Friday Night Fever! (A Late I.P.) Last week's theme Resurrection

Friday Night Fever!  (Late I.P.)             

Gloria and I had just arrived when she suddenly spotted someone she knew,

‘Hi Jerome.  Jerome…it’s me, Gloria.’

‘Gloria?  Gloria?  Oh hi,’ he said.

‘That’s him Jess the one I was telling you about.’

‘Oh,’

‘Come on quick,’ she said, grabbing my arm.

‘Why?’

‘My guess is he’s about to start and I don’t want to miss it.’

Gloria had been going on about this Jerome for weeks now but I wasn’t really interested.

‘With any luck if I’m up the front he might just pick me,’ she said.

‘Is that why you’ve been paying all that money for lessons from Miss Margin?’

‘Yes, and when you see what he can do I bet you will start having lessons too.’

I thought that highly unlikely but I said nothing.

‘Jess, if I grab us a good spot will you go and get our drinks?  I’ll settle up afterwards.’

‘Okay.’ I said, gladly walking away as the loud music was already starting to give me a headache. 

Gloria came here every week but it had been a while since my last visit. The Palace, as it was affectionately known, smelt like a charity shop with its decaying opulence and, what some people might think, pseudo distressed looking, gold painted chairs, only here the chairs were genuinely distressed as were the wonky tables that accompanied them.  Having eventually got our drinks I went in search of Gloria and soon found her standing to one side watching him, Jerome…dancing…all by himself!    

There was no denying he could dance, his whole body moved to the rhythm as he gyrated to the music, seemingly unaware of the impact he was having.  I too stood watching at the edge of the dance floor with all the other people who had stopped to watch as well.  I also admit to thinking that he looked delicious too with his Afro hair and his orange satin shirt opened to the waist revealing a gold medallion swinging nonchalantly across his chest.  

Then when the music changed he looked for a partner.  I shrank back, not wanting to catch his eye, but, unfortunately, not far enough because he took hold of my hand and somehow managed to manoeuvre me to where I was in the full glare of the disco lights above.

‘No…no…I can’t dance!’ I stuttered.

‘Nonsense, everyone can dance.  My name’s Jerome,’ he said, as he slid his arm firmly round my waist.

I felt sick knowing I was about to be exposed as being in possession of two left feet but no, to my surprise, my right foot made an unexpected appearance.  Unbeknown to me it had been there clinging to the end of my leg just waiting for the right set of feet to offer encouragement.  With Jerome as my partner, I whirled and twisted and jitterbugged and writhed in time to the music as to the council flat born.  I was like Margot Fonteyn high on acid or Anna Pavlova before she became a meringue or even Isadora Duncan before the scarf did for her and all thanks to a disco dancing toe tapper who had managed to coax my right foot out of hiding!

I was the happiest girl in the room that night and when we parted we made arrangements to see each other the following evening.

 ‘I’ll pick you up about eight…okay?’

‘Yes, that would be lovely,’ I said, turning back to Gloria who had a face on her that would curdle milk.  

‘You want to watch your step with that one,’ she said.

‘You seemed keen enough when we first arrived and you’ve been banging on about him for weeks now.’

‘No I haven’t.’

’You have.  Could it be that you’re jealous?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.  I don’t fancy him.  Not my type at all.’

I think Gloria was jealous though, because he chose me as his partner when she was not only better looking with a figure to match but on top of that she had a Certificate from the acclaimed resident dance teacher, the notorious, beg pardon, the well known Leva Margin.  A woman who had told Gloria no one could touch her Rumba which must have been a big disappointment seeing as she had gone to the expense of acquiring a Certificate.  I, however, was a slightly overweight spinster of this parish who had only this very night become acquainted with my right foot.

Anyway, come the next night Jerome was true to his word and picked me up dead on the stroke of eight.  That was the start of many happy evenings spent together.

One particular evening we had gone to a very expensive restaurant that he was fond of.  The food was delicious and all night he treated me like a princess.  In fact that was what he often called me, his princess.

‘Jess, you look absolutely beautiful tonight.’

‘Oh, only tonight,’ I laughed.

He smiled and then brought out a little package all done up with bows and ribbons.   He was always buying me presents and always they were something that had a special significance to me or to us, never the hastily bought bunch of flowers from a garage or an ostentatious box of chocolates.  I didn’t want to spoil it so I carefully unwrapped the gift. 

‘At this rate we’ll be here all night,’ he said, ‘the paper’s not the gift.’

When I saw what was in the box my heart did a cartwheel that would have earned me a place in any Olympic gymnastics team because inside the box was… an engagement ring!

‘Jess, will you marry me?’ he said, almost shyly.

I couldn’t speak I just nodded.

‘That’s a relief; I’ve been waiting for the right moment afraid that you might turn me down as we haven’t known each other very long.’

‘As if.’

The next morning when I met Gloria for coffee she didn’t seem at all pleased when I told her my exciting news.

‘This is it.’ I said, ‘this is the real deal.’

‘You hardly know him.’

‘Are you jealous?’ I said, not for the first time because she was showing all the symptoms.

‘Of course I’m not but I am concerned.  You seem to be totally wrapped up in each other and you leave no room for anyone else.’

‘Yes, I know and I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you but Jerome never wants us to be apart. In fact, I might as well tell you…he’s moving in with me next week.’        

‘Is that wise?’

‘He’s asked me to marry him.  Look here’s the ring.’

‘Blimey, where did he get the money to buy that rock?’

‘Oh he never minds what he spends on me he is so generous.’

‘Is he? Still, a rock like that could run into thousands.’

‘Yes, I know.’

 ‘Well, I hope you know what you’re doing?’

‘Of course I do.’

Anyway, Jerome moved in and then one day he took me completely by surprise by saying,

‘Instead of renting I think we should look for a house to buy so that we can move in straight after the wedding.  What do you think?’

‘That’s a lovely idea,’ I said, thinking how wonderful it would be to have a home of our own.

So we started looking and eventually found a really old but beautiful house just outside of town.  It dated back to about fifteen forty, so the agent said, and it had a thatched roof which gave it that chocolate box look that you see on…well…chocolate boxes!  But I wasn’t really sure we could afford it so I said,

 ‘Do you really think we can manage financially?’

‘I think it would be worth making a few sacrifices to live in a house like that,’ Jerome said.

When I told Gloria the next day she said,

 ‘Don’t you think things are moving a bit too fast?’

 ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

 ‘Well, you haven’t known him that long that’s all I’m saying.’

‘Long enough to know he’s the one I want to share my life with. He’s going to the bank today to draw out the money for the deposit.’

 ‘Have you got a joint bank account?’

 ‘Of course, how else could he draw money out?’

 ‘Has he been putting money into the account then?’

‘Well, no, not exactly.  But he will when he gets a job. But don’t worry, he says he’s keeping a careful note of all the money he’s spent so far so you don’t need to worry.’

 ‘I’m not worried.  It’s not my money he’s spending.’

 And for the next couple of months we were as happy as it was possible for two people to be until one day I opened a very frosty letter from the bank saying that we had gone over our overdraft limit and that we must rectify the situation as soon as possible.  When Jerome came in later that day I told him about the letter. 

 ‘Oh, you don’t want to go worrying about that they’ve obviously made a mistake.  I put your pay cheque in just a couple of days ago and it obviously hasn’t gone through the system yet.’

However, one night over dinner I said,

‘Jerome, have you got our bank account sorted out now only I’ve had another frosty letter from the Manager?’

His brows knitted together as he answered,

‘Don’t give me the third degree now.  I’ve got a lot on my mind.’

‘Is it something I can help you with?’

‘The only way you can help is to stop nagging at me.’

Over the next few weeks he became moody and unreliable and he seemed to have lost that all consuming passion that I still had for him.  But it didn’t stop me looking forward to my birthday and I was excited at the prospect of where Jerome would take me that evening and what my surprise present would be. However, when the day came, he had gone out early and there was no card or nicely wrapped present.  I thought he was probably out searching for just the right gift or making last minute arrangements for that evening. Alas, no, that was the day he chose to leave.  No argument, no note. Nothing!  He had just gone!  Incidentally, so had the ring!

Thinking back to all the weeks when he had wined me, dined me, loved me and then robbed me…of my common sense as well as my bank balance made me realise what a fool I had been.  I was lost, bereft, and adrift.  I wanted my soul mate back.  I wanted my lover back.  I wanted my future husband back.  I would have quite liked my little gold watch back as well as Gloria’s necklace that she had let me borrow.  I was distraught.  I was beside myself.  I was unhappiness personified.  More to the point…I was broke! 

 I was thinking about all this as I sat eating my TV dinner, unhappily watching the television one Friday night.  Then, putting the tray down, I thought…what the hell…it’s my favourite night of the week and there’s a disco on at that new place in the high street.  So I dashed upstairs to swap my sad rags for my glad rags thinking it would be nothing short of an ungrateful waste of a good right foot now that it had so recently become so obligingly acquainted with my left!  I tried to remember what the name of the new place was?  Then it hit me, how could I forget.  It was called The Resurrection Shuffle!

End