Chapter 25.2: May I have this dance?

When they got back to the hotel, they noticed no one was in the room as they both quickly got dressed. Ivy thanked her lucky stars that she had packed two pair of dresses; one plain white maxi dress which covers her heels definitely and a not too long blue maxi dress. However, as the thought of having to dance crossed her mind, she ended up choosing the blue maxi dress which had a shorter front hem to avoid stepping on the hems if she had to dance later and chose a pair of flats instead of her usual heels. 

Jason stepped out of shower dressed in his formal wear while fixing his bow tie as he took a few moments to admire Ivy's breathtaking beauty. He quickly walked to the dressing table to style his hair when Ivy turned around after putting her flats by the door.

"No heels today?" Jason asked nonchalantly while styling his hair.

"Hmm… Just in case?" She shrugged while she stared at him dashingly, styling his hair. It was the second time she caught herself being captivated at this sight.

He stared at her in the mirror as she stared back at him. "Why?" She blinked while asking, realising she stared too long at him and got caught. 

"Trust me. Wear your usual heels. It's easier to dance. Just in case…" He winked looking at her reflection in the mirror and grabbed his coat heading to leave.

She couldn't help but to grin as he chuckled watching her changing to her striped heels.

"Just in case..." She smiled and joined him heading to the ballroom. 

She did the usual sound checks and microphone testing before checking on the song list for the night and ensured there were sufficient songs to last till midnight while Jason rehearsed the scripts with Nick. Nancy and Nick had in fact gotten ready earlier before Ivy and Jason headed back to the hotel in order to not clash with each other. 

"Bro… Thanks man for the considerate arrangements you made…" Jason thanked Nick after they finished rehearsing their script. Nick crossed his arm and gave Jason a questioning look.

"How serious are you with her?" Nick teased as he smiled. 

"Huh? We aren't… you know that…" Jason said sternly. 

"It doesn't seem like it, bro… They say your gestures and body knows it before your conscience and heart…" Nick chuckled as Jason lightly punched his arm and smiled. 

"Does she have issues sleeping or with the dark?" Nick asked curiously as Jason looked at Ivy's direction. He hesitated awhile but Nick didn't want to let the topic go. 

"Must be sleeping issues then?" Nick took a guess but Jason sighed without answering. Nick noticed Jason had been staring at her differently and could tell his friend was too far gone as he put his arm over his shoulder and pulled him in Ivy's direction.

"Take it one step at a time bro… Let's go take a bite…" Nick urged as Jason continued to be drowned in his own thoughts. He suddenly realised there was so much he worried about for Ivy other than telling her dad about her identity and risk losing their friendship to her sleep paralysis issues, her friendship issues and career choices as well as avoiding Nancy hurting her. He sighed at the thought of her becoming his problem in life. 

Ivy could not get her mind off the waltz dance steps she had learned earlier while Jason and Nick were talking to each other over their light meal. Ivy was surprised that she ended up loving the dance instead and thought it would be a waste if she didn't dance tonight although she was a little shy. Nancy was listening in to Nick and Jason but was also keeping an eye on Ivy who was daydreaming while nibbling on her sandwich. Jason noticed how quiet Ivy was as he switched his conversation over to her.

"Why are you so dreamy today?" Jason asked in the midst of chomping down his sandwich while Nick understood Jason's intention and made small conversations with Nancy instead.

Ivy blinked and looked elsewhere trying to shrug off from being too obvious after being caught off guard. 

"Me? Dreamy? No… it's a lovely day. The weather is not so humid and the birds are flying freely you see…" She was diverting his attention away from her embarrassment. 

He smiled at first at her sudden change of topic and soon couldn't contain his laughter as she giggled together. He signaled her to head back to the ballroom first as she nodded.

"We will head to the hall first…" Jason said to Nick and Nancy as Ivy joined him, leaving the table. Nick nodded as Nancy snarled at them. Upon noticing Nancy being upset, Nick suggested that they too head back to the hall which had Nancy smiled a little and nodded in agreement to be able to see both of them in vicinity at least.

"Nervous?" On the way back to the hall, Jason asked Ivy.

"About what?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"Just in case." He winked and walked off to catch the bride and bridegroom who had just arrived at the main entrance while she was still trying to register his tease.

When she finally understood him, she blushed at her wishful thinking of dancing with him tonight while walking back backstage. She grinned at the sight of her heels and thought about their little secret about the waltz dance being coded as "just in case". 

As she spent most of the time backstage during his emcee jobs, Jason would come into the sound room to check on her intermittently and send her food. Tonight, she got anxious when he told her they had special seats allocated for them to enjoy their meal. All she had to do was let the songs play and head back when the next agenda on the list needed to start.

It took her awhile to gather up the courage to step into the hall for dinner after sorting out the song lists. Upon identifying the location of their seat, she didn't regret it as it was close by the entrance to the backstage. She noticed Nancy was seated in between Jason and Nick as Jason kept an empty seat on his right for her. 

Jason was busy engaged in a conversation with a couple of ladies on the table when Ivy walked over. Upon noticing Ivy finally appeared for dinner, Jason stood to pull the chair out for her to sit and fussed over her before feeding her. She noticed the awkward stares from the other ladies he spoke with earlier although he introduced her as his assistant but they were judging and she didn't like it. He noticed it too as he tried to distract her. 

"Is the salmon too sour?" He whispered in her ear close enough for her to feel his breath. She nervously tried a bite and nodded while she winced at the unexpected sourness. 

"Why? Isn't it supposed to be…" She noticed hers was coated with a whiter sauce than his on his plate. His plate's salmon had some black sauce on it. She glared at him. 

"What? Didn't you like sour stuff more? So I added lots of lime for you whereas mine I added more soy sauce. Thank me..." She was on the verge of wanting to smack him in front of all the ladies but ended up chuckling to herself.

"I will thank you soon." She gave him a dangerous smirk as he drew her in for a hug by her shoulders. Nancy was watching their act and couldn't help but to envy them as Nick had no choice but to quickly remind Nancy of their next duty to distract her. 

When both ladies left the table, Jason and Nick exchanged glances of gratefulness as they went up on stage to continue the event.

The night went by smoothly with speeches from respective parents and a cake cutting ceremony with a toss of champagne. Before Ivy knew it, it was the highlight of the event she had been anticipating; the couple's waltz dance which was at the end of the reception. As Jason gave the closing speech, the couple took their first round of waltz followed by their respective parents and the crowd slowly joined in.

Jason was waiting for Ivy to appear from backstage but she seemed to be stalling. 

He went to check on her backstage and found her standing by the window pane  looking out at the gloomy sky illuminated by occasional lightning as she smiled, easing into the peace and quiet scene in front of her trying to forget about the waltz dance she would never have a chance to dance to tonight. 

He cleared his throat to catch her attention as she turned around, caught by surprise. 

"Are we done?" She smiled and asked abruptly. He nodded as he held out a hand. She knew he was asking for a dance as that was what they did in practice earlier this afternoon as she blinked nervously at him. 

She shook her head as she walked past him out of the room to find everyone was waltzing in the hall in sync with the bride and her groom. Jason stood by her side as he noticed Nick and Nancy were already on the dance floor. It was a mesmerising view as the bride's parents who stood by the side to rest signaled Ivy and Jason to join in. 

Jason knew this was his last chance to keep her around to dance. He knew she wanted to but she always had issues with her confidence. He grabbed her arm and slipped his hand down to her palm as he pulled her to the edge of the dance floor and eyed her nervous self as he nodded, signaling to her that she could do it.

She smiled nervously and held his arm as he placed another arm by her waist and led them. Soon before she knew it, they were twirling with the crowd in a symmetrical round of waltz. She thought to herself, he was right about the heels and their "just in case" situation had became a reality. It no longer was her wishful thinking but a moment Jason and Ivy would always remember of each other.

Maybe because he was her teacher that it was easy to catch up with his tempo and fall into his rhythm. Under the ballroom light, she realised he looked so dashing tonight compared to other events. She wondered if it was because it was his good friend's engagement that he purposely dressed up more than his usual style as she twirled with him on the dance floor. 

Jason had been watching out in case she tripped but as they twirled a couple more times on the dance floor, he knew Ivy had overcome her nervous self. As he took his mind off worrying about her tripping, he found himself being captivated at the sight of her dancing her heart out. He told himself Ivy was an unpolished gem and that he wished to slowly help her unlock her potential one by one. 

She couldn't take her eyes off him during the entire dance as she savored every moment of it. When she caught herself still lingering in the moments of them dancing, she was already standing by the side of the ballroom all by herself watching Jason being dragged to a drinking session with the groom and his friends. Watching him having a great time with Nick and Nancy, she fought her waves of haywire emotions as she walked out of the hall and took a breather.

The sky was rumbling with thunder as the first night she met Jason ran through her memory. The same scene happened back then as she smiled to herself reminiscing that moment but reality slowly seeped in as she lamented on the remaining time she had left with him. She comforted herself that at least she had these beautiful memories to accompany her when she was to leave him in a few months' time as promised to Nancy. She hoped Nancy would be more patient and keep getting better. Only then, she would be able to leave Jason at ease. 

Unexpected tears trickled at the thought of leaving him as she forcefully wiped them away and tried to control them. She sniffed in the damp air and knew it was going to rain soon. 

"I have been away too long haven't I?" Ivy asked her old friend, the rain, as she tried finding refuge like how she used to before meeting Jason in her solitary moment. However, all she felt was more emptiness and she knew it was too late to save herself from retreating from being Jason's acting girlfriend. 

Her heart already had the truth she was trying hard to deny and control. "Few more months… Hang in there… By then, it would be worse if you don't control yourself from falling for him…Ivy, it's all an act…" Ivy told herself as she let a few tears escape while she looked up at the gloomy thundery sky looking for the courage to continue with her fate.