our dance hall days

(originally posted 4/27/2021)

The date had been a long time coming. Having met through a friend of a friend, it had taken a lot of lobbying from that same friend to get her agree to it. On the other hand, he’d be enamored of her for the better part of a year.

Not old enough to drink in their state, it took an hour long drive to reach their destination. He knew he could never dance in front of her without a few beverages and the one thing that his friend had made clear was that she loved to dance.

So dancing it was.

And dance they did. Unable to talk due to the loud music, whenever he felt her eyes on him his tongue got tied nonetheless. To be on the safe side apparently.

In his opinion, she was the kind of girl who could have been a movie star except film doesn’t quite capture how she shined. The kind that could have been a singer but she was too selfish with her song. The kind that would have played the lottery except she knew she would have won.

He knew the song that best summarized his feelings for her would never be played at the dance club. Unfortunate. She was so obviously born to run that whoever Wendy was, he was sure that she was a fine girl, he would have definitely substituted the girl’s name when it came time to sing it.

Then, as the evening was drawing to a close, the next best song began to play;

Wang Chung.

Dance Hall Days.

No less than the extended version.

Although tired and sweaty, he pulled out the big guns. The dance moves that said “Together we can live with the sadness. I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul.”

Rude to throw in moves from another song when the boys from Wang Chung were doing their best to help his cause, but that just shows the lengths he was willing to go to impress her.

She gave him a small smile and continued with the same slow, hypnotic undulations that she’d been employing all night, be it Shut Up and Dance or I Don’t Feel Like Dancin.

It felt like now or never. Time for him to try and close the deal.

And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you

He made direct eye contact and held it while mouthing the words.

And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you

Was that a blush on her cheek?

She mouthed the words “And you need her” but not the “She needs you” part. The verse repeated and she did the same thing.

“But you need her and she needs you” he sang back.

“And you need her” came her reply.

They chatted amiably on the drive home and he got a very obligatory-feeling kiss at the door but they never went out again.

Five years later he heard she got married and five years after that he heard she got a divorce. From what his friend told him, apparently her and her husband got into an argument about the weather while they were driving. He looked up at the dark clouds and said “Looks like rain.” She looked at her phone and said “The Weather Channel says there is only a 1% chance of rain.” He replied “Who are you going to believe? The internet or your eyes?” Annoyed, she snapped “I’m sure they know better than you do.” He rolled his eyes and smirked.

When it began to rain soon after they arrived home she packed up her stuff and left.

He likes to imagine Dance Hall Days playing on the radio as she drove away.