Dance With Me (Norminah & Camren)

Chapter 28: I Don't Mind

A/N: Chapters with songs always take longer cuz I gotta choreograph it in my mind. Lmao and I'm a cheesy mofo, so I'm a sucker for being extra dramatic with songs. Speaking of which, pay attention to how well the lyrics of one of my fav songs fits with Norminah's situation! :D

Dinah's POV

Empty...

That's how life felt after my dance partner left.

Normani had made up some BS about an emergency and gone back to New York. But only I knew the real reason she'd left.

I'd hurt her...

Really bad...

I lay in bed night after night, restlessly going over the cruelty of my words. I hadn't meant what I'd said to her, but that didn't change the fact that the vileness had come out of my mouth. I wished I could take back my words, but I couldn't.

She wouldn't let me.

For a month, I consistently called and texted Normani my apologies and begged her to come back, but she kept ignoring me. She Skyped us during every rehearsal to see how the dances were going for the showcase, but she never addressed me directly, talked to me, or even looked at me during the video calls. She mainly communicated with Ally and the dancers. If they noticed something weird was going on between us, they didn't bring it up, for which, I was grateful because I never wanted anyone to find out about how low I'd stooped with my words.

I was disgusted with myself.

But more than guilt was the pining to see her.

I finally got what I wanted: Normani and I were distant. I didn't have to talk to her. I didn't have to watch her interact effortlessly with my daughter. I didn't have to witness her sexy body contort beautifully across the dance floor. Nor did I have to dance with her. But I'd never felt emptier.

I didn't even have weird sensual thoughts about her anymore, because they were shadowed by guilt and the overwhelming longing to see her. And that's when I realized this was more than just hormones...

...and it scared the crap out of me.

But no matter how scared I was, I needed to make things right with Normani. And there was only one way I was going to get her to listen: I had to personally go collect her. So, I left Ryder with Alfredo's parents for a few days and flew to New York to get my dance partner back.

When I reached the Kordeination studio in upstate New York, Normani was there by herself. She was in the middle of choreographing a contemporary piece to 'Gangsta' by Kehlani when her eyes fell on my reflection in the mirror. A momentary expression of surprise crossed her face, but then her face went blank as she continued dancing without acknowledging my presence. My heart sank at her reaction, but I wasn't going to give up that easily.

I set my stuff down, took off my jacket and shoes, and joined her on the dance floor. Mimicking her movements, I inched closer to her as the song progressed. Normani tried to move away from me, but I wasn't going to let her avoid me forever. I pursued her across the dance floor, getting closer to her with every beat. And by the end of the song, I had her cornered against the wall. After the song ended, she tried to walk away from me, but I grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving.

Normani struggled against me, but I held her firmly against the wall and softly said, "I'm sorry..."

"Let me go!" Normani said, struggling harder.

"I can't..." I said, wrapping my arms around her waist and locking her in against me, "Not until you hear me out."

"What else do you have to say? You pretty much summed it up last time," Normani said coldly.