The Dance

*21*

The Stockholm show had an ...interesting moment for Emma.

She went back to the dressing room near the end of the show to find a cute young woman sitting on the love seat who fit the description of almost every woman Prince had been seen with in public or married to. Short, petite body type, olive complected, dark long curly hair, and beautiful. Emma introduced herself as Emma, and the sweet young thing didn't even mention her name, just that Prince had apparently summoned her backstage via a bodyguard. She seemed quite nervous to be there. For that, she had Emma's sympathy.

'This is a pretty clear way of letting me know our time together is up if that's true, but it doesn't fit the way Prince has been acting or the things he's said. Hmmm.'

The two women chatted a bit as the final encore wound down, and then Prince came bounding in, full of energy as he always was after a show. He didn't seem bothered by Emma's presence, coming straight to her for a kiss and a squeeze, but she knew he had a long term history as a womanizer of the first order, so she continued to withhold judgement, and believe she knew the real Prince.

'Emma, don't you think this girl has the right look to be a dancer with the show? Damaris can't always dance, since she has her modeling career, and I've always liked a dancer onstage, ever since Cat danced for us on the 'Sign O' the Times' tour'. Turning to the stunned young woman, he said, 'Hi, I'm Prince. What's your name? Are you by any chance a dancer?'

The young woman found her voice and replied, 'My name is Marguerite, and sorry, no, I'm not a dancer. I'm thrilled to get to meet you, though! I came tonight with my mother, who has been a fan of yours for years. In fact, she swears I was conceived after she and my dad attended one of your concerts. I'm sure she'd love to meet you, as well.'

Prince didn't look disappointed, which almost surprised Emma. Then she remembered that one of the things that was true about Prince was that he loved being around beautiful young women, and this was a chance to interact with a new face, which he hadn't had for weeks.

She decided to let this play out and see if her hunch was correct. If so, she really didn't have a problem.  She'd been known to admire God's handiwork from afar, herself, though the male versions. She still wasn't up for sharing, though. Not ever.

Sure enough, Prince asked for Marguerite's mom to be brought back, and invited them both to have dinner with him, Emma, and the girls in the band with their partners as well.

It turned out that Prince had reserved an entire restaurant for a very late dinner, so there was plenty of room for everyone. Prince had Emma sit on his right, and put Marguerite and her mother on his left. He gave Marguerite and her mother some cordial attention, but his reserve came into play, a reserve that Prince was famous for, but Emma hadn't really experienced before.

She found herself actively helping the conversation along when Prince ran out of things to say. At one point, Emma felt a hand on her thigh, and realized Prince was gripping her very tightly. She put her left hand down and immediately had it grabbed, fingers linked securely. He held onto it for the rest of the meal, eating what little he did with his left hand. Emma found out that night that Prince was ambidextrous. No one would ever know he was really right handed watching him finish his dinner.

Prince hugged both women goodbye, and he and Emma got in the limo to go back to the hotel. He turned toward Emma, began playing with her very soft hair, and said, 'Thank you for your help this evening. I'm sorry Marguerite didn't turn out to be a dancer.'

'She was a very sweet girl,' Emma replied, tracing circles on his thigh, remembering how much she loved those thighs. 'I think you made her mom's bucket list smaller by giving the two of them so much attention. They'll dine out on that story for years. Marguerite was very beautiful.'