The Finest Line (12 page)

She looked across to the wings
for her escape and Miranda and Kylie looked terrified. Other
dancers came to stand with them and some of the girls laughed.

Someone in the audience called
out, “Hey sweetheart, if you don’t like that pole, I’ve got one you
can swing on.” He was supported by some whistles and cat calls.

Laughter erupted which was an
entirely new experience for her. Gymnastic audiences kept their
criticism civil with appropriate gasps and groans at failure, but
never laughter.

The more they jeered the angrier
Mairead became and her nerves began to fade away. She walked slowly
to the front of the stage, glaring down at the audience.

“You can all kiss my arse but
when you do make sure there’s a hundred dollar bill with it.” She
turned to the wings. “Play the fucking music.”

The first notes were nearly
inaudible under the calls, cheers and laughter of men but Mairead
heard all that she needed. She closed her eyes and let the song
dictate to her body.

The stage was hers and she would
use it as she pleased and right now she needed to stretch. She
wished that she had warmed up but the gentle introduction of the
song allowed a quiet floor exercise that would have to suffice.

She swayed her arms, her head
and her torso to the music before stretching forwards and touching
the floor with her palms. From there she did a backbend and brought
her legs over slowly to finish in a stance ready for the refrain to
strengthen.

As it did, Mairead cart wheeled
slowly, pivoting straight into a handstand at the base of the pole
until she was stretched along its length. Gripping the steel with
her ankles and calves she slowly drew her torso up until her hands
had grasped the pole and she was upright.

From there it was simply a
matter of imitating her favourite moves she had seen the girls
perform, adding her own unique improvements. There were no more
distractions. The audience had gone silent and there was just the
music and a chrome pole to worship with her body.

Nothing mattered anymore, not
the audience, nor James or his girlfriend. Mairead was doing what
she loved and in a way that she had never attempted before and yet
it was as if she had been doing this her whole life. Too soon the
song was drawing to an end and it was time for her finale.

After building up a spinning
speed, she employed all her strength to grasp the pole with one leg
bent and the other out straight. Mairead held her body and arms out
horizontally and spun rapidly, gradually descending and slowing
down until she could grasp the pole in her hands and allow her feet
to alight gently onto the floor.

The response was immediate and
furious. Cheers and applause lasted several minutes as Mairead
breathed deeply and felt the sweat saturate her body. In the wings,
Kylie, Miranda and the dancers were hysterical. The woman in red
hurried to her and hugged her.

“Ladies and Gentlemen...” She
shook her head and hugged Mairead again. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I
give you... Vanessa!”

“Take your mask off!” someone
shouted and others took up the chant amongst the thunderous
accolades. Mairead shook her head.

The lights came up and Mairead
could clearly see her excited fans. Only one was not joining in.
She swallowed and felt a little weaker when she saw James standing
and staring up at her and there was no amusement on his face.

Quickly Mairead waved and ran
off to the wings where she was swamped by the girls. She grabbed
Kylie. “We got to get out of here.”

Kylie was still way too excited.
“Girlfriend, you just brought the house down.”

“I think James knows it’s
me.”

Mairead’s revelation snapped
Kylie’s attention back and she nodded. “We got to get out of
here.”

Stopping only briefly to
acknowledge admiration from the dancers, Mairead followed Kylie and
Miranda to the back room where the girls helped her strip down and
return to her clothes.

Mairead held the costume in her
hands and adored it before handing it to Miranda, who shook her
head.

“Keep it!” she smiled. “It’s my
present to you for allowing me to be part of all this tonight.”

“Thank you,” Mairead hugged her
tightly and grinned. “Hey Miranda, you’re now officially my fairy
godmother.”

They laughed as Kylie collected
their bags and tugged on Mairead’s arm. “And if you don’t want to
be pumpkin pie, I’d get your ass moving.”

Miranda let them out through a
side door into a dark narrow street that ran down the side of the
club. A light rain was falling and Mairead held her face up to feel
its cold sprinkle before letting out a triumphant shout.

“I feel amazing!” She twirled
and danced on the shiny black road. Kylie lifted her and spun her
around. “You
are
fucking amazing.”

They laughed and hugged as they
made their way to the end of the street.

“Oh my god, you should have seen
James’ face.” Mairead laughed. “If looks could kill, I’d be leaving
here in a body bag.”

“Was it something like that?”
Kylie had stopped and grasped Mairead’s hand.

“What?” Mairead was still
laughing but her mirth died instantly when she saw James standing
on the main street. His mouth was pursed tightly and he was glaring
at her as they walked the remaining steps between them.

She wanted to be brave and feel
the anger that she had felt before but it was no use. All she could
manage was to meet his gaze. “Hullo James.”

His quiet reply somehow matched
the anger and disgust on his face. “You’re a fucking little selfish
bitch Mairead. You care for no one but yourself, and certainly not
for your father whose career you are determined to ruin. If you’re
going to fuck your own life up, is it too much to ask that you
leave other people’s lives alone? Mine included.”

Mairead crumbled and only
remained upright as Kylie held her tightly around her waist by one
arm as she tried to size up to James.

“Man, you are still a fucking
arsehole.”

James looked at Kylie who
withered under his burning glare. “Take her home.”

He walked away, leaving Kylie to
gather a distraught Mairead into her arms. For a long time they sat
on the pavement, until her weeping was just part of the increasing
rain.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The morning sunshine, streaming
through Kylie’s bedroom window, did nothing to alleviate Mairead’s
pain. Held in one arm, her head rested on Kylie’s breast whilst her
friend blew smoke towards the ceiling.

She trembled each time she
recalled James’ words and was hugged a little tighter. Kylie’s
pyjama top was damp from her tears.

“It hurts so much. I can hardly
bear it.”

“The guy is a complete fucking
jerk Mairead.” Kylie was angry. “I wish I’d smacked his fucking
head in.”

“He was right. I am
selfish.”

At that, Kylie sat up bringing
Mairead with her. “Don’t you dare spout that bull shit to me. When
every other arsehole including my family turned against me, you
were the only one who was there. You stuck by me all the way. You
saved my life.”

Mairead smiled thinly. “How do I
save mine?”

Kylie leaped from the bed and
pulled the covers back. “By getting in that shower, putting your
kit on and joining me for the best heart mender I know.”

“Which is?”

“Zumba Girlfriend. We are going
to dance.”

Mairead couldn’t think of
anything worse. She would have been quite content to stew in bed
all day but she knew that she owed it to Kylie to make some attempt
at recovery.

Kylie’s cure was remarkably
effective and after a double class at the local sports club,
Mairead was feeling a little less like dying and even had an
appetite. As they were about to leave, she spied something through
the window of a room.

“They have a pole.” Mairead
watched as a young fit man demonstrated moves to a group of women.
Each took their turn to imitate the moves guided by the
trainer.

“Girl, I thought you would have
had enough of that,” Kylie grinned.

Mairead shook her head. “I loved
it. It was mine to do with what I wanted. Not like gymnastics,
that’s so rigid and precise and shit.”

“You certainly took to it. How
the hell did you do that anyway?”

“Don’t you remember me swinging
around the bars at gymnastics?” Mairead reminded her. “Mrs. Thiele
used to tell me off for it.”

Kylie laughed. “Oh my god Mrs.
Thiele, the old bitch. ‘If you’re going to behave like a prostitute
Mairead, please find somewhere else to do it.’”

“I didn’t even know what a
prostitute was.” Mairead laughed with her. “But she didn’t stop me
but just made me do it a little more discreetly. It was just fun. I
certainly knew nothing about pole-dancing.” She grasped Kylie’s
arm. “Can we do a pole class tomorrow?”

“If it keeps that smile on your
face, you are more than welcome, but you are on your own
girlfriend, I have to work tomorrow.”

Mairead felt excited at the
prospects of being back on a pole and lingered a moment to watch
the trainer do another move.

“Excuse me.”

She turned to see two girls
dressed in aerobic outfits, and about her own age. They had been in
the Zumba class with her and their excitement was evident.

“You’re Mairead Kavanagh, aren’t
you?”

After receiving a reluctant
affirmation, one girl beamed triumphantly. “I told you it was her.
Miss Kavanagh, would it be alright to get an autograph?”

“Just Mairead,” She smiled as
she signed two flyers from the centre, but felt her excitement
wane. The girls were a reminder of who she was, a gymnast who could
be performing in the Olympic arena, not the seedy world of pole
dancing.

Whilst a Zumba class was
perfectly acceptable, Mairead knew the media would create some
colourful headlines if she was caught swinging around a pole, even
in a sports centre.

James had spelled it out to her
and she knew that he had been right. Her father had suffered enough
and it was time to stop being so selfish and to try and pick up the
mess she had made of her gymnastic career.

Wellington had certainly given
her some clarity. She knew where she stood with James and hoped
that one day she might be able to earn back a little of his respect
for her. As much as the idea beckoned, Mairead was decided that her
venture into pole dancing was over.

After lunch and a movie, Mairead
was having some success at shutting James out from her thoughts or
at least not feeling her heart being ripped apart each time his
face and words came back to her.

She even managed to get some
sleep that night, but in the morning she felt sad as she watched
Kylie prepare for work.

“I’ll be back at six and we’ll
grab some movies and some junk food and a couple of bottles of
red.” Kylie grinned at Mairead’s pouting face. “You know you could
try cleaning up this place to keep yourself busy.”

“But I’m only here for another
week,” Mairead teased. “Is that going to be enough time?”

“You cheeky bitch,” Kylie
snatched up a handbag and turned on her heels. “Get those bare feet
in the kitchen and be sure my dinner is on the table at six or
there is going to be trouble.”

Mairead grinned as Kylie planted
a kiss on her forehead. “Yes Dear. Have a nice day at work.”

When Kylie was gone the
emptiness of the two-bedroom flat seemed ominous and Mairead was
thinking that some housework could be distracting and even a brand
new challenge. Her apartment in Australia had been serviced and she
certainly hadn’t experienced domestic duties prior. It could be
fun.

She had dressed in an aerobic
bra and shorts for Kylie’s sake, rather than explain that she had
no intention of going back to the sports centre. All she needed was
some good techno beats and she would be ready for a completely new
type of workout.

With music blaring, Mairead
danced and tumbled throughout the flat armed with vacuum cleaner,
mop and bucket and a variety of cleaners. As each task was
completed Mairead celebrated by dancing in the lounge before
launching into the next.

Morning achieved a gleaming
kitchen, vacuumed carpets and shiny floors. Lunchtime was exchanged
for a sparkling bathroom, well made bed and washing fluttering on
the clothes line.

When by mid afternoon there was
nothing left to do, Mairead danced from room to room admiring her
work, feeling very proud. It was time to celebrate by cranking the
music and doing a shuffle.

Her body was gleaming with
perspiration as she indulged in this exciting dance movement she
had learned from the internet. It didn’t have the grace of
gymnastic floor work but it still required co-ordination and talent
and it was a hell of a lot more fun.

Caught up in her reverie,
Mairead didn’t notice as the light increased in the room. Only as
she did a conveyer belt movement across the floor and spun around
did she realise that she was no longer alone.

Her hand trembled as she turned
off the music and stared at James and Vanessa standing at the front
door.

“My apologies Mairead,” James
was grinning. “We did knock.”

Vanessa was smiling too and
looking more beautiful than the other night. Casually dressed in
jeans and loose white gypsy top, her hourglass figure was evident.
The white blonde hair was actually just blonde but definitely
natural, allowing amazing contrast to her olive skin. The proof of
her blonde eyelashes surrounded a pair of violet eyes.

“May we come in Mairead?” Even
her voice sounded lovely.

Mairead nodded trying to
remember the simple task of protocol for visitors. “Please sit
down. Would you like something, something to eat or drink maybe? I
think we’re out of milk but I could run to the supermarket.”