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Wanda rethought her outfit again. She had researched online what you should wear to practice ballet. A leotard, tights, maybe a skirt, and ballet shoes.
“Wear something you’ll be comfortable in,” Natasha had told her. “I’ll bring you some shoes. Don’t worry, I won’t make you dance en pointe right away.”
Wanda had felt too embarrassed to buy a leotard and had settled for some athletic shorts and a tank top. She had donned a sports bra, even though her research had told her ballerinas don’t wear bras. The professionals didn’t necessarily wear underwear either, but Wanda did not think that was an especially good idea. She had opted for a thong, which was slightly uncomfortable as her shorts were a little too short and kept crawling up.
Natasha owned her own private dance studio. This had surprised Wanda to learn. Natasha told her she had trained professionally when she was younger. The details were glossed over and Wanda sensed it was a painful memory for her friend, so she didn’t push for more information.
When Wanda sheepishly opened the door of the studio, she wasn’t expecting the lighting to be so dim. Good, she thought, hoping Nat wouldn’t notice her unfortunate shorts situation. The studio walls were covered in mirrors and there were rails on two of the walls. Other than that it was pretty sparse. There were a couple of folding chairs and a small stand with a speaker quietly playing a piece by Rachmaninov. Nat was on the floor stretching her legs, her bag nearby.
I should have looked up stretching.
Natasha smiled when she saw Wanda and jumped to her feet. “You came,” she said.
“You sound surprised,” Wanda said.
“People don’t always show up for me,” Natasha said, she may have been going for a light tone, but it sounded horribly sad to Wanda who simply nodded.
Natasha was wearing a pink leotard, nude tights, and pink shoes. Wanda was somewhat relieved to see they were simple slippers and not shoes for dancing en pointe. “I thought I might start off by showing you a few moves. You don’t know anything about ballet, right?”
“Right,” Wanda said. She had heard a little about pirouettes and such but the information never seemed like it would be something that would be relevant to her.
“There are five main positions. That’s always a good place to start. Take off your shoes.”
Wanda obediently slipped off her runners. She had ankle socks on but she figured it wasn’t important to take them off.
“First position has your feet pointing outward, your heels touching.” She demonstrated and Wanda was happy that this was something she could do easily enough.
“You got it! Second position is almost the same but your feet are about hip-length apart,” Natasha said, moving into position two. “Make sure your feet are even, both pointing directly outward.”
Wanda found the position without too much difficulty.
“Third position is not quite as important, but everyone has to learn it anyway,” Natasha said. “It’s similar to first position, except your left heel should be in the middle of your right foot and vice versa.”
That didn’t make much sense to Wanda in words, but she caught on easily enough when Natasha showed her.
Fourth position was easy enough and when Wanda thought she might be getting the hang of this. However, the fifth position turned out to be a little harder to balance. She found herself stumbling and Nat put an arm around her waist to keep her from falling. Just then the music picked up in speed and intensity. Wanda thought she noticed Natasha holding onto her slightly longer than necessary,
“I should have told you to put your hair up,” Natasha said, almost reproachingly. “Your hair is all over the place. Let me.”
Natasha stood behind Wanda and grabbed pieces of Wanda’s hair, pushing them back and gathering them together. She separated them into three sections for braiding. Wanda didn’t want to admit to herself how good it felt for Nat to touch her hair. She weaved it slowly and methodically into a precise French braid, tying it up with an elastic she had been keeping on her wrist.
Wanda couldn’t help but look in the mirrors all around her. Her hair looked gorgeous. If only she wasn’t wearing such a homely outfit.
Natasha watched with a half-smile as Wanda examined herself in the mirror. “I’ve got an idea,” she said. She went riffling through her bag and found the ballet slippers she had brought from Wanda and her favorite red lipstick.
Soothing cello melodies and piano accompaniment played in the background.
“Thanks,” Wanda said, slipping off her socks and putting on the ballet shoes.
“Can I do your lips?” Natasha asked.
“What do my lips have to do with dancing?” Wanda asked.
“Nothing, I would just like to see you in my lipstick,” Natasha said.
“You want me to wear your lipstick?” Wanda asked.
“Let’s just say, I’m not averse to the idea off your lips touching mine.”
Wanda blushed, as scarlet as the lipstick. “Alright.”
Natasha opened the lipstick tube and turned it so it was extended to her liking. She applied it well, but as she wasn’t used to putting it on someone else it wasn’t quite perfect.
“There’s a little smudge here,” Natasha said, licking her thumb and rubbing off the excess red of Wanda face that had escaped her lips. She pulled away, allowing Wanda to look at her handy work.
“I like the red,” Wanda said, almost touching her lips but then deciding not to so she wouldn’t muss it up. “Red is supposed to be bad luck in my country. That was why I chose it as my color. Bad luck for those who cross me.”
“Remind me to never cross you,” Natasha said. “It just takes a minute to dry. The lipstick, I mean.”
Wanda used this time to practice her ballet positions. First position: legs closed together. Second position: legs spread apart. She examined herself in the mirror trying to make sure her posture was upright. But she got distracted by Natasha’s reflection in the mirror. Natasha was standing behind her, putting her hand’s on Wanda’s hips to adjust her position ever so slightly. “You look perfect,” Natasha whispered into her ear, her scarlet lips just barely grazing Wanda’s earlobe.
Wanda’s hands found Natasha’s and she stared into the mirror. The lowlight flattered her and her new French braid and lipstick gave her confidence. Or was it that Natasha had said she looked perfect?
“We look perfect,” Wanda said.
“I think that lipstick might be dry by now,” Natasha said, letting go of Wanda’s hands and moving to look at her face to face. Wanda was a little bit taller, but that was easily remedied as Natasha got on her tiptoes and cupped Wanda’s face gently. There was a long moment of lingering. For a moment they were both afraid to move, lest this perfect moment somehow go wrong. And then their lips collided in a sweet sensual kiss that somehow lasted both forever and only a few seconds. Their bodies pressed up together and their breathing took on a husky heavy quality. For a while they just stayed there in each others’ arms, enjoying the closeness and saying nothing. Wanda could hear Nat’s heart beating and her own heart racing. Regretfully, Natasha let go.
“Now about fifth position…”