Not Another Diva

5 - Dirty Karate

My arms are around Brianna's, her back pressing up against my chest. It takes everything I have to concentrate on what it is I'm supposed to be doing and not on her neck, which is right next to my lips. All it would take for me to touch her skin with mine is a slight turn of my head. My heart is racing and I'm pretty sure she can feel it pounding through my Gi. I keep telling myself it's just from all of the physical strain I've gone through this afternoon and not from the way this girl is pressed up against me. 

I'm lying to myself, and I know it.

"Put your arms out, then bring them both up before you twist out of the hold," I tell her keeping my voice controlled. "If you think of it like a dance move, it might make it easier to perfect the motion."

"Are you speaking from experience?" she asks as she makes the slight turn of her head I was thinking of just seconds ago. Rather than let my mouth have its way, I pull back just enough to avoid contact.

I shake my head, my arms still wrapped around hers, but I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. My reaction to having her this close is becoming almost embarrassing. "Nope, can't dance. At all. But there is a rhythm to the defensive moves, so this should be a piece of cake for you."

"Oh, interesting. If that's the case I bet I can fix your problem." Brianna steps away from me and turns around. "Ever see Dirty Dancing? We just need to find a creek and I'll have you dancing in no time."

I laugh. "There is no way that will ever happen. I'd probably drown. Now, let's keep working on your moves. Have you ever seen the Karate Kid? Wax on, wax off. Show me."

I lunge at her. Brianna's eyes widen in surprise at my pretend attack, but the second my hand grips her arm, she shoots it up then twists her wrists around, perfectly executing the maneuver I've been demonstrating for the last half hour. I smile at her, nodding in approval.

"That's pretty good. We should keep practicing that one until it becomes automatic." I don't really need to keep working on it with her, but the two movies we mentioned blend in my mind and suddenly Dirty Karate sounds like what we've been doing.

The silent tension is pretty thick. I cough to release it.

"I wonder if they have enough footage yet. We've been at this for a while." Brianna gives the director a half glance, trying to see if there's any indication that we're done yet. "I want to watch you for a little while. Show me what you've got."

Brianna takes a seat on the blanket set up by the prop mistress. We've been on this grassy hill for most of the afternoon while I  showed her different karate moves. Brianna's had her eyes on me the entire time. She asked if I could teach her something so that's what we've been doing. The director wanted to film from a distance, letting us decide where to sit or stand and which karate moves I wanted to display. At this point, both of us are just waiting for him to yell cut.

I oblige Brianna and review one of my competition routines. It includes some impressive kicks and tumbles so I figured it would look good on film. I'm used to people watching me do this, but when that person is also a star, and completely gorgeous, and her full attention is on me, that's pretty unsettling. I take a few deep breaths and continue the basics to keep myself calm.

"When did you start karate?" she asks as she sits and watches me.

"I was eight. It was my mom's idea, and I hated it for the first year. Cried every time she made me go to class because I was scared of the Sensei. He called me out every time I made a mistake." I laugh. It's funny to me now because I do the same thing to my students.

"Why would she make you go back? You poor little guy." Brianna makes a sad face for me as a kid. It's pretty cute, actually.

"No, I'm glad she did. If she would have let me give up, I would never have overcome everything."