The Dance of Jason And Jacqueline

52 Stories in 52 Weeks: ## 34 The Dance of Jason And Jacqueline.

By: Mr. George D. Patnoe., Jr.'s Ambidextrous Brain + Spiritual Mind.

Every weekday, Jason always walked the city’s streets in his pinstripe business suit, while he carried his hand made Italian black briefcase. The briefcase contained a small laptop computer along with copies of financial reports about and from companies all around the world. His job as a financial / investment analyst / adviser was a job he carried within his mind all the time, as well as in his briefcase. As an expert on international economics and finance, his job demanded that he know how every changing event in the world that might have an impact on the bottom line of the companies he watched. He was a busy man with little time for a personal life.

Every workday, He walked on the cement sidewalks after he left the subway or after he stepped out of his company’s shiny black limousine or a simple taxi just as the other millions of people who lived and worked in the cities around the world. Jason was a workaholic, just like the millions of people who lived for their jobs. The city presented Jason and his rich friends the pleasures and the luxury of the best night life, which included the opera, classical music concerts, and the ballet, along with the best seats to all sporting events. These are the nighty activities for the rich and he sophisticated minded, or the poor and simple minded, or to anyone who enjoyed the artists who loved to perform in front of crowds.

But a moment had arrived in Jason’s life when he realized that he might be missing something that money could not give him. After dealing and wheeling with billions of worldly dollars, Jason began to wonder if there were new experiences for him, away from the world of money. He wondered how so many people could not live for money; like the opera performers, and the classical music musicians, and especially the ballet dancers. Jason had seen children begin ballet training at the age of three or four years of age. Some of them went to ballet class to make their parents happy, while a few just dreamed of becoming world known ballet dancers. Jason never understood it. After all, a singer have their voices to sing with anytime they can, like in the car or in the shower. And the musicians could play their musical instruments when they were home or at the park, or even as street performers during their time off. But ballet dancers usually do not start dancing on the city streets just for the fun of it. Nor could they dance in their cars or in their showers, and probably not in their apartments.

One day, long after the financial markets had closed for the day, Jason asked the taxi driver to drive him to a new restaurant in the big city. As he stepped out of the taxi, he saw the restaurant’s gold frame door. He was paying the taxi driver when he looked up at the lit widows across the street from the new restaurant. There were the heads and bodies bopping up and down. He noticed the white, worn out door across the street. When he read the black painted words on the door, DANCERS ENTRANCE, he felt a different kind of hunger, a strange curiosity. Jason temporally put on hold his hunger for food, and his curiosity for the new Italian restaurant. Instead, he walked across the street and opened the door. He walked upstairs as he wondered why he was walking up the stairs to watch the ballet dancers practicing their steps and dance movements.

The stairway enclosed Jason’s sense of vision, but he heard the music engulf his ears, and his mind. Confronting his ears were the seeming drum beats of feet jumping up and down over and over again. Jason walked into the waiting room, only to see it empty of people, but not of the trophies the school’s dancers had won over the years. He looked through the glass to observe the dancers practicing their dance movements, over and over again in their black dancer’s clothes. But unexpectedly, the music stopped and everyone clapped their hands. Jason did not want to get caught within the onslaught of dancers who were leaving for the night, but he realized that if he walked down the stairs, he would be caught in their moving sweaty mass anyway. So he moved over to a corner as the sweaty dancers left the room, ignoring Jason. He watched them disappear down the stairs.

He waited for his moment to escape, but the instructor walked out before his could escape her.
‘May I help you?’ asked the instructor.
‘I was just curious about the class.’ the sly Jason replied.
‘We have beginning classes for adults.’ She explained the rates and schedules for adults.
‘Well, maybe, but say; what are doing for dinner? The taxi dropped me off in front of the new restaurant across the street. Would you like to join me?’
The instructor looked at Jason black pinstripe suit and briefcase as she reached out her hand
to introduce herself to Jason. ‘My name is Jacqueline, and your is?’ ‘Jason is my name. I will take that as a yes to dinner.’ ‘Sure.’ Jacqueline said, as she grabbed her ballet bag and her coat.

The restaurant served authentic Italian food, with the most expensive wine that Jacqueline’s mouth had ever slipped in her whole life. Jacqueline was sensing a possibility of some fun away from the ballet world; a world she had devoted her life to ever since she was a little girl. They small talked about life in general, including some of the generalities of the business/financial world and that of the ballet world. But soon, the generalities of money and dance transformed into the softer arena of romance. After a few glasses of red wine, the two worlds collided into the soft mood of the Italian love music. Their worldly differences melted into nothingness as the soft love music carried their worldly hearts and loved into a new direction; that of the love dance.

After a few friendly laughs, Jason unexpectedly stood up and reached out his hand to Jacqueline, ‘Would you give this non-dancer the honor of a dance?’ ‘Sure.’ said a smiley Jacqueline. As Jason and Jacqueline silently danced to the soft music, they both knew that the wine had gone to their heads, but not to their hearts. Somehow, a special moment had arrived between two lonely people in the big city. Separated from the love of money and the love of dance, the two lonely people had met as if by a strange destiny. But it did not matter how they had met, since they were dancing the very old dance of all romantic people. As they danced, Jason silently recalled a song’s lyrics. "Before this dance is though, I think I’ll love you too. I am so happy when you dance with me." They ended their dancing session at the restaurants’ closing time. Jacqueline walked across the street, to her apartment above her dance studio, Jason waved a taxi as he remembered that his work day began very early in the morning. The world of money does not stop for people who love to dance.

The next day, the two city people woke up in their own beds, in their own lives, with their memories. The world of international monies and the world of international dance steps guided the two throughout the day. As Jason worked throughout the day, he kept singing to himself, "I am so happy when you dance with me, along with the other lyrics to the Beatle’s song, "I’m Happy Just To Dance With You."* But Jason remembered the hours of the adult class, so during his rather short lunch break, he ordered some dance clothes, (tights) to be delivered to his office before the closing bell of the Stock Markest. He looked at his gold Rolex watch to so as to not miss the first minute of his first ballet dance lesson. He knew that if he did not like his first dance class, he could always leave the dance studio and walk across to the street to eat at the new Italian restaurant. It seemed like a simple plan, with two simple options.

Jason entered the dance studio after he had changed from his business suit into the black tights that all beginners wear. Beginner ballet students wear tights so the instructor can watch how the knees are positioned, along with other positions of the body. Jacqueline welcomed Jason into the dance studio with, ‘Students, we have a new student today. His name is Jason. Lets all welcome Jason with a round of applause.’ The class clapped for a few seconds before Jacqueline yelled, ‘Ok Jason, just follow along with the class. Just listen to me and follow the person in front of you. Now, lets do a four count of the five Demi-Plie Positions. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.’ Jacqueline yelled out to the class, after she turned on the music with a remote control in her hand. The special ballet practice music for the studio was off and on as she clicked the remote control buttons.

Jason follow along, just by watching the other students in the mirrored room. Mirrors covered the three walls, so Jason’s eyes could follow anyone as he held onto the black bar that was wrist high, all along the mirrors. Plus, Jacqueline could watch anyone she wanted to see. There was no escape from the instructors eyes. Jacqueline carried the remote control to the music box; so the music was constantly on and then off, with every command that she yelled out to the dance students. The students moved in harmony with each other, like a military group of men who knew what the drill instructor was going to yell out, all performing the same exercises, over and over again.

Jason’s attention was no longer on his potential dinner date. Instead, every fiber in his unexercised body was concentrating on performing every ballet movement as perfectly as he could manage to do without feeling to much pain; even though the five Demi-Plie Positions were simple enough to do. ‘Ok, a four count of Grand Plie. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two three, four. One, two, three, four. Ok great. A four count of Port de bras. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Ok, great. Now, a four count of Battement Tendu Simple. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Ok, great. Now, a four count of Battement Tendu Jete. One, two, three, four; for a four count. Ok, great. Now, Grand Battement Jete for a count of four. One, two, three, four; for the count of four. Ok, great. Now, Grand Battement Jete Pointe, for a count of four. One, two, three, four; for a count of four. Ok, great. Now, Grand Battement Jete Pointe for a count of four. One, two, three, four; for a count of four. It went on and on and on. Like a military commander yelling out his commands to his soldiers. Jason felt like he could learn it soon enough.

After an hour, Jason was sweating like he had never sweated before, his heartbeat was faster too, along with some heavy breathing. ‘Lets take a five minute break.’ Jason walked over to his water bottle and he sat down on the clean wooden floor. Jacqueline walked over to him to ask him, ‘How are you holding up for your first class?’ Jason looked up at Jacqueline with a smirk. ‘Fine, just fine. How about dinner after class? Now that I am hungrier than I was before.’ Jacqueline remarked, ‘Well, I do not usually date a student, but since we have already dated, I can make an exception.’ She winked at Jason. ‘See ya after class.’

‘Ok, now. Lets get it together class.’ Everyone quickly walked back to their exact places in the seemingly military line up for ballet students. Ok, great. Now, Battement Soutenu for a count of four. One, two, three, four; for a count of four. Ok, great. More and more as Jason worked his body as never before. Soon thereafter, Jacqueline yelled out, ‘Now, lets work on the simple step routine we worked on last week. Jason, just follow along. ‘Ok, great. Now............’ and so the class went on and on for the last hour of class.

Dinner for the two was quieter than their first dinner date. It was more like a dinner between a financial analyst and a ballet teacher, for the first hour. As they ate their food and drank their wine, Jason had realized that he had forgotten about the world of money for the first time in many years. ‘Wow, it was just like being on drugs or drunk, in the sense of total escapism. No. It was better than that because a person can still think about their problems when drunk or on drugs.’

Jacqueline laughed out loud. ‘I did not realize dancing was better than drugs or drunkenness.’
‘How can anyone think of anything when they are jumping up and down to music, with you ordering them to do this and to do that?’ asked a grinning Jason.
‘You are not supposed to think. You are supposed to feel the music within your soul as you move your body to the physical music that you are listening to. ’
‘You sound like a metaphysical philosopher.’ said Jason.
‘Well, some music does transcend the physical world. And some music does help the mind transcend into a different mental realm, into the realm of sound. When a person hears the musical sounds and they move their bodies to the musical sounds, a kind of harmony or oneness is reached between the mind, the body, and the human soul.’ preached Jacqueline.
Jason asked, ‘Why don’t you preach like that in class?’

‘Because most beginning students think dance is only physical, while the older dancers already know those facts. The beginners have to practice the steps over and over again; until they master the physical steps. But even then, as they are trying to master controlling their bodies’ movements, they are also practicing listening to the music as they move their bodies to the music. So their bodies become one with their minds; the minds that have become one with the music. After a certain time period, their inner being begins to form into a different creature, a creature that can dance to their musical soul. When that happens, people can dance to the physical music with ease because they are really only dancing to the music of their soul, their inner musical soul; that is after they have learned to control their bodies with dance movements.’

Jason took a slip of wine and then he said, ‘And what about dancing to the sound of love?’ He stood up as he reached out to Jacqueline to stand up too. She obliged his teasing request for a dance to the romantic music of the restaurant. They danced for some time, just as two people who were practicing for a bond between their two souls. Jason asked himself, ‘What happens when two soul filled dancers fall in love?’ He did not perceive that Jacqueline was asking the same question because he was thinking to himself, ‘Before this dance is through, I think I’ll love you too. I am so happy when you dance with me.’

The red wine exhilarated their minds. But not because they were not looking for love when they were not exalted into a sense of togetherness by the red wine. At closing time, they walked out into the empty street. Except for a few cars, the cool night winds that glided through the city’s cement sidewalks, the two souls were lightly glided to the city’s park. They walked into the city’s park; a park with its own sidewalks, with candle lit night lights glowing under the darkness of the night. A full moon was partly hidden by the tall maple trees, while the park’s redwood benches were open for all visitors.

The silence of the park began to enter their ears, causing them to leave behind the romantic music of the new Italian restaurant. They sat down on the park bench, holding hands as they looked through the silence of the park. New sounds began to fill their ears, and even their souls. The calm of nature’s night began to enter into their consciousness, just the silence of nature had entered all minds who were open to life on earth.

The stillness of the trees, bushes, flowers, grass, the pond, the stars, the universe, forced a sense of dreamy calm into the two souls. All of their lives, they were so busy either watching the up and down jumps of the global stock markets and earning reports of hundreds of companies or watching the hundreds and thousands and millions of jumps of the thousands of dance steps from the thousands of dance students, they that forgot to ‘take time to smell the roses.’ The roses in the park were still alive at night. Roses never really sleep like humans. No, they just hang out all day, waiting for a human to walk up to them with thoughts like, ‘My oh my. What beautiful roses they are. The red to white to bright yellow. My oh my. The scientists think that the whole universe has been around for 12-15 billions light years, and here we are, looking at the pretty roses on planet earth. How lucky we are to smell the roses, to observe the falling stars, to fall in love, to dance the dance of love.’ That seemed to be the cosmic message of that moment, a message money can never buy for anyone.

Jason held Jacqueline’s hand as the distant black shadow entered the scene. The dark shadow very slowly walked towards the couple. Jason looked at his watch, as he thought to himself, ‘Three am in the morning, on a weekend. Great, what kind of trouble are we in for now? If we get up and walk, I will looked like a panicky little wimp. If we stay, it could be an armed robber or even a murder. What should I, we do? On the other hand, I do not want to spoil the moment, especially if the shadow turns out to be a person taking a night walk.’

Jacqueline asked, ‘Do you want to go now?’
‘Lets wait a few seconds.’ was Jason’s reply.
‘Wait for what? He could be carrying a gun?’ remarked Jacqueline.
‘Maybe I am carrying a gun.’
‘Are you carrying a gun? And what would it matter? Do we want to wait around for trouble.’ Jacqueline said.
Jason replied, ‘If I used the word roses in a sentence, dance your way out of here.’

Jacqueline looked up towards Jason with uncertain eyes. She looked at Jason face. But he was looking straight ahead at the approaching black shadow. Jacqueline became convinced that Jason knew what he was going to do if the black shadow turned out to be trouble, so she relaxed her mind, at bit anyway. But she felt his body become tighter, harder, as his eyes began to beam tighter towards the target. His hand reached inside of his jacket, deep under his armpit. So deep in fact, that Jacqueline remembered movies with gun holsters under the armpit of cops. Jacqueline looked around to see if anyone else was approaching them, and to discover the path she would take in case she had to run for her life.

Jacqueline looked at Jason as he was leaving her behind in his thoughts. She felt more alone as Jason twitched his head, once to the left, twice to the right, and then it was straight again. The black shadow walked so slowly that Jason was allowed to stare at the outline lines of the shadow. Black coat, black pants with big pockets, black sneakers, and a black baseball cap. Even the shadow on the cement elongated the black walking shadow. Jacqueline felt Jason’s heat beating fast even though she was no longer holding his hand. She could smell his animal desire to protect her from danger. She like that, but she had never seen this side of Jason.

She had not seen his animal side of the financial adviser, but she was beginning to see her un-official man take charge of her future. She sat patiently as she felt more and more helpless as the black shadow inched his way forward. ‘What is he waiting for? Can not he walk any faster? What the heck is he looking for? He is walking straight towards us and why is he walking straight towards us? Is he going to rob us? Maybe at gun point? And what is going to happen if Jason pulls out a gun and starts shooting? Cops will be all over the place. I got to go to work tomorrow. Headline news: Two Lovers Get Shot In The Park at 3:15 am. The black shadow disappears off into the night.’

The black shadow was closer now, more like a human being. Jacqueline noticed Jason’s feet change their position, so to stand up fast. The black shadow was now moving his hand to his coat’s button. He snapped the button to let both sides of his jacket fly open. His face smiled, as he said, ‘Good evening folks. It is a nice night to smell the roses.’ A gold chain was clipped to his gold shield. The words, "TO PROTECT AND SERVE’ were as clear as the gun in his own holster. ‘Have a great night.’ The black shadow walked passed Jason and Jacqueline, off into the dark shadows of the city’s park.

‘He took the words right out my mouth.’ Jason laughed.
‘What are you talking about? replied Jacqueline.
‘Remember I told you to dance out of here if I use the word roses?’
‘Oh, sure.’
‘So, lets dance our way out of here.’ Jason said.
He stood up and took her hand, ‘May I have this dance?’ Jacqueline smiled, stood up, and giggled.

Under the nights stars, with the trees, and the flowers, and the bushes, and the grass, and the roses, and even the unseen shadows all looking on the financial advisor and the ballet instructor, they danced their way out of the city park, into a future of destiny.

* The Beatles lyrics to: 'I'm Happy Just To Dance With You.'
(Lennon/McCartney)

Before this dance is through
I think I'll love you too
I'm so happy when you dance with me

I don't want to kiss or hold your hand
If it's funny try and understand
There is really nothing else I'd rather do
Cos I'm happy just to dance with you

I don't need to hug or hold you tight
I just want to dance with you all night
In this world there's nothing I would rather do
Cos I'm happy just to dance with you

Just to dance with you
It's everything I need
Before this dance is through
I think I'll love you too
I'm so happy when you dance with me

If somebody tries to take my place
Let's pretend we just can't see his face
In this world there's nothing I would rather do
Cos I'm happy just to dance with you

Just to dance with you
It's everything I need
Before this dance is through
I think I'll love you too
I'm so happy when you dance with me

If somebody tries to take my place
Let's pretend we just can't see his face
In this world there's nothing I would rather do
I've discovered I'm in love with you
Cos I'm happy just to dance with you