Wednesday, august 30,
1978
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN #7 OF TEN
Victoria
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In a previous
chapter, I explained how Rosalyn Lively persuaded me to take
her place at the Jewish Community Center on Wednesday
evenings in June. When my June-July class ended, I started
a new class in August. 40 students signed up for
my August class, all women.
There was an
exceptionally attractive woman who stood at the very back of my class.
Her name was Victoria.
She was tall, 5'
7", slender with classic Barbie Doll proportions. Due
to her height, I had no trouble spotting her among the other
women. Victoria was very pretty. She resembled
Olivia Newton-John when she wore her blonde hair in a
ponytail. She resembled Julie Christie from Dr. Zhivago with her hair up. Either way,
Victoria was a
stunning
beauty. Tall,
blonde and beautiful, how could I fail to notice her?
Since a line dance class does not
offer opportunities for private conversations, I was
unsure how to approach her. However, since she kept her distance,
Victoria remained a mystery.
Victoria seemed to have
an interest in me. She tracked me with the same intense
look I had seen on Jenny's face. However, unlike
Jenny, Victoria was unwilling to meet my gaze. In order to
teach a line dance, I kept my back to the class so they could copy my
feet. Since there were no mirrors, I had no idea what
Victoria was up to. However, sensing Victoria's
secret interest, without warning I would whirl around to face the group.
Seeing Victoria instantly glance away, I would smile with
amusement. Gotcha.
Due to Victoria's beauty, she was fun
to fantasize about. Like Karen, she was moody.
Victoria never smiled. Like Karen, she
seemed sad. Like Karen, Victoria
wore a wedding ring. That's all I needed to know.
Following my recent breakup with Karen, if there was one lesson I
learned, I never wanted to go near a married woman again
in my life. One sad experience was more than enough.
Although I kept telling myself I had permission from Karen's
husband to see her, that did not seem to matter. The
guilt had been so intense I vowed I would never again
consider dating a married woman. Furthermore, why
bother? Good grief, I was surrounded by single women.
Seriously, they were coming out of the woodwork. So
many women, so little time. Married women were
out of the question.
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Content to admire
her beauty from afar, I thought Victoria was Hispanic because she was so dark.
It was not till the night she approached me that I
realized her dark skin was the result of many summer
hours spent tanning by the JCC swimming pool. To my surprise,
she turned out to be Jewish. On the last Wednesday of
August, Victoria stayed behind to speak with me.
"Hello, my
name is Victoria. I enjoy your class, but it is
not exactly what I am looking for. I want to learn how to partner
dance. Do you by chance teach partner dancing?"
I said yes and told her about
my partner dance class at
Stevens of Hollywood.
Then I
handed her a copy of my September schedule.
"My
best night is Tuesday, but I don't see
a Beginning Partner Dance class listed for Tuesdays in
September."
Actually
I did have a beginner class starting on Tuesday, but
it reserved for the Class Factory.
Fortunately I had a second option.
"I have a
Tuesday class that has been meeting for a month. It
meets at 8 pm. Why not try that class? I bet
you could catch up."
"You're
probably right. See you next week."
I watched her carefully
as she departed. There was something about this moody,
reserved
lady that
unsettled me. Here we go again, another Mystery Woman.
Speaking of Mystery Women, tomorrow night I hoped to see Nancy at
the Jet Set.
I could hardly wait.
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THURSDAY, august 31
NANCY RETURNS
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When Nancy
returned to the Jet Set on Thursday, August 31, I was overwhelmed with
relief at being given a second chance.
My heart skipped
when I saw
Nancy
walk towards the dance floor. Pleased to see she
was unattached, I refused to take my eyes
off her.
If Nancy got away again, I would die.
Fortunately Nancy
made no effort to leave. In
fact, she came directly to the floor and stood beside me.
If I did not know better, Nancy was here to see me.
Why did I think that? Age 24, Nancy was the youngest woman in the
club by a good ten years. Age 28, I was the youngest
man. Since I was the only guy Nancy came close to matching in age,
there was no one else likely to be of interest to her. My other clue was
that she watched me as much as I watched her. We must
have caught each other glancing a dozen times.
After the first two times, we started smiling each time it happened.
A good sign.
The moment I
touched Nancy that night, I trembled mightily. When
she looked in my eyes and smiled, my heart leapt for joy.
Her smile was exquisite, intoxicating. Better still, I was certain we had a connection. At the end of class
when the lights
dimmed, I asked her to dance. As we danced, I decided
this was my opportunity. When the song ended, I made
my move. Would she accept?
In Hindsight, I
probably had no business asking Nancy out. Mind you, I
am not trying to put myself down. I was a nice-looking
guy, but Nancy was Supermodel beautiful with a figure to
match. Nancy was the kind of woman who walks the
Hollywood Red Carpet arm in arm with the most handsome man
on the planet. On the other hand, I was riding a
two-month hot
streak. First there were the Gangster women who smiled
at me all night long. Then there were the Belly Dance
girls who went overboard trying to get my attention.
Then came the summer parade of the beautiful women I had dated. All four women had been knock-out
good-looking. What I am saying is Nancy had appeared
at the exact moment when my confidence was sky high.
Furthermore, she obviously liked what
she saw. The dance floor was my
turf, the place where I felt the strongest, the most
attractive. This gave me
the courage to ask the most beautiful woman I had ever met to go
dancing with me. This was my three-year test to see how far I had
come since Katie. What would Nancy say?
To my immense relief, Nancy said yes.
I decided to make
arrangements on the spot. Don't give her time to change
her mind.
"How about tomorrow night, Friday?"
Nancy
smiled and said that would be perfect. "Yes, I
would like that.
How shall I dress?"
"Wear your
favorite outfit. I will take you somewhere special and
show you off. You don't mind that, do you?"
"No.
I'm used to it."
Interesting
response. I had no doubt Nancy was telling the truth,
but it was the way she said it... matter of fact, no trace of emotion. I asked for her
address and phone number, but Nancy threw me a curve.
"Rick,
if you don't mind, I prefer to
come to your house. It would be much
easier for me."
Now that was a
twist. I decided Nancy did not want me to know where she lived.
Nor did she want me calling.
Not a problem, so I drew her a map and set a time, 9 pm.
That would give me time to teach my 7-8 pm Friday class,
then get home to meet her. As I drove home after the
Jet Set,
it crossed my mind that Nancy was a girl with a secret.
One possibility would be to avoid stalkers. That made
perfect sense. Another possibility is that she lived
with a man. Or perhaps she had a boyfriend who
appeared unexpectedly. That made sense too. There was a
real air of mystery about this woman. If there was one
thing I had learned this summer, beautiful women never come
unattached. I had just received strong indication that
Nancy had other admirers. Why was I not surprised?
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RICK ARCHER'S LIST OF
SUSPECTED SUPERNATURAL EVENTS
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DISCO ODYSSEY |
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070 |
Suspicious |
Synchronicity |
1978 |
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Summer of 78:
Jenny, Marilyn, Karen, Francesca and Nancy prepare Rick for the Temptation
Triangle |
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069 |
Suspicious |
Coincidence
Cosmic Blindness |
1978 |
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The peculiar presence of
the Murray Bowen article in Francesca's car plus a case of egregious bad
judgment by the maitre d created the bizarre Golf Clothing
debacle at the Medical Center dining room. |
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067 |
Serious |
Lucky Break
Cosmic Blindness |
1978 |
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Lance Stevens' thoughtless decision
to allow Rick to rent rooms for group lessons gives him the chance to start a
competing dance program under the same roof |
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066 |
Serious |
Lucky Break
Coincidence
Act of Kindness |
1978 |
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Deborah Gordon of Class Factory
hands Rick the break of a lifetime with a promise to send him students that will
belong to him, not to Lance Stevens |
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065 |
Suspicious |
Cosmic Blindness
Dance Curse 1 |
1978 |
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The Ritz Debacle is caused when the Ritz DJ loses his mind and
turns out the lights |
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064 |
Serious |
Cosmic Blindness |
1978 |
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Eric loses his job after mysteriously challenging Lance Stevens.
Rick is so shaken he begins to wonder if he has been spared for a reason.
Concluding that teaching dance is his life's mission, Rick makes a sacred vow. |
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063 |
Serious |
Coincidence
Synchronicity |
1978 |
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Partner Dance Crisis: Gary, Sue Ann, Stevens, Janie, and Suzy each
make a guest appearance to help Rick create the 'New Yorker' partner dance
system out of thin air in the space of seven days. |
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THE SUMMER OF 1978
REVISITED |
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The Summer
of 78 was one of the most remarkable periods of my
life.
June was
notable for my return to the Jewish
Community Center, Eric's demise, and the Ritz
Debacle.
July was
notable for Jenny, Cold War, Deborah and the Class
Factory, plus Lance Steven's decision to let me rent
a room from him.
August
was notable for Karen, Marilyn, Francesca, Victoria,
and Nancy.
So now
it is time to guess who is who in my "Take it
Easy" quiz.
Seven women on my mind,
Four that want to own me, Two that want to stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine.
While
you mull it over, I would like to briefly discuss
Good Luck and Bad Luck again. I left graduate
school as a complete failure in career and love.
Strangely enough, from that point on my future career
received a neverending amount of Good Luck.
Lucky Breaks included the Mistress Book, Rosalyn
Lively handing me a job out of thin air, Lance Stevens handing me a
job out of thin air, Saturday Night Fever, and the
Class Factory. Even my Bad Breaks turned into
Good Luck. Overcoming my Partner Dance Crisis
made me the best-known Disco teacher in the city.
Eric's demise led to the awareness that teaching
dance was meant to be my life's work. The Ritz
Debacle lulled Lance Stevens to sleep when I asked
permission to rent rooms from him.
However,
when it came to women my Luck was just the opposite.
Due to Bad Breaks I lost out on two excellent
girlfriends and two potential girlfriends for
reasons that were totally out of my control.
Here is what I noticed. When I lost out
on special women in the past, it was always because
I made mistakes due to inexperience. Things were different now.
Although I was crushed to strike out with Jenny,
Karen, Marilyn, and Francesca, not once was it "my
fault". This suggested I was finally
growing wise enough to handle myself around exceptional
women. Yes, the Epic Losing Streak was still
intact at 14 years and I still had things to learn,
but over the summer I made
considerable progress. In addition I had just met
Nancy. Assuming I played my cards right, who
knows, maybe Nancy will become the girlfriend of my
dreams. And even if I came up short, Nancy was
was bound to teach me more lessons.
Okay,
time for answers to our Take it Easy Quiz.
Which
one became my friend? Deborah. Her Class
Factory organization will be instrumental in helping me
develop a dance program independent of Lance
Stevens.
Which
women wanted to own me? Jenny, Karen, Victoria,
and Nancy.
Which
ones wanted to stone me? Marilyn and Francesca.
Well, perhaps I have twisted the facts a bit.
No doubt Marilyn wanted to stone me, but probably
not Francesca. Although I would
never see either woman again, I imagine they were
just as disappointed as me at how badly things turned out.
I have
not spoken much of the heartache I felt at losing
out on each of the four women. Nor have I
commented on how weird it was to have so many women
interested at the same time after 14 years of
drought. Why so many at once? Let me add
how maddening it was to have something go wrong with
each woman for reasons out of my control.
Have you
ever gone shopping and found the perfect dress or
the perfect shirt only to find out there was
something wrong? Jenny was perfect.
Except she was too old. Marilyn was perfect.
Except she was too young. Karen was not only
perfect, she was the right age. Too bad she
had a ring on her finger. Francesca was the
most perfect of all, but... There's that word
again... "But". Each woman was the
answer to my Wish Upon a Star. So why couldn't
the Universe get it right?
That
leads me to my point. Mae West, no
stranger to the company of men, had an interesting take on
why she preferred to stay unattached.
"Marriage is
a fine institution, but I'm not ready for an
institution. Men are my hobby. If I ever got
married I'd have to give up chasing men. I prefer to save a
boyfriend for a rainy day, and to make sure to have another
one handy in case it doesn't rain."
Unlike Mae West,
I was trying very hard to develop a committed relationship.
However, due to some truly lousy luck, I stayed unattached
nonetheless. Why was my luck so bad? To be
frank, I believe Fate was involved. Why?
Because three women were about to help me build the
largest dance studio in the world and I was not ready for
them. So this summer crash course in dating was
designed to bring me up to speed. And the crazy thing
is that it worked. If Patricia had arrived in August,
I would not have had the courage to go anywhere near her.
As it stood, I had just barely enough courage to approach
her in October. In other words, I see the Summer of 78
as a training period meant to prepare for a world of trouble.
In the Fall I would my hands full dealing with three
of the most challenging women I would ever meet.
And so the
stage is set for all kinds of Fall Fireworks.
After that comes the Year of Living Dangerously.
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