"When's the last time you talked to him?"
"Almost a year ago. Lots about him could have changed since then."
"Yet I wonder if your feelings have. You're still on the sidelines, as if you're waiting for your chance. And you have that look of wanting to be in the game. You were better than me at hiding it, but I still recognize it. You don't get touchdowns from the sidelines."
Camille paused and chuckled to herself, wondering how she came to a football analogy.
"I'm not going to give you a push out there. But, just something to c-"
"Cammy," a voice interrupted from behind her.
Camille turned to see Denise, the club owner. They exchanged smiles Camille turned back to June once more to finish her sentence.
"Just something to consider," she looked back out to Auggie and June, before excusing herself from June's company.
June watched both women step away, Denise talking about a CD, and something about dancing. June tore her attention away from the to look back at Auggie she noticed was sitting and talking with his friend. A male friend, she noticed, as he hadn't gone over to dance with them. Camille's pep-talk and the opportunity of him being alone gave her a small push of consideration. She could actually do it. It was a gamble, and for the first time in a long time, she thought more about what their was to gain instead of to lose.
She kept this train of thought going until a co-worker walked up to her to start chatting about things. She barely recognized her, and would've easily mistaken her for being one of Denise's acquaintances. The conversation seemed pretty one-sided as June was half-paying attention, but the woman didn't seem to mind. The faint smell of liquor off of her told June that she was a pretty chatty even when tipsy, whoever she was. June excused herself as politely as possible to the bathroom before this woman could get another drink in her. It was a little motivating that June saw Auggie head for the men's room.
With the women's room adjacent, June entered and sighed as she looked in the mirror. She couldn't even feign having to use the bathroom, even as nervous as she felt. She simply listened for the sound of the men's room opening up, waiting for her chance to run into him. It could be easy to exit to find someone entering the men's room, but she patiently waited, splashing some cool water on her face, practicing her posture and reapplying some makeup.
It could've been nearly ten minutes of waiting, but she finally heard the sound of a nearby door creaking open, and took that as her cue. In opening the door herself, she heard what sounded like Denise's voice speaking to everyone, followed by some different music beginning to play. What played before wasn't as loud, but this new music was meant to be in the forefront of everyone's attention.
June opened the door to find Auggie looking out at a crowd gathered around someone dancing. She smiled at him, brighter than she could contain, but not enough to show her crush. He gave her an equivalent smile, as they slowly approached together to a vacant space in the crowd. In the center they saw Camille dancing to the new music.
Talk amongst the crowd of Denise presenting Camille and a dance gave a bit more insight as to what the pair had missed. Things along the lines of "Camille lost a bet to Denise and had to perform," or "Camille might've asked to do this to liven things up" were spoken amongst the greeting card partygoers, but thing became quieter as the dance and the music gained more detail.
Camille slowly moved herself to the beat, hips shaking and swirling to the beat. Her eyelids stayed closed most of the time, clearly lost in the enjoyment of her dance. Her wallflower story seemed absolutely unbelievable to June as Camille moved effortlessly, unabated, fully immersed in what she was doing, even more extroverted than June was introverted.
The music was clearly a remix of some sort, arranged in a way to take advantage of expertly cut dialog from TV, movies, and certain songs to create custom lyrics. Not all of them were clear, but June and everyone else easily caught words from the refrain - "love spell" "you are mine" "kisses" " you belong to me." Vocals of Nina Simone, Madonna's "Erotica," and a dash of Spice Girls complimented the audio. Put together it all seemed rather original, catchy even; the kind of seductive music you'd expect to hear from 90s pop stars at the height of their careers at the height of her career.
The caramel-haired woman now had everyone's attention, undulating unabashed, her torso and limbs making bolder movements, her dance style a mix of exotic and almost solo flamingo-style dancing, at first. She walked with a confident gait in the circle surrounding her, giving everyone a close view of her catwalk strut. As Camille crossed June's path, the smile she already had grown for the second June caught it. Men and women alike seemed to enjoy everything she did; borderline risqué, but creatively tasteful.
Camille noticed one guy moving to the music similar to how she started in the circle; he had a good sense of the beat the way he shifted his torso. From the very center of the space made for her, Camille pointed in his direction, calling him out. He seemed surprised as he watched her finger crux toward him, a playful come-hither stare filling his vision. He took slow steps toward her, letting his body follow the music as he did so. A few women surrounding them were giving a few catcalls toward the attractive, agile, rhythmed man. The song was clearly made to promote female empowerment in a sexy, romantic dance, and yet he looks and empowered and as skilled as she was.
At some point, the music transitioned, some of the quieter beats remained as scintillating, belly dancing music lead the song in a new direction, and at least one of the dancers as well. Camille automatically took to the music while the male dancer regressed to simple motions, finding a new rhythm to dance to. June finally noticed that Camille had changed sweaters. The color hadn't changed much, from a dark muted red to a brighter burgundy, but there was a festive design on her new one, a pink heart shape with an arrow piercing through it. And the new one was cut low to show off her midriff, showing a navel ring of a cupid and heart shape. Lights overhead gleaming down, it glistened in everyone's eyes as they watched it and her roll her femininely-toned stomach in waves. Hands above her head, her style changed to part ballerina, part bellydancer.
The male dancer seemed to barely find a rhythm while focusing more on that bellyring. Several of their audience thought the man was beginning to transform into a snake, for how carefully he followed, sometimes mimicked every last move of hers. Every so often one of her hands would extend to him, luring him closer, manipulating him to fall and rise as she wished. Sometimes he would find the rings adorning her fingers just as easy to follow as the belly ring, as her fingers danced as fluidly as she did. Like the circle she walked along their audience before, Camille moved counterclockwise this time, reversing her strut while still rocking her hips in waves and from side to side, twirling occasionally. Her fluidity gave people the impression that she was gliding on air, just above the ground, even moonwalking in her flats. The "snake" followed her path, enraptured, the face of a pacified zombie while moving serpentine-like when she wanted. For most of the audience, it was as authentic as a snake-charmer dance could be given the circumstances, the only live showing they'd ever get to see in their lifetimes.
No one noticed how strong the beats were getting; Camille and her snake kept mouths and minds silent for the duration of their dance. But the silence was filled with the remixed lyrics, still playing in everyone's head. The male snake wasn't alone in the expression he bore; everyone gradually started to look like him. Auggie and June awareness of themselves was a miniscule percentile compared to Camille. The rest was a steady stream of repetitive words. Not a soul in the club was unconvinced that a love spell hadn't descended upon them. Inaudible suggestions were hidden behind binaural beats, the overall spell much more intricate than anyone could've realized, as was Camille's intention when she made it.
She'd fallen a little bit into the spell herself, but it was a self-induced spell, invoked well before the music began. She was truly in-love with dancing like this, and the power she could hold over a captive crowd, or just one lucky dance partner. Her ingenuity led to having both, as her snake was reduced to a puddle of aroused and unshakable fascination. He crawled to follow her, or stayed on his knees, the last of this strength being used to imitate puppet strings tied to her fingers and belly to pull him upwards, downwards, or closer. Spinning her hips in a hula-hooping motion led his mind to spin three times as fast.
Everyone else had found themselves in a state of standby. Their bodies were still while taking in suggestions from the unheard lyrics, while their minds prepared them for a fantasy to live out. Men and women found themselves on their own dance floor in their heads, everyone around them unspecific dark forms in human shape, only becoming detailed if the person desired them. Words lacing their thoughts told them to seek out who they could desire, anyone they could harbor a passion for. Those who could find someone would give the each other their full attention, while still minding the dark human forms dancing around them. In the absence of a partner, the person would dance to the beat themselves, seeing the person they'd want to dance with the most.
June and Auggie only needed to turn to themselves to find a suitable partner. They both felt like the star of their own movie, the hot, sensually signature scene of a romance picture. Auggie more supporting actor than actor, as all men were in the room, following the pace that the women set with their bodies. June slowly took to the lead role, more fascinated with what she was being coaxed into, enjoying the suggestions, but slow in acting on them. She didn't move nearly as much as some of the women around them, becoming savant snake charmers themselves. Camille could've programmed a full dance floor worthy of an R or X-rated film, but she kept things at PG-13 level, giving everyone incentive to take it to R or higher on their own time later. June had yet to rise above PG, until she felt a helping hand, and an additional voice speaking directly into her ear.
