose from its barrette. “You’ve seen me dance.”

“I’ll teach you. How hard can it be?”

“For someone like me? Hard. Just…” My voice trails off, and I look around the restaurant like a waitress will appear and help me out of this situation. “I know you’re a teacher, but I’m sure you have a student that’ll be better than what I have to offer. ”

“You can offer a lot.” He puts a hand on mine, and I almost reconsider. The warmth of his hand makes me want to accept his offer and train twenty-four hours a day to make him proud.

“Like what?” I screech. “Comedic entertainment?”

He laughs. “You are funny, Nicole.” He wags his finger at me and spears a tomato from his salad. He pops it in his mouth and chews before answering. “You’re perfect for it.”

I nearly sputter my mouth of food. “Perfect?” I grab a drink of tea because I’m practically choking. “Perfect?”

“I knew it when I saw you at the club the other night.”

“Did you hire me because you wanted me to participate in this?” I ask, leaning forward and whispering.

“Absolutely not!” He looks offended, but I can’t be sure if he’s serious or playing with me.

“I feel betrayed.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Oh God, is that why you guys…you know?”

“Ate your sweet little box?”

I put my face in my hands, and my elbows thump against the table so hard that the dishes rattle.

“No way!” Dex leans back, ignoring his salad and putting his arm over the leather back of the booth. “That was just a perk.”

“I’m not a professional dancer. Don’t you have a Doris or Maude that can dance with you? It’ll be quaint and cute. Why not Felix?”

Dex raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Get real. This is Chicago in the seventies, baby, but it’s still not ready for that yet.”

I blow out a sigh. “Noted. ”

“I need a woman who will captivate the judges, and I knew it was you as soon as I saw you innocently standing by that bar. The judges will take one look at you and see what I did. I saw an innocent beauty who captured my attention immediately. I can teach you confidence and swagger. Hell, you should have met Felix before I took him under my wing.”

“Felix didn’t have swagger?”

“Not a drop,” Dex says, waving his hands. “Bad skin, horrible hair, and said things like, ‘Golly, gee whiz.’”

I laugh despite myself and move back from the table as the waitress brings a salad-bowl-sized fondue pot of steaming cheese and two plates of bread, one for each of us to reach easily. Dex uses a fondue skewer and stabs a sourdough square. I watch him while he dips it into the cheese and sets it on a small plate. Steam comes off it, and he sits back, obviously waiting for it to cool.

His eyes meet mine again. “I can teach you. You’re beautiful, Nicole, whether someone has told you or not. There’s something captivating about you. It’s a cross between innocence and intrigue. Just for the record, I hired you because I thought you’d be a hard worker, and you have been in the little time you’ve worked for me.”

He watches me imitate what he did with the fondue, and I tentatively test the food, letting the salty cheese coat my tongue. He watches my eyes flutter with the sheer deliciousness of it. Cheese. Glorious cheese. I think I like this kind of fondue, and I just found my favorite restaurant.

“Help me. ”

“Why should I?” I mean it to be playful, but it comes out challenging.

“I’ll pay you extra.”

I roll my neck. He knows how to twist the knife. “How much we talking?”

He taps the fondue skewer and dips another piece of bread into the cheese as he thinks. “I’ll pay your salary we agreed on plus whatever your rent is for the next three months.”

Holy shit. I can’t turn that down.

“I still think you could find someone better.”

Dex leans forward a bit more until I’m worried he’ll get cheese on his shirt. “Here’s the thing. I want someone I can teach. If you’re partnered with someone else before me, you learn their moves – how they feel - and you’ll anticipate their footwork. You’re clay I can mold. You’ll learn how my body works.” I blush at his words, and my heart pounds so hard I think he can hear it. “I’ll learn how your body works, and I’ll know how to respond to it. I’ll know when you hurt, and I can make it stop. I’ll learn when you’re in the zone, and we can be in it together.”

My chest heaves with something I can’t place, but I want to crawl over the bread, salad, and cheese to embrace him.

He knows he has me. I’m sure my eyes are dark pits of desire. He picks up his skewer and brings the cheese-covered bread to his mouth, dragging his tongue over it while he looks into my eyes. “Dancing with a partner you know well is like making love, Nicole. When done right, it can push us both into the stratosphere so much that you never want to be without that person.”

I clear my throat and try to control my body. My panties are never going to be the same, though. “And what if I do it wrong?”

“That’s why you have me. We also have three months to get you ready.”

I look around the restaurant because I can’t look at him. He’s already shown me a world I’ve never seen, never dreamed of. I’m working at a dance studio, and I’m now the kind of person who’s had two men go down on her in the same night.

Now he wants me to enter a dance contest? There will be judges, other dancers with years of experience, and I’ll have to spend even more time with him.

Spending more time with Dex Holden is both a blessing and a curse. I’m already enamored with him so much that I’m considering entering a contest and risking tripping over my own feet.

We eat in silence, and I realize Dex is a professional at getting what he wants. He doesn’t push or nag further. He changes the subject to work and how he needs me to order some cleaning items and make a few calls for him. We clean out the cheese pot, and the waitress appears with the melted chocolate pot and the fruit and graham crackers Dex requested.

Orgasmic sweetness explodes in my mouth as Dex chatters on about starting Latin dance classes because he thinks they’ll be popular. He raves about disco and how it’s made his career, but he thinks it’s on the way out and only has a few more years before it’s replaced by the next big thing. When the next big thing happens, he’s going to be ready and get in on it at the ground floor. He also wants to buy the club after he gets a second studio set up. He’d keep it as a disco bar until disco moves on, and he’d do regular remodels with whatever music style is in vogue. I marvel at his business sense and his ability to pivot.

We’re almost at the bottom of the chocolate pot before I bring it up again. “What if I let you down?” I ask. “I’ll feel horrible if you don’t get your other location. Felix will never forgive me, that’s for sure. If you don’t get the other location, you won’t buy any club.”

Dex puts his hand on mine and runs it as far up my arm as he can go with a table of food separating us. “Let me worry about Felix. Besides, we only need to place to get a decent amount of prize money and get my name out there. If we come in third, I’ll be tickled pink. I got you.” He grins at me and pulls out cash to pay our bill. “Is that a yes?”

“I’m thinking.”

He lifts my hand and presses a kiss to the center of it. “Be wild with me, Nicole. Let’s go on an adventure.”

He knows just how to twist the knife with me. I have never had an adventure, and I’m desperate for one.

“I really hope I don’t regret this.”