Carmen

Genre: Romance Character: Architect Setting: Zumba Gym

“You can put your hand down now” Dr. Jones said to his internship students after asking who had earlier experience as architects. “Let’s get to work”

All students went to their seats and started the jobs each of them were assigned. In the meantime Dr. Jones went back to his desk and kept on working on his project. It was the most sophisticated work he had ever done, and he was proud of as any workaholic would be in their job. He spent days and nights working on it, and he really couldn’t think of anything else than the incredible National Opera House he was designing. His friends always said to him, “Jones, you need to do something else, get some rest from this project”. He couldn’t though, he just couldn’t.

One day, his friend Haushofer invited him to go to the gym with him. At first Jones thought of saying no, but his friend insisted so much he went. He got his working-out clothes and left the studio for the first time in weeks.

The gym was like any gym. There were working out machines, kickboxing classes, zumba classes… all sorts of fitness activities. Jones and Haushofer went to the working-out machines and started running on the treadmill. They talked until they looked at the zumba class in front of them. All dancers had such energy.

They all moved with such fluidity and grace. Each move was sophisticated and elegant, despite the fact that they were performing zumba at an incredibly high pace. Their bodies were toned yet not overwhelmingly muscular. Suddenly, they stopped dancing in a group and started to perform individually in front of the trainer. Dr. Jones sat down and observed the individual performances in the class. There were only 12 people in total, so he knew it wouldn’t take too long. They formed into a circle and sat down on the mats.

The first girl (he called her #1) stood up and walked into the middle of the circle. He hadn’t noticed her in a group, strange, considering the fact that she was quite tall, probably around 5’11. She curled herself inwards, seemingly to try to make herself as small as possible. Her eyes wandered around, searching for approval from her fellow dancers. The instructor clapped once, and #1 began to dance.

She danced with such energy, such power. No, it definitely wasn’t the best dancing in the world. In fact, it wouldn’t even be considered close to average. The architect wondered why he hadn’t noticed this strange, and unique creature before. She was quite mesmerizing, despite the jerkiness of her movements, and her uncomfortable facial expressions. He could see her classmate’s already whispering. Probably gossiping about how her thighs were too big, causing her leaps to only be around 20 centimeters off the ground. However, as much as he tried to get back to his own activities, his eyes wouldn’t leave her. He tried tearing them away, pulling them away from the trance she had cast on him. It was impossible. It wasn’t ever going to work. So he looked up to his friend, shrugged, and sat down where he was. Outside the glass window, gazing at the girl, twirling away and leaping with no grace at all, but with such passion and energy.

The music stopped. Crap. Everyone was looking at him. He had been sitting there in a trance for the whole routine, and didn’t even notice that the song had finished. It was definitely obvious that he had been watching her. Everyone knew now. There was no way to hide it. So why hide it?, he thought.

He gazed at her, and she gazed back at him.The twinkle in her eye matched the twinkle in his. She was unsure whether his sexy smirk was out of ridicule or lust. He wasn’t sure if her smile was out of embarrasment. She wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure. They were all not sure.

She stared deeply into the abyss of his eyes. They were dark green, so mesmerizing. She was lost. He couldn’t help but notice that she had the kindest, warm brown eyes, a soft gaze, and the most adorable eyelashes.

While they were endlessly staring at each other, the rest of the class wondered what they should do. The instructor attempted to interupt their connection, but the electricity between them prevented any chance of intervention. As a last resort, a student leaned over and started up the music again. For some reason, instead of a typical upbeat zumba song...it was a cool down slow dancing song.

She felt the music turn on, and at the same time, the temperature. He walked closer to her and extended a hand. She placed her hand into his and he leaded her into the center of the class. He walked with such poise, such grace, his presence could make Queen Elizabeth bow down. He started with a simple waltz step. She, didn’t know what to do, but she didn’t care. He was so graceful and she tried her best to follow. The rest of the class sat down and watched. Most were confused, puzzled, and didn’t know what to make of what they saw. This disney prince knew every dance step and flowed gracefully across the room and she could barely stand straight. It was as if she had two left feet. She was stumbling and he was gliding. She tripped often and made thumping noises with her feet. He was soundless and his movements picture perfect. Yet, the gazed into each other’s eyes. Dark green into warm brown. Warm brown into dark green. Their discord was beautiful and their contrast was perfection. The song ended, slowly faded away. He stopped moving his feet and she regained her balance. Not once did they break eye contact. He move his hand onto the small of her back, pulled her in closer. She smiled, knowing what was coming next. He effortlessly pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the chest. There was no room for imperfection in training.