My mood grew
worse on Thursday night. No one showed up for
Victoria's Advanced class at 7, so she came and assisted me.
When only 3 people showed up for her second class at 8, I
told her to bring them into my room and we would merge the
two classes. Combining the attendance of Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday, we had about 40 students, 17 of
which belonged to Victoria. Back in the old days, we
would have had 150-200.
After class,
Victoria insisted we engage in Car Talk. No
surprise there. Three nights out of four, Victoria
would insist we go to her car after class and talk things
over. Victoria always set the agenda. Sometimes
we discussed the latest mean thing Michael had said to her.
Other times we discussed our future together. What
future? Ever
since Victoria handed me her 'Husband List' back in
July, any romantic ideas I once had were gone forever.
However, for fear Victoria might leave the studio or do something
to harm it, for two months I dared not to let Victoria
know the truth.
I was very angry
at Victoria. Why had she insisted on teaching in
September? Her pathetic trickle of students barely
paid her salary. I was also mad that she had failed to
discuss repairing her marriage over the Labor Day Weekend as
promised. Now that Jennifer was in my life, why
should I wait? No more delays. Now was the time
for Victoria to head off into the sunset. The Dance
Curse, the Karate Chop, and the dwindling Disco enrollments
in September were sure to send Victoria a clear message that
her days as the Supreme Diva of Disco were over.
Without Disco... the tie that bound us... what possible
reason did Victoria have to continue? Sooner or later,
Michael would make Victoria see that her stubborn obsession
with Disco and me was sheer folly. Convinced Victoria
was certain to give in, I had long believed time was on my
side. All I had to do was continue to appease her and
let Michael be the bad guy. Unfortunately, given that
my Appeasement Strategy was working at the speed of glacier
formation, I felt incredibly frustrated.
However, tonight
Victoria was clinging to me and to the studio for dear life.
Obviously my strategy had not worked, so it was time to
switch gears. Victoria could bluster all she wanted,
but now that she had abandoned the studio, she no longer had
any power over me. I should just say forget it, don't
come back next week, I can handle it without you. So
why did I hesitate? Believe it or not, Victoria got
her reprieve thanks to Country-Western dancing. Before
this surprising offer to teach at Meyerland Club, I assumed
my dance career was over. So long, Victoria, don't
forget to shut the door on your way out. But now
suddenly I had a reason to protect the studio again.
You never know, Country-Western might lead to something.
Considering how much I despised Country-Western, I found it
incredibly ironic that it forced me to continue appeasing
Victoria. How strange is that? T
Just then
Victoria interrupted my thoughts. "By the way, I am
not coming to Camelot tomorrow night."
I immediately
saw red. I was already in a bad mood over Jennifer's
mysterious disappearance over this coming weekend and now
Victoria said she wasn't coming to our weekly all-studio
dance event tomorrow. Citing the 'Dance Curse' as her
reason,
Victoria had canceled Annabelle's.
That was a crime in my book. She had missed last Friday
at the Pistachio Club and now she was
going to miss again. This was bullshit. Given
how much her absence had negatively affected the mood of the
group last Friday, I wanted to scream, "Why are you still
here? Just go! Stay home and work on your
marriage?"
Somehow I held
my temper. "Is this a permanent decision regarding Friday night?"
Victoria shrugged. "I guess we will
just have to see."
It felt to me like Victoria was
deserting a sinking ship. Well, fine and dandy.
If I had no reason to expect her help anymore, then why am I
sitting here in the dark listening to this crap?
Fed up, I opened the
car door and wordlessly got out.
I was in a Clark Gable kind of mood. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
