***
Monday's Child is fair of face,
Tuesday's Child is full of grace
, Wednesday's Child is full of woe, Thursday's Child has far to go, Friday's Child is loving and giving, Saturday's Child works hard for a living but the Child born on the Sabbath Day is fair and wise and good and gay.***
* * *
Lorraine Guildry stared at her figure in the mirror, stretching her leg over the barre. For being forty-two, she was still in good shape, but not in good enough shape for the American Theater of Ballet. After her last
pointe
class, Harvey Childress, the director, had come in along with Whitney, his secretary, and had informed her that they were no longer interested in having her perform with the troupe. She was more than welcome to remain as an instructor and maybe some theatrical assistant position, but her days as a dancer were through. She had taken the information with her usual poker face and had only broken down when Aleksandr Filutov, the new male principal dancer came in to give her a hug.
"I have learned so much from watching you, Miss Lorraine. They are making a huge mistake."
Tears spilled from her eyes at his praise but she was a realist. Being a ballerina was a physical job and Mother Nature was sure to pull the plug some time. This was her time. She accepted his words, smiled up into his youthful blue eyes and watched his muscled ass as he left the room. Probably gay, she had sighed to herself. She didn't need man troubles, too. She set her leg down and did a deep
pli
é
in the fourth position, raised the other leg and stretched the inside muscles. Still beautiful, still flexible, but no longer wanted.
The door opened on the other side of the studio and she turned to see who had entered. It was nearly ten o'clock and no one else was in the building except her and the janitors so she was very surprised to see Aleksandr in full Romeo
pas de deux
costume, carrying a record. He didn't look at her, but continued to the sound center, putting the record on, then moved to the side of the room, assuming the opening position of the dance. His eyes alighted on her and she moved quickly to assume the female dancer's opening position, her heart soaring.
Prokofiev's piece began and they began to move through the choreography, slowly and at a leisurely pace and something caught Lorraine's eye. Aleksandr was not wearing a cup and she could discern the outlines of his heavy balls and thick cock through the thin material of his white tights. That knowledge took her breath away and try as she might not to, her eyes kept straying to his package. He gave no notice of her actions, just continued through the movements, his technique perfection. Then he touched her breast. His touch was so soft, so gentle that she almost missed it, except that his eyes connected with hers.
A creeping warmth moved through her and she nearly stumbled into an
arabesque