Epilogue

2 months later…

Anastasia James

I dragged the heavy suitcases down the hallway of the rental building, in search of apartment 876, which very soon I will be able to call home. I cannot believe that this dream has finally come true. After so many attempts and several “no’s” for an answer, I finally received my first yes and I couldn't be less happy about it.

I opened the door to my newest home in Provence and was greeted by the smell of fresh paint. It was a simple and small apartment, but for me, it is ideal. I was very lucky to be able to rent it. Or rather, I was very lucky with everything. Who would have thought that they would have had their eye on me for so long, just waiting for me to graduate before hiring me?

It sounds like something out of a movie, but the good thing is that it is all very real. I remember as if it were yesterday when I went to check my e-mail and there was the newsletter saying that they had accepted my resume and were eager to have me on their team. It was not easy at all. I sent so many resumes, I was tired of looking at them.

Since I joined the Bolshoi Dance Academy, I have only learned new things. I felt in a whole new world with the amount of techniques they passed on to us. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to teach. I don't know exactly when this desire entered my heart, but just when I was about to graduate, I decided that this was what I wanted to do in life. I never thought that I could be good at these things, but during one of the many activities we did with other people, I realized that I felt much more comfortable teaching other people. Especially the children, who reminded me of when I discovered one side of Matthew.

I smiled at the memory and pulled my bags to the center of the room. I looked around and began to imagine what it would be like when my things arrived. My father even told my uncle and he insisted that he will come visit me on my birthday. According to my aunt, we will have a big party. I don't think we'll fit everyone in here, but okay…

Interrupting my thoughts, the deafening ringing of my cell phone echoed through the empty room. I rummaged through my purse, which I had attached to my suitcase since leaving the airport, and stared at the display. I couldn't help but be surprised to see Johnny's name glowing on the screen.

Well, it is quite surprising, since we haven't spoken since the day he left Sturgis, which coincidentally was the same day I had to go to New York for some tests. We talked a lot about the future that day…

“Hello?” I said as soon as I held the cell phone to my ear.

“Hi, Ana!” That wasn't Johnny's voice…

“Steph!” I pulled the phone away for a brief moment to check the screen, making sure I had a clear view. “What are you doing with Johnny's cell phone?”

“Oh, he left it here in the car and went to take care of some things.” I said simply. “Are you very busy?”

“No, I'm not.” I denied it. “Actually, I just arrived in Provence.” I laughed nasally. “I'm going to live around here now.”

“Yeah, Johnny mentioned it.”

“Johnny?” I frowned, confused. “And how did he know I was coming here?” I don't think it was my father, after all, they have no contact.

“Hm…” She muttered. “Can we meet?”

“Meet?” It was impossible not to laugh. “Steph, I'm in Provence. Not in South Dakota or New York.”

“I know. I'm in Provence, too.” She said simply. “I'm hanging up. Johnny is on his way back, but I'll send you the address where I am. See you in fifteen minutes? I don't know. Anyway, kiss, girl!”

I didn't even have a chance to argue against it, because she simply hung up on me. I put the phone away and stared at the screen, confused. Steph and Johnny were in Provence! What the hell was that?

A few minutes later, a message came from Johnny – or rather, Steph via Johnny's cell phone – with the address she said she would send. Well, it wasn't that far from here. I looked around and sighed. I can pack later.

I went through my purse, where my documents and wallet were, and hurried out of the apartment, dropping my bags in the living room. I really miss them, so when I get home I'll pack everything in its place.

After about fifteen minutes of walking around like a fool with my cell phone up, since I don't know anything here, I finally arrived. Well, according to the GPS on my cell phone, this was it. I looked around, trying to see if Steph wasn't around, but I didn't see her. I paid attention to the building across the street. Its facade was painted a faded white, and the front door was blocked by wooden plywood. My cell phone vibrated again, with another message from Johnny, and this time I was surprised by what it said.

| Are you going to stand out there? Just get in!

I stared again at the building in front of me and burst out laughing. Are they watching me? I rolled my eyes and put my cell phone in my jeans pocket. I held the strap of the bag firmly on my shoulders and walked towards the building. The front door was locked, so I went around to the side, looking for a second entrance.

Confirming my assumption, there was a blue iron door at the back. Without hesitation, I climbed the steps to the entrance and pushed the door open. A loud noise made me cringe, but I entered anyway. The light was dim, so I had to squint my eyes to get a better view. It was an abandoned dance studio, with several dance rooms and a lot of dust. Suddenly, I heard the beat of a song echoing through the place. It was a slow rhythmic beat. Wait. I know…

“Johnny? Steph?” I frowned, walking toward the music.

I went to the end of the hall and as soon as I entered the room, I was surprised. Compared to all the space here, this was the only decently tidy one. It was visible that it had recently been renovated, but, because it had been left abandoned, it was dusty. I could tell it was an abandoned ballet room by the mirrors and the bars, which were in the corner of the room. There was no one there, only the music that had slowed down. I ended up huffing. I wondered if Johnny and Steph were trying to play a trick on me. I spun on my heels, intending to leave, but as soon as I turned around, a shiver ran through my body.

Am I dreaming? I blinked a few times, trying to wake up, but I kept seeing him there. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so much so that I rubbed my eyes and when I realized it was real, my heart squeezed and tears started rolling down my face. I couldn't think of anything else but to run to him.

“How I've missed this hug!” Matthew said, muffled in my hair.

After being away from him for so long, smelling him made me ecstatic, so I squeezed him tightly, as if we were one. If this is a dream, I hope I don't wake up now, because it's too good to be true.

“Are you for real?” I asked against his chest.

“You're hugging me, and you still doubt?” He laughed.

“Yes.” I sighed. He pulled away from me to look into my eyes, allowing me to see the little smile on his lips.

“Do I need to show you that I'm real?” His tone was low, making me laugh.

“Maybe.” I narrowed my eyes and watched him snort. “Where are Johnny and Steph?”

“In Los Angeles.” He said simply.

“Los Angeles!” I exclaimed. “And how did they know where I was? In fact, how did they know about this place?” I frowned. Matt laughed and wrapped his arm around my body, starting to walk toward the back.

“Well, I bet you don't understand a thing.” He laughed nasally. “And I'll explain everything to you, but first I'm going to take you somewhere.” I said with a mysterious smile as I dragged myself out of the dance studio. “You need to meet someone.”

After that, we said nothing more. We just walked slowly, telling each other everything we had done in the last few days, laughing and joking, not caring what people would think of us. After about ten minutes, we arrived in a sort of public square, where there were many flowers and trees, and even a fountain with some pigeons drinking water. There was a large Greek-style building near the fountain, and Matt was dragging me towards the long staircase there.

“Where are we going?” I asked, climbing the stairs beside him.

“You'll see.” His mysterious manner was making me nervous.

There was a boy at the door, who didn't ask, nor did he stop us. We walked down a red carpet into a corridor filled with paintings hanging on the walls. It was a place with an old footprint, like a museum or an opera house. We turned to the right, where they had the bathrooms and a huge wooden cabinet in a reddish-brown color, with a bunch of trophies. Matthew approached a door and burst into the room, walking over to an ice cream machine, which he curiously had there.

“What are you doing?” I frowned, looking around, afraid that we might be caught here.

“Vanilla or chocolate?” He ignored me, preparing two ice cream cones.

“Matt, we can't stay here.” I insisted.

Before I could finish my sentence, someone opened the door of the room, startling me.

It was a middle-aged man, who was wearing cargo pants, a knitted jacket, an overcoat, and even a scarf, all in black. His gray hair was combed up, and he was smiling broadly.

“Ah, so she's here already!” He raised his eyebrows at me.

“Yes.” Matt nodded, handing me one of the shells. “Anastasia, this is Oliver Smith, the owner of this company.” I stared at him and held out my free hand.

“Very nice to meet you.” I gave a slight smile.

“The pleasure is all mine to finally meet you.” Oliver nodded, putting his hands in his pants pockets. “Ever since Matthew stepped in here, he has never stopped talking about you.”

“What a lie!” He rebutted. I ended up laughing when I realized that his cheeks were slightly flushed, indicating that he was embarrassed. How cute…

“What's up? Did you have a good trip?” Oliver raised one eyebrow, sitting down on the swivel chair.

“Yes, I did.” I nodded and looked at Matthew, not knowing what I should do.

“And are you ready to work with us?” As soon as he asked, I couldn't help but frown.

I blinked a few times.

“You had to spoil the surprise, didn't you?” Matt snorted.

“Oh, it was a surprise?” He raised his eyebrows and when he saw me nod, he stared at me, putting his coffee cup to his mouth. Matt snorted. “Come on, Ana.” He held my hand, dragging me out of the room.

Matthew was dragging me to so many places every five seconds, I'm starting to get dizzy.

“What did he mean by working here?” I asked, as Matthew dragged me down the hall.

“He doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut.” He grumbled.

“Go on, tell me!” I stopped walking and started to wiggle. Matthew stared at me for a few seconds, a little uncertain. Finally, he sighed.

“Can it wait until tomorrow?” He narrowed his eyes. “I promise to tell you everything tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I tilted my head to the side, confused.

“Yes…” He nodded. “It's just… It's not ready yet.” He grimaced, making me smile.

“Ok.” I nodded. “So, what do we do now?”

Matt moistened his lips

“I thought we could go to my apartment and watch a movie, eat something, talk…” He smiled mischievously. “Get over each other's homesickness. What do you think?”

I couldn't help smiling at his proposal.

“But I don't even know if you're real…” I narrowed my eyes. Matthew moved closer to my ear and lowered his voice as he said:

“Come on, and I'll show you if I'm real or not.”

And I did.

The goal was to watch a movie, but I don't know at what point we got lost, all I know is that when I saw Matt was taking off his shirt and sneakers, and even helped me take off my shirt. My body crashed against the mattress of the bed, so I realized that we were in the bedroom. Matthew climbed on top of me and kissed his way down my neck in a trail of hot kisses.

His hands roamed all over my body, groping every inch of me. When he reached the waistband of my pants, he gave me a mischievous look, so I propped myself up on my elbows as he got out of bed. Patiently, Matt untied my sneakers and threw them into a corner of the room, then unbuttoned my jeans, pulling them down my legs along with my panties. I took advantage of the moment to get rid of my bra and throw it away.

He lay down on top of me again, and this time he didn't intend to stop until he had what he wanted. His lips met mine briefly and then broke into an insistent, teasing trail of kisses, moving downward without stopping. I wasn't expecting Matt to make any progress, but when his tongue brushed against my sensitive spot, all I did was let out a surprised groan and arch my back.

Well, it was supposed to be a night of movies, but it turned out to be a night of pure pleasure, where we killed our most carnal desires, expressing with screams and moans what we were feeling. I don't know when exactly, but we were overcome by fatigue and fell asleep together.

***

“Yes, it was a very large dog.” Scott agreed with his head, as he prepared a tuna sandwich.

Sitting on the kitchen stool in Matthew's apartment, I was listening to these two discuss dogs.

“He was a Doberman.” Kaleb rolled his eyes, stuffing the bread into his mouth.

“Exactly! The bug was huge.” Molly arched her eyebrows, expressing with her hands how big the dog was.

“Have you ever seen a Great Dane?” Kaleb stared at her boredly. “It's a huge animal! No wonder it has the word “Great” in its name.” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, my God! Are you two arguing already?” Matt came out of the room wearing black jeans and a plaid shirt over a white shirt, with his famous black All Star.

“Molly and Kaleb are arguing about the biggest dog they saw yesterday on the way home.” Scott commented, thinking it was funny. I smiled.

Matt looked at me and smiled, walking towards me. He hugged me from the side and placed a kiss on my forehead. I felt my heart warm up at the gesture, so I faced him with a smile.

“Ana, what do you say we take a walk downtown?” Molly suggested, excited. “You must see the clothing store I found there! There are so many beautiful and inexpensive things…”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows, excited at the idea. I really need some new clothes…

“Some other day she'll go with you, Molly.” Matt said, and I stared at him, confused. He was forcing a smile. “I need to take her somewhere today.” He looked away from me and smiled mischievously.

Somewhere? Could this have something to do with what he said he would explain tomorrow? In other words, today?

“And may I know where we are going?” I raised one eyebrow, anxious about his possible answer.

“You'll see.” Matt said in a mysterious tone. How long will he stay at it? Doesn't he know I'm anxious?

“Okay.” I raised my arms in surrender, trying not to think too much. “I just need to eat something.” I warned and motioned to turn to the omelet Kaleb had made. I barely had a chance to touch it, though, because Matthew grabbed my arm and began to pull me away.

“We can eat outside.” He laughed nasally and began to drag me out of the apartment. I didn't even have a chance to object, but then again, I'm not going to complain. At least we'll get something to eat outside.

I feel that Matthew was very excited about taking me out tonight, but I preferred not to ask. He dragged me around the city, showing me some of the places I had been, and even some very funny experiences. I lost track of time after we stopped at a food truck for a bite to eat.

“Provence is much cooler than I imagined.” I commented as I took a bite of the meat sandwich I ordered.

“It's not the place. It's the company!” He boasted, making me roll my eyes.

“Not a bit cocky, huh?” I raised one eyebrow.

“I'm telling the truth.” Matt winked, swallowing the last piece of his sandwich. “Let's go. There's one last place I want you to see.” He stood up, dusting off his pants.

“But I'm not done eating yet.” I stood up hurriedly, trying to wrap the sandwich in paper. Matt simply laughed and walked ahead of me.

“You can go ahead and eat.” He said before taking my hand and dragging me down the sidewalk.

We walked for about fifteen minutes until we stopped in front of a small square, which looked somewhat familiar, but since I don't know anything around here yet, I just ignored it and followed him, after all he has been here longer than I have. I'm probably just confusing things.

Matthew pulled a key out of his jeans pocket and pointed at the door to an establishment that looked newly renovated. I found it odd, but decided to ignore it. He entered the place and I followed, fearful because I couldn't see an inch ahead of him.

The lights soon came on, revealing a large space with a wood floor. There was a small reception room there, with some white couches and even a bookcase with books. I looked at Matt, who had a mischievous smile on his face, and frowned. He laughed and turned his back to me, running down the long corridor. I followed.

I almost lost sight of him, but luckily I saw him enter through the last door at the end of the hall, so I headed in that direction. As soon as I opened the door, I couldn't contain my surprise at what was before my eyes. It was a large room, full of mirrors and bars. In the back, where the stereo was, there were two pictures hanging: one was the picture of Rachel that I found years ago in Matthew's boxes, and the other was none other than my mother in her last ballet performance before cancer. My eyes flooded with water.

“What is all this?” I asked, confused, but at the same time amazed. Matthew smiled and put his hands in his jeans pockets.

“Surprise?” He narrowed his eyes and I huffed, wiping away the tears. “If I told you it was fate, would you believe me?” I frowned and he laughed. “In short, Oliver is a long-time acquaintance. I went to his company for an event in December without even knowing that he was the owner.” He laughed nasally. “I was surprised, and he invited me to join his company, to work teaching. But…” He emphasized. “I said that I couldn't do it alone, and he showed me a list with several options that he had already considered. When I saw your picture… Well, I wouldn't choose an old lady in her fifties with you there, would I?” He snorted.

“What if it was a girl my age?” I frowned, trying to hold back a smile. Matthew smiled and sighed.

“It would still be you.” He nodded and stared at his feet. “It always is.” He stared at me. “See you in a million years.”

His words were right in the middle of my chest. Soon I felt a warmth take over my face and tears began to stream down my cheeks. I tried to hold back, but it was stronger than me, so I covered my face with my hands.

“Hey…” Matt came closer and wrapped his arms around my body, bringing me closer to his body. He held my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to face him. “I hope it's a happy cry.” He looked at me, worried. I laughed, causing his face to soften. “I would do this as many times as it takes, Ana. All I want most right now is to be with you.”

“I love you, Matt.” I smiled widely, looking deep into his eyes. He smiled and sealed our lips in a slow, passionate kiss. As soon as we broke away from the embrace, I looked around, catching my breath after the great excitement. “How did you manage to arrange this? The photo…”

“I had a little help from my father-in-law.” He said simply, making me smile broadly and stare at him.

“Your father-in-law?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Yes.” He said firmly. I said I wouldn't hesitate when we meet again.

“You are impossible, Matthew Jones.” I shook my head negatively. “But I do have one question.” I frowned as I remembered. “If you set this up here, what about that place Johnny and Steph sent me yesterday when we met?” I asked, curious.

“This one?” He said as if it were the obvious. My jaw dropped.

“Is this the place?” I widened my eyes, looking around, stunned. “How did you pack everything up so fast when we spent all our time together!”

“Molly, Scott and Kaleb were up most of the night for this.” He said simply, putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “And it just needed a good cleaning. Oliver recently bought the space and renovated it, but he didn't have anyone to bring in, so he left it locked up.”

“How incredible!” I sighed, delighted. “We could gather everyone here tomorrow! What do you think?” I suggested. “We can bring something to eat and some drinks.”

“I think that's great.” He nodded. I smiled widely and hugged him, resting my head on his chest.

You know, sometimes life is like that. It takes you to unusual places that you think are the end of the world, but are actually lifeboats in the middle of the ocean. In the end, there is no best musical style, much less the best dance partners; there are two hearts that feel the beats and complete each other, because everything in us is this meeting: from the first step to the most complete dance.

The language of the soul is dance, and when two souls meet, they dance to one single tune for the rest of their lives.