Salsa in the city

Episode Six: Wildin' out...

A few days had passed; Emma had been doing some thinking. She decided to arrange a lunch time meeting with the girls, including Kat and Ava who were yet to speak and settle their differences. They arranged to meet up in a high street coffee shop, hoping to find a quiet corner to convene in.  Emma arrived first; she ordered herself a latte and a salad then sat down. Lauren arrived soon after and roughly did the same; they sat at a table for four wondering whether either Kat or Ava would actually show. “Have you spoken to either of them today?” Lauren asked.  “Yeah, I've called and text to remind them as well," Emma replied. “Oh, OK, I reckon they'll turn up soon, how are you anyway hun?” Lauren enquiried. “I’m fine really, I just want to see all my girls back together again you know.” Emma explained. “Yeah it's just weird isn't it." Lauren replied. 

As they chatted away Ava arrived looking quite fed-up and disinterested. She walked straight past the counter and headed straight for the table; she gave both Lauren and Emma a subtle embrace and sat down. “Hey miss thing, how've you been?” Lauren asked. “Not bad really, I’ve just been really busy with work and stuff you know.” Ava replied. “Is that it?? Is there no juicy gossip? How’s the love life, how’s Angelo?” Lauren probed. “Oh him…” Ava responded with disdain. “He’s been acting weird lately," she added. “How so?” Lauren enquired as she gave Emma a subtle glance. “Well it started the other day….” Ava was cut mid-sentence as Lauren and Emma had turned their heads to see Kat bustling her way through the door and joining the queue to order a hot chocolate and a toasted sandwich.

Ava seemed to glance over in Kat’s direction but then sharply looked away before uttering “I didn’t think she’d make it.” With half a smile on her face.  Kat approached her three friends in her usual unreformed fashion and embraced Lauren and Emma quite elaborately. Ava stood up and looked Kat in the eye momentarily before the two engaged in a swift and stand offish hug that affirmed that the dust had perhaps settled on their dispute but there may still have been underlying and unresolved issues between them.

“Hey ladies, sorry I’m late I've just had a row with the taxi driver, he went the long way the cheeky so and so, he must think in stupid or something” Kat explained. “Oh Kat chill out, the amount of free lifts you get you deserve to get ripped off from time to time.” Emma joked as all four girls burst out laughing.

“So, you were saying Aves?”  Lauren asked whilst stirring her tea as the laughter subsided. “Oh yeah, well, it’s nothing major really - but I'm just getting a different vibe from him all of a sudden, and we were getting on quite well.” Ava replied. “I wouldn’t worry too much he’s probably just feeling a bit overwhelmed or something.” Lauren cajoled. “I’m not sure about him, it’s like he’s got something to hide, I can sense it." Ava explained. Lauren gave Emma a swift prod under the table.

“What?” Ava enquired. “What?” Emma and Lauren replied in unison. “You know something, don’t you? Come on, out with it!" Ava demanded. “Rumbled..." Lauren conceded.  

Lauren and Emma described the antics of the previous Thursday night omitting no details whatsoever.  They explained all to Ava about the provocative Esperanza; the elusive François, the after party, Angelo’s evolvement and how a dubious love bite appeared upon his neck.

Kat starred in amazement, Ava leant back and looked around the coffee shop in an effort to digest all of this new information. “What..... Really?  Wow!” Ava exclaimed, “I suppose that explains his behaviour, it sounds like he was getting a bit too close to that Esperanza though, or was she getting too close to him? Hmm, either way I don’t like it." She added. “That floozy was basically throwing herself at him." Emma exclaimed.

The girls chatted and chatted whilst enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the coffee shop, they parted ways in agreement that they would all meet up on the coming Thursday to hit the Copa Cubaña together in style.

The following Thursday the girls did just that, they met up ritualistically around at Emma’s flat to get into the mood with a few glasses of wine and to decide what they were going to wear.  At the Copa they were greeted with the brimming smile and exaggerated salutations of Tim the instructor who seemed happy to see the girls all attending salsa together. The girls were joined at the bar by the charmingly coy Estavan and the mysteriously abrasive Ricardo.

As they were at the bar enjoying the initial shorts and cocktails that really warmed them up for a night of hot stepping they were interrupted by a husky call of “Ricky, Esta, mwah mwah," in a broad south American accent. Esperanza had swanned her way into the Copa and over to the bar, ostentatiously greeting Ricardo and Estavan with an over- familiar embrace and a kiss on each cheek. All four girls gritted their teeth with discontentment as Esperanza flirted overtly with Estavan and even more so Ricardo. Her teardrop ruffle trim dress embraced her Amazonian figure in a way that enticed stares from all around the room. Her golden skin glistened like the night sky, the high slit in her dress revealed a shapely yet supple leg that was further accentuated by a stiletto heel that no one should be able to dance in. Emma spoke for all of the girls when murmuring "I hate that bitch," under her breath.

Esperanza was followed into the Copa by locally renowned musician François and a few of his miscellaneous hangers on, one of them strangely and surprisingly being their new pal Angelo who seemed to be an accepted member of the entourage.

The girls nudged and prodded each other in a reactionary chain from Emma through Kat to Lauren like a sort of eyebrow raising Mexican wave. Ava simply observed and carried on as if nothing had happened but all the while making mental notes of all that she was seeing. “Shall we dance then girls?” Ava suggested “To the floor” Lauren decreed. By now all four girls were fully fledged salsa enthusiasts and could keep up with any leading male dance partner who courageously approached any one of the sassy quartet. 

Before long Lauren and Emma had paired off with Ricardo and Estavan whilst Kat and Tim were getting quite steadily re-acquainted. Ava, ever observant paid close attention to the absorbing ‘goings on’ at the Copa; in particular Angelo’s newly found acquaintance in François and the devious Esperanza. The garish group sipped cocktails through straws and laughed luridly at almost everything that each one of them said to one another.

As Ava began to tire of merely taking in her surroundings she decided to accept an offer to dance from Derek aka D-Rock who had not long since arrived at the Copa with his own entourage of rather less glamorous but equally gaudy chums. “I haven't seen you in here for a while” D-Rock said curiously and as always in a probing tone “I've been busy” Ava replied despondently, hardly making eye contact.

Derek picked up on the fact that Ava seemed somewhat distant during their dance and in his unscrupulous efforts to potentially 'score' began to spurt off all manner of insights and proposals that roused Ava’s curiosity. 

Ava began to humour Derek in an effort to goad him for information yet still giving Angelo and co the odd glance. “Don't get hung up on him he’s all sprung off Esperanza’s tail but…” D-Rock stopped mid-sentence and looked around to see who was watching “I was talking to Tim and he said Ricardo and Esperanza go WAY back…”Oh yeah?" Ava enquired.  “Yeah, apparently they used to be a bit of an item”. Derek continued to gossip like a loquacious hairdresser on a Saturday morning - hoping that his callous sophistry might be winning Ava over. Ava was completely savvy to D-Rock's tactical loose-lip-ing but continued to humour him for her own informative gains.

On a routine bathroom trip the girls systematically checked their makeup, chatted and compared notes on the night so far. The girls were taken aback by the revelations that Ava had encountered yet remained sceptical due the source of the information.
They re-entered the floor to what seemed to be a commotion, Ricardo had approached D-Rock and was demanding to know what he had been talking about with Ava "None of your business hombre" D-rock spouted to the amusement of his chums. The enraged Ricardo gripped D-Rock by the throat and forced him against the wall "You talk too much my friend" Ricardo said with intense look on his face, Derek tried to loosen Ricardo's grip but couldn't, Ricardo began to squeeze on D-rock's windpipe until he became short of breath and slightly faint. "Take your hands off me man" he squealed in a stifled and considerably higher pitch voice. D-rock's friends stood surrounding Ricardo in an attempt to intimidate him but to no avail. The music stopped and everybody was paying attention “Break it up guys" Tim shouted in his most authoritative voice. Ricardo looked around to see Tim approaching him with the palms of his hands out facing him in hoping to diffuse the situation. "Come on Ricardo'" he said. Ricardo looked Tim in the eye and finally relaxed his grip on Derek's neck.

Lauren knew why Ricardo was enraged, she knew there must have been something between him and Esperanza and she didn't like it, but right there and then she wasn't interested in that, all she could think about was how she found Ricardo's display of animalistic machismo to be extremely sexy. "He looked like he could have killed him with his bare hands" she thought to herself.

Ricardo returned to the bar and finished his drink as if he had not just caused uproar in the Copa. A dishevelled D-rock gathered himself together and scurried out of the club like a common rodent. "That guy is mean and dangerous" Lauren heard Tim say which only added to the intensifying attraction.

After the incident the mood in the Copa failed to reignite, François was busying about recruiting for his after party whilst the insatiable Esperanza was trying to get her claws into Ricardo; buzzing around him like a annoying scavenging fruit fly; arraying her advantageous assets and deploying her feminine wiles - much to Angelo's dismay. Lauren had other ideas, she strutted over to Ricardo and took him hold of his hand like she was retrieving her possession. She led him to a darkened corner of the Copa, pressed him aggressively against the wall and kissed him passionately like never before. The heat between them rose like lava in a volcanic mountain, Lauren was determined to wedge in and lever any thoughts of Esperanza right out of Ricardo's mind.

The lights went up as the night drew to a close a wave of adrenaline filled salsa dancing aficionados began filtering out of the Copa and congregating outside in the usual manner. François and Esperanza were stood ominously in the doorway as Ricardo pushed passed them leading Lauren by the hand who didn't even bother to glance at Esperanza as Ricardo led her off into the night.

The rest of the girls followed shortly and just behind them walked Angelo. Esperanza stretched an arm out across his chest stopping him in his tracks and began to whisper into his ear. A smitten Angelo seemed to be lapping it all up "Are you coming with us Angie?" She asked him with a provocative glare. "Sure, why not" Angelo responded as if he lacked the liberty of choice. "I'll look after you this time Mr" François declared to Esperanza’s amusement. "He doesn't need you to look after him, he's a big boy, aren't you Angie?" Angelo just stood in-between the shrewd pair grinning away and nodding his head like a toy dog.

Ava had seen enough "Let's head into town girls I feel like wildin' out". She said to the appreciative response of "Whooooo!" from Kat and Emma.

Ava linked arms with Kat and Emma and headed towards the main road to hail a taxi.

Angelo couldn't take his eyes off her as she strolled elegantly past.

David, TCC