Coffee & Biscuits

17|still just friends

The kitchen of the cafe, also named The Cafe, had been transformed to a beautiful dance floor with mood lighting, music and a lonesome couple dancing in private. A wall of white roses covered the walls to make it more intimate, the dim lights that made it dark enough to hid the young woman's blushes and the romantic music they swayed to echoing in the room. Of course this was only in the young woman's head but the man in front of her was real and so was the room they were in. The kitchen where Aria Willows mother baked goods for the cafe was now used as a pretend dance floor and Tom was her teacher. Aria couldn't quite believe this was happening as she tried not to focus solely on their intertwined fingers and his hand on her between her shoulder blades, a little too high up for her liking. 

Something had happened to Tom after seeing her in that dress and but he had yet to vocalize it to her and since he hadn't revealed it Aria was making up assumptions on her own. The fire inside her, also known as hope, was still burning and had been given some extra fuel after Tom had asked her to dance; so she assumed there was something to be hopeful about. 

"Relax your shoulders a little bit more, you're too tensed." Tom instructed and Aria took a deep breath but knew it wouldn't help.

"I'm trying but it's not easy; I'm scared I'll mess it up." 

"Nonsense; you won't. Just let me lead you, simply follow my steps." 

Aria looked down for a few seconds and saw their feet move in unison the best they could. The minute they had added steps to the swaying it instantly made her insecure and evidently a little tense, but if Tom only knew what it did to her to be in his arms. 

"Who taught you how to dance like this?" Aria asked him curiously. 

"My mother made me take ballroom classes when I was younger so I learned a variety of dances. It hasn't come in handy until today, actually." He replied.

Another fact she now knew about him and viewed as a small victory. He might not even notice how he was opening up to her little by little but Aria was making progress with the man who before only gave her a mutter and a glance, when he wasn't asking for his usual order. 

"What was your favorite dance to learn?" She pressed on.

Tom glanced upwards to recall his memory and then he smiled while he reminisced. Aria could've paid a large sum to know what went through his head right now but thankfully she would soon find out. 

"I used to like foxtrot a lot. It has an upbeat tempo and the music made me smile a lot, as a kid." Tom remembered out loud. 

"What style of dancing are we doing now?" Aria asked.

Tom chuckled, "We're not really dancing any type of style right now, it's mostly to get you comfortable. Maybe I'll teach you foxtrot another time, you'll need a better suited dress for that." 

'Another time' echoed inside her and she hid her smile by looking down at their feet again. It felt good to know that Tom made future plans for them because it meant that he wasn't too scared to continue to let her in. While in her thoughts she caught Tom catching a glimpse of her waist then higher up toward her breasts. It made her dizzy to think of what he wanted to do with her if he could but it also filled her with courage. 

"Do you have to be so far away? It's impossible to relax with my arm stiff like this." Aria complained strategically.

"You're doing just fine, Aria--"

"Come on, Tom, we're just dancing." Aria carefully slid her hand out of his and moved closer, placing the right hand on his shoulder in the most platonic way she could.