Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas) (29 page)

He nodded reluctantly.

“Right, first drinks.” Darius began pouring glasses of vodka and orange for each person.

“Bring it on,” cheered Sebastien, rubbing his hands together. He was such a little shit.

“You know alcohol is really high calorie and not supposed to be part of my diet,” Anya said as she stared at the glass before her.

“You
’
ll be fine just this once,” Darius said.

Elena was hesitant. She wasn’t a fan of drinking either. She was sure she would be able to keep playing without it.

Sensing her hesitation, Sebastien was quick to point out, “This isn’t going to work if only half the people in this room are playing properly. It was
your
idea.”

“
All right
,
all right
,” Elena said. “Round one, you need to tell everybody something about yourself that they didn’t know before.
Roni
?”

“I am obsessed,” she said and paused, “with painting my toenails!” They stared at her blankly. What? 

“I can’t stand it when they’re chipped and I always have to have them perfectly painted. I would never have told anyone as it seems so trivial and obsessive and I have such a cool image to uphold.”

And with that she took off her shoes and socks to show perfectly manicured feet. They all threw cushions at her.

“Seb?”

“Check this out, one of my nipples is higher than the other.” Everyone raised their eyebrows as he lifted his shirt to in fact reveal nipples at slightly different heights. Anya gasped. Veronika came closer to inspect it. “Cool.”

Elena’s wrinkled her face in disgust. “That is such an
overshare
,” Elena said. He thrust his chest in her face. “
Aagh
, get that away from me!”

“Elena?” Darius asked, refusing to comment on Sebastien’s confession.

“Hmmm.
Well, I hate animals.” They all looked at her. “Don’t get me wrong, I would never hurt them, but I think they’re dirty and furry and they lick you and
ewww
, they gross me out.”

“I thought you were just allergic to my dog,” Veronika said.

“Almost as bad, trust me,” Elena said.

“Nah, not good enough for me,” Sebastien said. “Drink up and give us something better.”

“Get real,” Elena said.

“I’m with Seb,” Veronika piped in. “I talked about a toe fetish and you are talking about not liking live furry stuff.
Got to do better.”

“
Aaagh
,” Elena said as she sipped her drink. “What else?” She took a deep breath.

“OK, when I was twelve, I was still having nightmares about ghosts coming into the house to kill me and would run to my mom’s bed. There.”

“
Ohhh
, poor Elena is afraid of ghosts,” Sebastien said. “Um, you don’t still do that right?”

“
Nooo
.”

“Phew,” Sebastien said with a dramatic swipe across his brow. Elena stuck her tongue out at him.

“Anya?”

“There is not that much to know about me that you don’t know. I come from Russia and live with my mother and grandmother. I dance ballet and I go to school. That’s it.”

“Not a chance,” Darius said.

“I would take two sips for that Anya. That was terrible,” Sebastien said. He was already a bit tipsy and enjoying this game immensely.

Anya reluctantly took another drink
and stalled a second longer. She took another sip and the anxiety on her face
started to
disappear.
“You’re among friends
,
Anya
. D
on’t worry,” Elena said.

She looked down at her glass and moved it in a circle. “Well, you know what?” she said looking up at them, “I was actually a fat child and my parents finally let me have ballet lessons to lose weight. It came off very quickly once I started growing and taking classes but I was definitely a chubby thing.” Anya looked down at her glass. Elena could not imagine this tiny five
-
foot girl ever having any fat on her whatsoever.

“Wow,” Sebastien said. “That is so cute! Can you imagine a chubby little Anya? I could pinch your cheeks right now.” He laughed hard, sitting up on his knees and leaning over to Anya as if he was going to pinch her cheeks. Another cushion came for him from Veronika.

Anya found herself laughing.
Elena was relieved. Anya
might actually be enjoying herself.

“What about you, Darius?” Elena asked.

“Hmm, let’s see. I am not ticklish at all, anywhere on my body, except behind my right knee.”

“What?” Veronika said.

They all looked at each other, and as if they had that one thought at the same time, they jumped him and started tickling him to see if they could find any other spot of weakness. He didn’t budge. They tried neck, stomach, sides, head, feet, after ripping off his shoes and socks and eventually behind the knees. Left knee nothing. Right knee, Darius finally collapsed.
Amazing.

They were all laughing by that stage, feeling light from the alcohol and free from revealing things about themselves. “Ooh, know your soft spot now,” Anya purred. Elena laughed at the look of shock on Darius’s face. This was probably a side of Anya he hadn’t seen before. Actually, neither had she.

“Right, next round,” Darius said. He poured everyone another drink. Sebastien was up to his fourth.

“Round two,” Elena declared. “Something you would change about your body.”

“Really?
That’s a tough one,” Sebastien said as he closed his eyes in concentration. 

“Want some help?” Elena said.

“I want a bit more ass,” he said. “Girls love a good ass on a man and I wish mine was just that little bit curvier,” he said while turning around to display it and slapping it for emphasis.

“Pathetic
-
you need a drink for that,” Elena replied, secretly relieved that he actually still thought there was room for improvement.

“Oh, okay,” he said and gulped another glassful and then leaned sideways to glance at his ass again.

“Smaller breasts,” Veronika chimed in. “I hate these things. All conversations start with my chest and eventually make their way to my face if I’m lucky.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Sebastien said and clinked glasses with Darius. All the girls gave him that look. He shrugged innocently.

“I always wanted blue eyes,” Elena said. “Brown eyes are so boring.”

“Thanks,” Darius replied.

“You know what I mean. I just wish I had more interesting eyes,” she replied.

“No way,” Sebastien said. “Your eyes are perfect!”

“Thanks,” Elena said, secretly touched by his compliment.

“Now if we were talking your nose…”

She cuffed him across the back of his head.

“Well,” Anya began, “I always wanted bigger lips. You know, like Angelina Jolie.” Who could ever imagine the
little
princess with these thick red lips?

“I think they’re really sexy,” she said and then joined in the laughter.

“Darius?”
Elena asked.

“I actually wish I had a smaller nose so my face wouldn’t look so intimidating,” Darius said.

“Trust me, it’s not the nose,” Anya said. She quickly covered her mouth.

Darius chuckled. “I’ll drink to that,” he said and clinked glasses with Anya in good spirits.

The group was getting restless, with side conversations about nipples and toes building momentum.

Elena coughed loudly. “Ahem. Round three,
”
she said. “Who would you want to be if you could be anyone?”

“
Oooooh
,” everyone said. This was getting serious.

“I’ll start,” Seb offered. “Brad Pitt. Brilliant
actor,
has women fighting over him and
a good family life.”

Elena raised her eyebrows.
“Family life?
What happened to the fast car and fast women?”

“Not at forty already,” Sebastien said, shaking his head.

“
Roni
?”

“William Shakespeare
—
I want people to be enjoying my work hundreds of years after I die!”

“It’s good to aim low,
Roni
,” Sebastien said.

“I’ll drink to that!” Veronika responded.

“Elena?” Sebastien asked.

“Zoe Saldana. She is a dancer who has done a lot of acting. That would work perfectly for me.”

“Hmm, could do better I
figure
,” Sebastien said.

“Whatever, Mr. Brad Pitt.”

“Anya?”

“That’s easy. Margaret Fonteyn. No contest there. If I could dance like her into my fifties…”

“Well you just might
,
you know,” Elena replied.

“I’ll drink to that!” Sebastien said. Elena rolled her eyes. He definitely had the spirit of the game.

“Darius?”

“Ashley Banjo.”

They stared blankly at him. “He’s the leader of a UK Crew called Diversity that won
Britain’s Got Talent.
I like him because he’s the choreographer and leader of the group and because he created something special with the crew made up of family and friends. They’re now building schools throughout the UK. His crew is truly inspirational.”

“Wow,” Anya said. “That sounds amazing.”

“You know what?” Sebastien said.  “This is getting all a little too intense.
A toast!”
He raised his glass.
“To being better than our heroes.”

“Here here,” everyone cheered and drank.

“Group hug!”
They all leant in and touched heads, quite tipsy by now.

“Darius, I think it’s time we move on,” Elena said.

“You are absolutely right. Time to get some music happening.” He went to the black box delivered earlier and peeled off the outer box to reveal a jukebox. Everyone except Elena looked at him confused. He put on some of his favorite songs. 

“But we have music,
”
Veronika said.

“
Does
that have video clips too?” Anya asked.

“Karaoke.”
They all looked at him blankly.

“You have to be kidding me?” Sebastien said. “That is so nerdy! None of us here sing.”

“That’s my point,” Darius said. “You all spend too much performing or pursuing something that you never do anything for fun. Everyone should have fun singing and dancing, no matter what.”
Silence.
“Trust me.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Sebastien said. It was his answer to everything.

“So who’s first?” Darius said. They all sat still, so he chose a song that they all had to know.
“How about some Beyonce?”

He started the machine with “Love on Top,” a bouncy tune that Elena found irresistible to listen to without moving.

Darius began dancing and Elena instantly joined him. Beyonce was so infectious. Veronika joined in as well and within one verse, they were singing too at the top of their lungs. Eventually, even Anya couldn’t resist. Next
came
a ballad from Jennifer Hudson, “I’ve
B
een
C
hanged
.” And they all belted along, swaying with their arms over each other’s shoulders, sounding awful. Thankfully, Darius had left the main vocals on the karaoke machine
,
so the tune could still be heard.

As the alcohol increased, so did everyone’s confidence. God knows what Anya’s grandmother was thinking. Elena hoped she had her earplugs on tight.

“Hey girls, how about we do this for the boys,” Elena said as she pointed at a song choice. They all nodded. Elena typed in the song number and told the boys to sit down.

The Pussycat Dolls song, “Don’t Cha,” started playing. The girls sang along to the lyrics.
Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
They posed and strutted sexily to the music. Darius and Sebastien were amused but had to cover their eyes sometimes. It was probably too much to see their friends in this state.

The boys reciprocated by doing a “Take
That
” boys group song, with actions and everything. Who would have thought that Bad Ass Darius and popular man Sebastien would be singing a boy band song! All three of the girls were rolling on the floor from laughter.

There was not stopping any of them after that. They sang with all their heart, without fear of judgment or ridicule. It was exhilarating!

“Oh this is mine! This is mine!” Anya declared as she cleared the floor to sing “I
Wanna
Dance
With
Somebody Who Loves Me.”