The Dance

*2*

Recap: Near the end of the concert, as the audience was cheering for a third encore, a very large gentleman in a dark suit with an earpiece came up to Emma and said, 'Prince would like you to meet him backstage, if you are willing."

'If I am willing? You've gotta be kidding me!' She nodded yes, as she found that her voice had failed her. He made a path for Emma through the crowd, and led her down a series of corridors. She heard the crowd screaming, and knew the next encore had begun. The gentleman walked past a series of doors, and finally opened one.

'You may wait here,' he said, indicating a purple upholstered love seat in a dressing room. Emma sat down, pulled her crossbody handbag off, placed it in her lap, and listened to the encore from the speaker mounted on the wall. Now that she'd experienced his live performance, the sound was very disappointing.

She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was sitting in Prince's dressing room. It was a sort of treasure trove, with deliciously scented candles burning, and beautiful fabrics and throws draped around the furniture and hung from the walls. Travel cases were opened displaying a veritable rainbow of dozens of stage outfits and pairs of shoes.

As she was visually memorizing her surroundings, the door opened and in he walked. Dressed in a jacket made of heavy purple silk, so dark it was almost indigo, he was also wearing a high collared vest, the collar spangled with sequined designs. Combined with a dark purple silk shirt sporting his usual tall Beau Brummell collar and black slacks and shoes, he was even more arresting in person. It was almost as if his energy preceded him into the room.

His eyes met Emma's immediately, and the voice that was part of her daydreams for years touched her ears alone.

'Hi, I'm Prince. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,' he said. As he looked at her, he thought, 'Keep it together, Nelson. Don't overwhelm her. Man, the closer I get, the better she looks. Please let this be right. She seems like the ONE '

'Emma Leal. This is definitely my pleasure,' she replied, as she stood and extended her hand. 'It is an honor to meet you.'

'No, the honor is mine.' Prince ignored the outstretched hand, and walked to the love seat with his usual swagger. He gracefully gestured for Emma to sit down, sitting next to her. When they both sat down there still wasn't any difference in their heights.

'Man, he's more handsome in person face to face. I'm in trouble!'

His arresting amber eyes focused on Emma, and he said, 'Part of the reason I wanted to meet you was I couldn't figure out what color your eyes were-I knew we'd have to be face to face in order to get that straightened out.' He continued to hold her gaze, saying 'Wow, I've never seen eyes the color of yours-such a deep teal blue with gold in the centers.'

'I could look at those eyes forever. Woah, jumping ahead again. Cool your jets, man.'

'Honestly, I've never seen anyone else with my eye color either,' Emma replied. 'My sister has navy blue eyes, but mine are different, that's for sure.' she sat back, feeling a little more comfortable. It was amazing to Emma to realize her shoulders and wrists were a little broader than his. That made for a weird feeling for Emma. Emma had always been a little self conscious about her size, being rather short, but not ballerina petite. She was glad to see their hands were not the same size. His hands looked huge compared to the size of his wrists, his caramel colored skin only a few shades darker than her own creamy pale skin dotted with freckles.

This is promising. She isn't acting overly excited about meeting me, as if she were still 18 years old. God, what are you up to?' He continued to smile at Emma while taking in her clothing and beauty, continually coming back to her eyes and capturing their gaze with his. He felt like he could drown in those eyes, their color was so deep and intense.