Love, Novela [Completed]

9/23/17

9/23/17 (or rather 9/24/17, 2:30 a.m. )

Where to begin. I am still reeling. 

I am in Morelia, Michoacán, on a weekend field trip. Alex is here as a chaperone. Well, they call it "chaperone" but maybe "babysitter" or "bodyguard" would be more correct. Behavior is not, in itself, monitored. The main/only goal seems to be to keep us from being kidnapped and murdered because we're too stupid to avoid that on our own. (At least, that's been my experience so far.)

So I went to a club Friday with some people who aren't really my friends. They started drinking a lot, and I got uncomfortable and bored and decided to leave. I almost got attacked, was rescued by my faithful chaperone (and employer, and teacher, and.. mentor?) Alex, and had a nighttime mini-tour of the city with him.

Next day, Sierra persuaded me to going out with them again. Initially I had no intention of going, but I also didn't have a better plan, so I eventually agreed. She promised it would be more to my taste this time.

We saw Ruby and Alex around dinner time, and they asked what we were up to, and Sierra told them where we were going. I supposed they were trying to keep tabs on us to some extent.

The place we went this time was about the same distance from the hotel as the first night, but in a different direction. True to her word, Sierra had found a place with more salsa music. And Mike did dance with me. He'd been in the Latin dance class too, so he at least knew the basic steps, and I was fairly comfortable with him. He also danced a few songs with Sierra and Lexi.

At some point we noticed Alex and Ruby were there, although they didn't look at all chummy this time. Come to think of it, they hadn't seemed so when we saw them earlier, either. Ruby appeared to be continually trying to regain his attention, and his body language indicated that he didn't want to be anywhere near her. At least, that was the narrative my mind supplied from what I could see. By this time everyone was pretty much done dancing and back to just drinking.

Then Lexi, who'd had I think 4 drinks by this point, decided she was going to ask Alex to dance. It was a sight. She went over and started blabbering at him, and he just kind of stared at her. She gestured to the dance floor, and he looked at the dance floor, and then at her, and then back at his drink. I was starting to feel bad for her, but Sierra was making cracks and Michael (also a little the worse for alcohol) was howling. Finally Lexi  took the drink out of his hand,  set it on the bar, and pulled him toward the dance flower, even as his head was still turned back toward his drink.

Of course, Alex is a full-grown man, able to speak his mind to intellects and physically intimidate ruffians. So it's not like he couldn't have resisted if he'd really meant to. But at the same time, I don't think I've ever seen reluctance actually manifested to that extent. I had to laugh. I tried to conceal it from the others so they wouldn't tell Lexi later.

The dance itself didn't go much better. The dance floor was packed so it didn't allow for much movement. Lexi was chattering away while apparently trying to show off by styling her movements.  Alex seemed more affected (dismayed?) by her lack of grace than by whatever she was saying. Finally, for the good of everyone, the song ended.

But still she didn't leave him in peace. At this point she dragged him to our table where we spent another excruciating few minutes listening to her insisting he sit down - although we had no extra chair - and him politely declining (as he saw we had no extra chair). If it weren't for the Mexican in him requiring him to personally greet any acquaintances, he probably wouldn't have come at all. That, and the fact that Lexi's already pushy personality was bolstered by her intoxication.