‘Excellent,’ Iris said, smiling. ‘I think a bit of shimmying is going to do you the world of good.’
There was no time for Hope to ask what she meant – Fleur was looking around expectantly and the buzz of conversation dimmed. ‘Welcome!’ she called with a dazzling smile. ‘If you’d like to find yourselves some space, we’ll start with some gentle stretches.’
Hope automatically gravitated to the back of the studio, allowing the rest of the dancers to fill the space in front of the mirrors; the last thing she wanted to see was her own flustered face as she failed to follow Fleur. Iris took her place beside Hope without comment.
‘Listen to your body,’ Fleur said as the first few slow chords of a delicate Arabian melody drifted across the room. ‘Only stretch as far as you need to and if this is your first class, be kind to yourself.’
Iris waggled her perfectly groomed eyebrows at Hope. ‘See? Be kind.’
‘I’ll try,’ Hope replied.
The stretching was as gentle as Fleur had promised. By the end of the song, Hope’s heart had stopped thudding and she felt a little encouraged that she hadn’t fallen over while copying the teacher’s movements, not even when she’d balanced on one leg and raised the other to make circles with her foot. There’d been some furious wobbling but Hope hadn’t actually hit the floor, which was a definite win.
‘So far, so good,’ she whispered to Iris, who smiled.
‘Keep going. You’re doing great.’
That was the last time Hope had time to talk, as Fleur led the class through a whirlwind of hip lifts, shimmies, snake arms and belly pops. Each movement was clearly explained and demonstrated but Hope was acutely aware that she was at least half a beat behind everyone else, in spite of her fierce concentration. Fleur seemed to notice that Hope was struggling, however; the teacher made frequent eye contact in the mirror as she broke down the techniques, with encouraging nods and smiles. And every once in a while, something seemed to click within Hope and her body moved in a way that was similar to everyone else. She found the shimmy particularly fun, even though it made parts of her wobble in a most alarming way, but she was still relieved when Fleur announced it was time to warm down. Hope winced as she eased into the stretches and she realized her muscles were going to be complaining more over the days to come.
‘I thought you said it was low-impact,’ she said to Iris, as the class disbanded. ‘I’m sweating!’
‘That just means you worked hard,’ Iris replied. ‘Did you enjoy it?’
The word ‘no’ started to form on Hope’s lips but she caught herself. She’d missed some of the moves, had been shaky on the turns and her goddess pose had been more oh god than anything else but, in spite of all that, a strange sense of wellbeing was bubbling up inside her. And she had focused so hard on keeping up that all the frustrations of the day had flown out of her head, leaving her mind clear and her spirits cheered. She smiled at Iris. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘Good,’ the florist said, with obvious satisfaction. ‘Now come and meet Fleur.’
She introduced Hope to the dance teacher and they chatted for several minutes, as the other dancers called out their goodbyes. Hope wasn’t surprised to discover Fleur was every bit as kind and encouraging as she’d appeared during the class.
‘But it was your first time,’ she said, when Hope apologized for not keeping up. ‘You did very well, especially considering it was a mixed ability session.’
‘Oh, I don’t know about that,’ Hope said, embarrassed. ‘But at least I didn’t hit anyone with my flailing arms.’
‘Not even close,’ Iris responded. ‘And next time it will be easier. Right, Fleur?’
The other woman nodded. ‘Absolutely. Today you planted seeds that will grow each time you dance.’
‘Which basically means you have to come back,’ Iris said, with an exaggerated wink. ‘Or the flowers will die.’
Hope laughed. ‘Well, since you put it like that…’
‘We’re here every week,’ Fleur said warmly. ‘It would be lovely to dance with you again.’
It wasn’t as though she had anything else to do with her Monday evenings, Hope thought. And it would be nice to master some of the moves she’d tried, or at least learn how to do them in time with the music. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
It had been a hot day and the summer heat was lingering in the narrow courtyard outside the studio. Hope felt the contrast to the cool of the air-conditioned studio immediately; sweat bloomed on her forehead and she stopped to remove the cardigan she’d pulled on at the end of the dance class. Just ahead, Iris was checking her phone. She let out a loud groan that bounced off the buildings and echoed around the yard.
‘Everything all right?’ Hope asked in concern.
Iris stared at her screen for a few more seconds, then stuffed the phone into her pocket with a sigh. ‘What would you do if you’d been on a first date with a guy and he was keen for a second but you knew it wasn’t going anywhere?’
The ghost of a smile pulled at Hope’s lips. She hadn’t found herself in that situation during her brief foray into dating but she’d certainly watched her messages go unread and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience. ‘I’d tell him,’ she said, starting to walk towards the alley that led onto Newgate. ‘No point in wasting everyone’s time if you’re not into him.’
‘That makes sense,’ Iris said as they made their way along Newgate. ‘It’s
