Chapter 36
Last Night of the World


Annie Joy was blissfully contemplating the mysteries of dessert heaven when Paige’s voice brought her back to earth with a thud. “Annie Joy did you hear me? You seem a million miles away.”

“She’s probably reliving that warm chocolate souffle, Paige. Drool is so unbecoming on a grown woman don’t you think?” he needled, then braced himself for the thump he knew was coming, right after Annie Joy blotted her mouth with her napkin just to be sure. He wasn’t disappointed.

“And I suppose that wasn’t you practically sighing when Juri cracked open the crust and poured raspberry sauce inside,” she shot back with a teasing smile.

“Alas, you caught me,” Urs emoted, in his best theatrical voice.
All she had to hear was ‘alas’ and Annie Joy was a goner. The laughter and merriment at the table was going strong so no one seemed to notice Urs’ grin become forced as he realized how close to the mark his joking words had come.

Candi waited until the table was quiet again. “Well as I was saying, Annie Joy, it’s our last night together and we’re all going dancing and no fair using too much dessert as an excuse. We simply won’t take no for an answer, right Paige?”

“Absolutely, you begged off last time, remember Urs?” Paige chimed in as if on cue.

Urs turned his charming yet regretful smile on the group, “We’ve love to but I…we still have packing…”

“And we don’t? We’re not staying long, just a dance or two,” Candi interrupted, like a hungry dog unwilling to let go of her precious bone.

He turned to Annie Joy, half asking, half confirming, “You really like to dance.”

Tell him the truth Annie Joy, that you love to dance. That’s why you chose this cruise. What better way to end your Freedom Cruise?

I know, Great Minnie, but I don’t want to embarrass him in front of everyone. What if he doesn’t want to dance because he doesn’t know how?

So Annie Joy said all the right words, “We do have to finish packing,” but her true words were spoken by the wistful yearning in her eyes. Urs heard.

My last chance to hold her in my arms. I am so sick of continual lost chances. If one dance is all I get then I have to be grateful for that.

“Alright, Candi, you can stop twisting my arm, count us in,” he said with a smile that included Candi and Paige. “My wife deserves at least one dance,” he added softly with a smile Annie Joy knew was hers alone.

**********

As usual Urs had overthought Annie Joy’s butterfly. As she had reached for her wine glass at dinner, Paige noticed it and although everyone admired it, they didn’t seem surprised. After all hadn’t she said she wanted to get a tattoo? So Urs followed Annie Joy into the lounge with a sense of relief. His stole patrol was over. He was pleased Annie Joy received some admiring looks from the women and if truth be told he was doubly pleased with the envious looks he received from the men.

Annie Joy ordered Irish coffee, insisting she’d need the extra caffeine. Urs wasn’t sure if she meant for her packing or his dancing but he ordered one too.

He took a cautious sip and gazed at the people on the dance floor. The band leader had announced a Quick Step, ‘Bye Bye Blues’ but as Candi and Bob danced into view the gyrations they were performing looked suspiciously like a jitterbug to him. He caught `a glimpse of Paige and Alan in a far corner dancing to a much slower beat, obviously lost in each other.

Annie Joy tapped his arm and nodded as Mary and John headed toward their booth. “Good to see you two. Having a bit of a last dance eh?” John commented conversationally. “Keep in touch won’t you?” he urged, looking from Urs to Annie Joy.

“Yes, please do,” Mary said sincerely. “Oh look John, there’s Myra and Tom over there.” She pointed to a couple several booths away waving at them. “Best not to keep them waiting. Safe home,” she smiled as John took her hand and led her through the crowd.

Now there’s a happy couple, Urs mused, as he watched them greet their friends. But when Candi and Bob returned to their booth collapsing and laughing they didn’t seem exactly unhappy either and to look at Paige and Alan, their happiness score would be off the charts.

What a motley crew of married people on the high seas, he thought wryly as he looked around the table. Good Gott, Annie Joy’s cartoons must be rubbing off on me. It was true though. Newly marrieds, not quite newly marrieds, and of course the pretend marrieds. He had to hand it to Candi and Bob and Paige and Alan. After the Newlywed Game he’d had his misgivings but now both couples seemed closer and happier than before. If he’d learned one thing it was that marriages could certainly look different, yet still be happy.

Then there was Mary and John, married decades yet they still seemed spontaneous and happily in love with one another. That was the kind of marriage he would want…if he believed in marriage that is. But marriage wasn’t for him, it wasn’t practical; there wasn’t enough of him to go around. It was a matter of choice, either/or. A successful career pursuing his interests and talents or marriage? Even having a close relationship with his family was difficult with his schedule.

Annie Joy breathed a sigh of relief as the band ended ‘It Had to Be You’. She really wanted to dance, a slow dance would be easiest for Urs, but just not that one.

“And now let’s pick up the tempo with a Fox Trot,” the bandleader announced.

“C’mon Urs. Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order,” Annie Joy said as she took his hand and stood up. Even if he stumbled through it, a Fox Trot would be much easier on them than a slow dance.

“The Last Night of the World,” he announced and raised his baton.

Annie Joy fervently wanted to rescind her offer but it was too late. Urs was leading her onto the dance floor.

Last Night of the World

In a place that won't let us feel
In a life where nothing seems real
I have found you
I have found you
In a world that's moving too fast
In a world where nothing can last
I will hold you
I will hold you

Our lives will change when tomorrow comes
Tonight our hearts drown the distant drums
and we have music all right
tearing the night

A song
played on a solo saxophone
A crazy sound, a lonely sound
A cry that tells us love goes on and on
played on a solo saxophone
It's telling me
to hold you tight
and dance like it's the last night of the world

On the other side of the earth
There's a place where life still has worth
I will take you
I'll go with you
You won't believe all the things you'll see
I know 'cause you'll see them all with me

If we're together that's when
we'll hear it again

A song
played on a solo saxophone
A crazy sound, a lonely sound
A cry that tells us love goes on and on
Played on a solo saxophone
It's telling me
to hold you tight
and dance like it's the last night of the world

Dreams
they were all I ever knew
Dreams
you won't need when I'm through
Anywhere
we may be
I will sing with you
a song...

A song played on a solo saxophone
So stay with me
and hold me tight
and dance
like it's the last night of the world.

Urs stopped and turned to face her. He placed his right hand under her left arm so that it rested on her back just above her dress. He held his left arm out to support her hand as she placed it in his.How soft and smooth her skin feels, like warm velvet.

Annie Joy stood facing Urs, her body offset to the left as he held her in perfect dance position. He certainly looks like he knows what he’d doing. I love the feel of his hands, so gentle and strong.

Urs stepped forward on his left foot and Annie Joy’s mind unconsciously sent him the 4/4 beat: slow, slow, quick, quick, but she needn’t have bothered as he executed the basic step forward and backward flawlessly. He continued to lead her confidently, slowing for a corner turn on the crowded dance floor.

“What a dark horse you are Ers Buhler,” she breathed with a surprised grin and allowed her body to relax into the music and follow Urs’ strong lead.

Urs granted himself permission for a slight smug and a quick grin before he launched them into a promenade and two underarm turns in succession, sway, step, sway, quick quick.

He tightened his grip almost imperceptibly and drew her closer until their warm scents mingled in a cloud of dreamy illusion where they were all that existed, Annie Joy and Urs, in each other’s arms as the music played on.