Shorts

Unexpected

1. Mr. Park-walk

The last few months had been an exciting time for Keri. She'd had several new opportunities come her way and she was grabbing them with both hands.

She'd always been into fitness, and athletics, and was also interested in gymnastics. She worked on her flexibility a lot, for instance.

Recently, though, she'd seen adverts for, as well as, people discussing something that had become intriguing to her.

Pole fitness.

Being a modern young woman in the ever-changing world, she knew the stigma surrounding "Pole Dancing" from the older generations but also knew the benefits from people who had advised her to seek it out.

She thought this would be something fun for her to attempt and help her build on her body. And she was right. These last few months had been incredible. Her stamina levels were up, she was eating right, and the odd "cheat day" here and there never hurt but mostly she was looking after her body and it was looking after her.

Everyone had noticed that her body had become more toned, and she was so proud of herself.

Her other passion was getting out and walking in local beauty spots. She enjoyed the park the most, especially at around dusk.

Sometimes, when the sky was clear, she could see the stars coming out. She loved looking at them and could stare at them until morning came, she felt.

In recent weeks, she had been temporarily joined in her nightly strolls. As walking in the opposite direction, each night, was a man, he was fairly stocky, taller than her, and seemed several years older, maybe mid to late 30s as opposed to her early 20s. He was always alone, had a kind face, and always smiled as they passed each other.

The smile was sweet, slightly crooked to one side, and very unassuming. For reasons she didn't yet understand, it made her stomach do a little flip. She'd seen him under street lights, and he wasn't unattractive, to say the least, but also wasn't "drop to your knees" gorgeous.

There was something to that smile, though. She couldn't yet put her finger on it.
But this was now a nightly occurrence.

She'd walk, she'd see him, he'd smile, she'd smile back and inside she would flush and then not think about it again, at least until he would appear in the distance again for the next instance of this.

It also was a little confidence boost. An older, she assumed, single, as he wasn't ever walking with anyone, a fairly handsome and strong-looking gent smiling at her.

But she knew nothing about him. He may be just nice, maybe gay, or both. He just seemed kind. And she just enjoyed their "meet-cutes" for what they were.

These confidence boosts were helping her in her pole fitness, too. The body was in great shape, and just when she felt her mind might take over and make her shy or not want to get on that pole and practice, Mr. Park-walk's smile popped up. The power of this single small gesture was helping her so much from time to time.

The recent pole practice had been so intense due to the ladies putting on a show for a real crowd soon. Which was exciting for them all. It would showcase the class and let people see their progress.

Keri felt great about this as she was a natural with her background and how she could use her body and have the pole as an extension of herself. But also, performing in front of people would be something new, and fun but slightly worrying for her.

2. Performance

The performance was to be at a local venue, and what Keri hadn't realised was that it was open to anyone. Now she was terrified.