Friday, 28 February 2014
Footloose
The night was nearly over and the DJ shouted out for everyone to grab their partners for the smoochies.
Over the course of the evening I had tried my chat up lines on a few of the girls, all to no avail, it looked like I would be ending the night as I had started it, alone. Nothing new there then.
I glanced around the room, and noticed the girl in the blue dress.
I had spotted her earlier at the bar, all by herself for some reason, she was a looker too, probably wouldn't be interested in the likes of me but what-the-hell, nothing ventured nothing gained.
I walked over towards her, my shoes rattling on my feet, goddam online company had sent me nines instead of eights, but they looked super cool, and were rock bottom priced, so I decided instead of mailing them back I would wear two pairs of socks, which resulted in much sweatier feet, with a barely noticeable reduction in slackness.
I reached the bar and sidled up close to her, asked her if she danced, she told me she didn't usually as she wasn't very good at it.
I told her I wasn't much good myself, so we would probably make a good match. She slid off her barstool, smiled, offered me her hand.
We walked together into the throng, hung our arms over each others shoulders, and began that end-of-the-night shuffle that everyone seems to do. Mostly swaying from side to side, moving a bit around the floor.
After a few steps she trod heavily on my toes, I yelped, we both giggled.
Several more toe-crunching, yelping, giggling minutes later, her hand slowly slid the length of my spine, and she took a firm hold of my backside. I looked at her in surprise, she smiled mischievously at me.
I pulled her closer, held her tighter, she stood on my toes heavier, I yelped louder, we giggled longer.
And so it went on for the next five tunes, until the DJ called time, and the main lights came on.
She asked me back to her place.
When we walked out of the club towards the taxi rank I leaned heavily on her for support, my poor swollen feet hurt like hell, but I was smiling broadly.
Not only had I pulled and was on a promise, but my shoes now fit me perfectly too.
©2014 Stephen. J. Green.
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ReplyDeleteThis poor guy...or maybe not. I'm glad it ended on a "good enough" note for him for I was afraid she'd turn out to be a lot worse than clumsy.
I think she may just need more practice, at dancing that is. Oh, and maybe softer soled shoes too. :-)
DeleteHa! Well there you go he had a win win situation - ouch! those poor feet but I bet he had a smile on his face. Thanks for the laugh! ^_^
ReplyDeleteHaha!! I bet he was smiling even more when he got to take those shoes off. :-)
DeleteI love the "end-of-the-night-shuffle." :) And I find that awkward moments are so much better in the long run than so-called-perfect moments.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see you Steve! I haven't been around in awhile. :)
Hi Dani, it's really nice to hear from you, I hope all is good with you. :-)
DeleteAwkward moments do have a habit of turning out okay in the end, don't they? :-)
Love it! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura. :-)
DeleteHa! Adorable final line. I never thought about exercise helping my shoes fit more snugly.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it John, but I think it was her standing on his toes so many times that caused his feet to swell and fill out his slack shoes. :-)
DeleteI love stories that entirely play on the title and you did a great job here. One of my fave films revolves entirely around its title - "Bad Timing" even Art garfunkle in the main role didn't put me off
ReplyDeleteThank you Marc. :-)
DeleteI kinda vaguely remember that film, Art Garfunkel did a couple of similar films around that time, one where he starred alongside Jack Nicholson too, both films about relationship problems if I remember correctly.
Hehehe fab last line!
ReplyDeleteThanks Icy, it made me smile too. :-)
DeleteHey, way to look on the bright side!
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine, I think once they get to her place she may give him reason to forget about his sore feet too. :-)
DeleteHow cute. Easy to price to pay, and at least the shoe fit.
ReplyDeleteThanks David. I suspect his shoes will become slack again though once the swelling has gone. :-)
DeleteThey may not have started out right for each other, but by the end of the night they were a perfect match. The woman seemed to fit in as well. I'm glad the night worked out for his feet and his love life. And while the feet may return to normal, I hope his love life stays on course. A sweet story, Steve. I always enjoy how you bring the characters to life by the way they talk or tell the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the very kind words Stephen. I know it's not exactly serious writing, but I do enjoy producing these little snippets, I smile each time I think of our MC being extra glad because his swollen feet have made his shoes fit him. LOL
DeleteLet's hope that fate has much luck in store for them both, and that she maybe learns to dance a little better too. :-)
Don't knock yourself down. Your writing is good stuff, whether you take on serious issues, like choosing between love and food in a post-apocalypse world (that story still lingers in my mind, by the way), or something as simple as finding love in a size 9. Either way, I always enjoy coming to your blog each week. It's usually my first stop. Have a great week.
DeleteThanks for the confidence boost Stephen, I think the story you refer to is "A man's need", it was a bit more hard hitting than this one. I enjoy my writing, although l know that some posts are stronger than others, I still have fun putting them out there. Thanks again my friend, have yourself a great week too. :-)
DeleteA nicely crafted tale of the lengths people will go to to look cool lol. And it worked for him too! Maybe other self imposed pains could be utilised this way :).
ReplyDeleteThanks Casey. I'll have a think about similar stuff, there are no discomforts not worth bearing in the pursuit of looking cool, are there? :-)
DeleteThis is how life works sometimes, you get uncomfortable shoes, that don't quite fit, and then there's the whole evening not going so well. But I take it as a metaphor, maybe you did too, in some way; it's like trying to fit into your own shoes when you don't feel like yourself at all, at your best, and when in the end all is good, suddenly the shoes fit. I may be rambling. All in all great piece, Steve!
ReplyDeleteThank you Cindy, Sometimes life does throw us unexpected, pleasant opportunities at the most surprising times though, doesn't it?
DeleteI suppose he sacrificed one body part for the potential sake of another (sorry to be a little dirty here). I liked how his feet came into play throughout the story.
ReplyDeleteThat's one way of putting it Richard, LOL, I did smile at your take on it, thanks for the chuckles. :-)
DeleteOh yeah, sweet ending, sounds like a story for the 50th wedding anniversary, but I have this horrible feeling he's not going to be able to run when he needs to a few hours from now. Are you going to do a Part 2?
ReplyDeleteHi Katherine. Hopefully he won't feel the need to run away later, or he'll be too tired to. :-)
DeleteIt's possible I may write a Part 2, I'll wait and see if any ideas come to mind.