Page 31 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

It was Monday morning, and the beginning of our second week at the retreat. I couldn’t believe how quickly the first week had flown by. I’d already finished breakfast and was sipping on my second cup of coffee.

Dana had been trying to convince me to join her for tai chi, but Emma’s arrival interrupted her midsentence.

“What’s everyone doing this morning?” Emma said, as if she had a sixth sense that she needed to keep an eye on me.

“Blake and I were just discussing going to tai chi,” Dana responded.

Emma raised her eyebrows. “You were, were you?” She patted my shoulder. “I’m afraid Blake is signed up for something else.”

“I enjoyed tai chi the other day.” Pleading my case wouldn’t help, but the way the others were acting this morning had me nervous. Call me paranoid, but I swore they kept exchanging looks while we prepared breakfast.

“No can do,” Emma said.

A flash of irritation flitted across Dana’s face. “I still can’t believe you’re letting your sister call all the shots.”

“I can’t, either.” I sighed.

“But a deal is a deal,” Emma added. “And Blake has integrity.”

I felt her double-edged meaning. It served as a dig at Dana and a warning to me.

“I’m so excited for today,” Katlynn said. I studied her outfit, wondering what her first class would be. Her long, flowing dress looked like something she’d wear to a party, not a workout.

Emma pointed. “I’m guessing we’re attending the same session.”

“Are you going to—” Katlynn said.

Before she could finish, Emma cut her off. “Don’t say it. I want it to be a surprise for Blake.”

Amusement danced in both of their eyes. Now I knew they were just toying with me. In protest, I should lock myself in the bedroom and refuse to come out.

Annie stood from the table and shook her hips as she carried her dishes to the sink. “Girl, I think I might be signed up for the same session as you.”

Emma clapped her hands. “Perfect.” She turned to Helena. “How about you?”

Helena glanced around the table and pursed her lips. “My lips are sealed.”

Dana abruptly stood from the table. “Oh, for god’s sakes, they’re doing that stupid dancing in the woods thing.”

Before Emma could respond, Dana crumpled her napkin and threw it in the garbage, then she stomped from the house.

“Dancing? What the hell did she mean by dancing in the woods?” My gaze shifted between my housemates. They just grinned and continued cleaning up our breakfast mess.

The pack of us, sans Dana, made our way to the woods behind our villa. When we entered the break in the trees, we found six others already there.

As we made small talk, Robyn burst into the clearing, sporting a backpack. She waved at us. “I apologize for running late.”

I glanced at my watch. “It’s five till. No Millie today?”

“No. It’s her fault I’m almost late.”

“What did the darling do?” Emma asked.

“You wouldn’t call her that if you lived with her.” Robyn laughed as she kneeled and unzipped her bag. “She decided her playbox full of toys wasn’t adequate or at least not as fun as the garbage in the bathroom. I woke up to it strewn all over my apartment.”

We laughed as we gathered around Robyn, who pulled headsets from her bag. As she handed them out, she explained the control buttons.

I moved up next to Emma. “What class were we signed up for?”

“Shh, it’s not important. Listen to Robyn.”

When I tuned back in, Robyn was saying, “I bet you wonder what silent dancing in the woods is all about.”

“Damn right,” one woman called as the rest of us nodded.

Robyn grinned. “That’s usually the reaction I get. There’re six different channels, so there’ll be two dancers on each. Since there’s eleven of you, one will have their own private channel. All of you will get the same songs, but in a different sequence. Make sense?”

We all nodded.

“Each song is a different genre of music. Rock. Country. Classical. In theory, you’ll figure out who else is on your channel.” Robyn laughed and shook her head. “But that’s not always how it works. Sometimes, by the end, you’ll have no clue.”

Katlynn spun, and her dress flared out. “No matter what I’m dancing to, it’ll look like I’m dancing to Swan Lake. ”

“And Emma will be performing the two left foot blues,” I said.

Emma playfully slapped me on the arm and then thrust out her ass and shook it. “And Blake will give us the come sex me up shimmy.”

Robyn laughed. “Am I going to have to separate you two?”

“Do you have another headset in your bag?” Annie asked.

“Yeah, isn’t yours working?”

“Mine’s working just fine,” Annie replied. “If you’re making us dance around like fools, then you have to join us.”

Robyn raised her hands and stepped back. “No. That’s not how it works.”

“Come on.” Helena took a step toward Robyn. “If I’m going to be moving these stiff-ass limbs of mine, you can, too.”

Robyn helplessly looked around the group. When she met my gaze, I raised my eyebrows and said, “Do you really want one of us to have to dance solo? Are you chicken?”

A competitiveness flashed in her eyes. “Fine.” She dug in her pack and pulled out another set. “I didn’t want to put you to shame with my moves, but you asked for it.”

The group cheered, while Annie and I let out a catcall.

“But wait,” Katlynn said. “Songs are all a different length.”

“I forgot to mention you’ll get a three-minute portion of ten different songs.”

“Thirty minutes of dancing. You’re killing me,” someone called.

“It’s okay to take a breather,” Robyn responded. “Just have fun.”

Robyn started the music.

I groaned to myself as Rock Around the Clock blasted my ears.

How the hell did anyone dance to fifties music?

Didn’t they move their feet a lot when they danced?

Instead of trying to emulate the moves of the past, I focused on the music and moved with it.

I wouldn’t win any dance contests, but at least I was on the beat.

I’d been so self-conscious about my dancing that I hadn’t been paying attention to anyone else, but as the time on the first song wound down, I glanced around the clearing.

I stifled a laugh at the chaos. Numerous times, I’d been at clubs where some had no business on the dance floor, but this was something else.

It almost made me dizzy as I listened to my music and saw others moving to a different beat.

The music switched. The beat screamed country, a genre I never listened to.

Could I dance to it without a pair of cowboy boots?

I had to admit the melody was catchy, and I caught myself tapping my toe and moving my shoulders.

I chuckled as the singer mentioned his pickup truck, followed by his tractor.

Yep, this was typical country. But damn, the beat had me moving.

I couldn’t help laughing when the singer got to the chorus and told the country girl to shake it.

Again, I was lost in the music but remembered to check out the others.

Emma and I couldn’t have the same song since she was jogging through the clearing, her arms spread wide.

What the hell is she dancing to? Her movements nearly threw me off my rhythm, so I had to look away.

My gaze landed on Katlynn, who didn’t appear to be dancing to Swan Lake.

She looked more like a headbanger than a ballerina, which didn’t match her flowing dress.

What Katlynn was dancing to became clear once my song switched. Shit. The driving sounds of guitars and drums assaulted my ears. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a singer, if one could call him that, screamed words I couldn’t understand. How could this even be called music?

As the cacophony continued, anger rose inside of me, something I’d never experienced when I listened to music. Not that I listened to heavy metal. I glanced down at my feet that weren’t moving. That was when I realized all I had been doing was violently moving my upper body.

I was thankful when the music flipped to another song.

The tightness in my jaw lessened. I’d been clenching my teeth and didn’t realize it.

The familiar tin whistle at the beginning of the theme from Titanic filled my ears.

The tension I’d felt from the previous song melted as Celine Dion’s angelic voice replaced the grating heavy metal.

I moved around our makeshift dance floor with flowing motions, moving my arms as if I were standing on the bow of the Titanic. As I moved, I spotted the two dancers listening to the awful song I just finished since their faces held a mixture of revulsion and anger.

I needed to determine who was on the same channel as me.

I ruled out the two with pained expressions and Emma, which meant I’d narrowed it to eight.

My concentration shifted to the others as I watched them, while I continued to float around the clearing, feeling a sense of freedom that surprised me.

When the song switched, I smiled as Defying Gravity from Wicked began to play.

With the first notes sung, I recognized Cynthia Erivo’s voice.

I glanced over at Emma, assuming this was the song playing when she ran across the clearing earlier.

I flashed back to Robyn’s tear-stained face at the play on Saturday and let the powerful music wash over me.

Five songs in, I could feel the mood shift from apprehension and self-consciousness to unbridled joy. Smiles shone on everyone’s faces, except the ones I suspected were listening to the headache-inducing song.

I danced toward Annie, who sported a pained expression and mouthed, hang in there, it’s almost over.

She put her hands against her chest and mouthed, thank god.

I laughed as I continued to move, defying gravity as I went.