Moment of Truth

The ballerinas hopped from side to side like fairies dancing in a distant heaven. It took a while for him to locate her. Second row, center, there was she, smiling as she danced, a smile that wasn’t like the smiles of her fellow dancers. Maybe her smile was just like the others after all, but it was his love for her that made her stand out.

Their eyes had met many times while her practice session was on and each time her smile hadn’t changed, but his heart had skipped a beat. It was nothing special for him, he had always looked at her from a distance, waiting for her to give him a glance, a glance that sent him to a different place and brought him back, in one single magical moment.

They weren’t friends, they had never talked. She knew that he used to look at her sweating it out during the final moments of her dance rehearsals. And he would imagine that her smile complimenting her dance was for him. He knew that he loved her. Because when you love someone, you just know it. It’s an unconditional conclusion, with no questions asked.

Today was special for him; it was time to let the accumulated feelings out. He was trembling, swallowing, trying to be a man, in control of his big moment. A light sound of the bell told him that this was it. He forcefully coughed out the nervous air, watching her go into the changing area. An unwanted wait it was, he wanted to fast forward time to those concluding moments.

After watching all the dancers leave, he finally saw her coming out. She had taken a little longer than usual today. She walked out of the dance hall pretending that she hadn’t seen him. He walked right in front of her and she stopped, a little scared, a little surprised.

Before her confused look could turn into a scared one, he said “Forgive me lady, for I’ve shamelessly fallen in love with you “.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued “I’ve imagined holding you in my arms and just wondered how complete would that feeling be”.

Before she could respond, he took out an outrageously red rose from his pocket and presented it to her.

He looked at her letting out a deep sigh after which she began rummaging through her purse. He stood still, expecting her to grab out a revolver or a pepper spray. But what came out of the purse was even more destructive.

She took out a ring and wore it on her finger.