Chapter 3: The Dancer and the Partner

"You were flirting!" Joanne snapped harshly.

Maureen had been nagging her since they got in and Joanne simply could not take it. Every movement the lawyer made, every breath, Maureen was there asking what she did wrong this time. At least she had the sense to know she was the reason Joanne had been silent for over an hour.

Maureen is a kind soul at heart and Joanne knows that. That's part of the reason she loves her so damn much. Part of the reason why she has this danced memorized. Joanne can see all the movements in her head.

"No I wasn't!"

An extended arm falls forward from the dancer, clad in a short red satin dress with a low neck that shows her cleavage. The dancer challenges her love to become a partner.

"I thought we were past all this."

The partner responds, one hand grabbing at her chest, the other hand reaching out for connection. The partner wears a dress similar to that of the dancer; only her dress is a silk navy blue garment.

"So did I, Pookie! But you keep accusing me of things and I,"

Finger tips graze heated flesh as the two step around in separate circles, gliding across the floor. A whirlwind of misunderstanding flows between them as the partner quickly stomps her foot three times. The partner sets the pace, ready for the dancer's well rehearsed movements.

"You were holding a finger coated in whipped cream up to her lips and asking her if it tasted like Cool Whip!"

The dance becomes angry, leaving the partner to grab her dancer by the shoulders. The dancer follows the partner's lead, letting herself sway in time. The partner slaps the dancer across the face, and passion filled gazes collide. The partner shakes the dancer by the shoulders and dips her back quickly.

"Pookie," she sighed, rolling her eyes, "you missed the whole conversation we were having about the Life's hot chocolate."

The partner pulls the dancer up fiercely, hair covering the dancer's sparkling eyes. The dancer's knee rises slowly up the inside of the partner's thigh; the dancer's finger traces the partner's lips. The partner's eyes soften and for a moment it seems the dance will end. This is how it has been rehearsed. This time the partner favors improv.

"I was gone for less than three minutes, Maureen!"

The partner steps back quickly from the dancer, balancing on the balls of her feet as she goes. The partner kicks a leg out in front of her, her foot rising to eye level. Her movements are quick and precise and she treasures being able to take a new angle in this repetitive piece. The partner spins, once, twice, three times, every rotation she stares at her dancer. She drops directly to her knees, and then rolls onto her back. She arches her body towards the heavens and kicks her legs up above her head, rolling into a reverse somersault.

"Oh, please! You are so exaggerating. You were gone for way longer than that."

The dancer steps forward slowly, twirling on her left foot. The dancer mocks the partner, mimicking her movements slowly, showing how routine and innocent they can be. The dancer's hips sway seductively as she slows down every turn the partner had made. Her hands ghost over her breasts as she kneels on the floor. Her hands brush against her thighs as she lies on her back, legs spread as she watches her partner.

The partner's eyes light with fire, there is nothing innocent about her dancer anymore.

Joanne let a low growl escape her throat and she set her glare on Maureen's 'forgive me' gaze. She reached into her pocket and tossed a digital watch at the brunette's chest. When Maureen read the time on the watch she stomped her foot angrily. "Two minutes, forty-eight seconds, and an eighty-ninth of a second." Joanne said in an even icy tone.

The partner hops on her foot and begins racing toward the dancer. She leaps into the air and lets her body fall into a handspring. The partner lands inches away from the dancer and the dancer takes a quick jump back in response.

"I am not doing this now." Maureen shouted, throwing her hands above her head in frustration.

Now the dancer becomes enraged. She pushes herself against the partner, grabbing her hips roughly. They move together perfectly as the partner holds the dancer hard against her. The rhythm moves deep within them as the dancer raises a leg to rest on the partner's hip.

Joanne took heavy steps toward her girlfriend as the other woman turned her back on her. "Of course," she said hotly, "you never want to do anything with me. But you won't hesitate to DO somebody else! Don't even try to make me feel bad. I am not the bad guy here, Mo!"

The dancer leans in, her lips brushing against the partner's and then the spell is broken. The partner remembers why they were dancing; she remembers the sinister look in the dancer's eyes as she toyed with the partner's movements.

Joanne continued to yell at Maureen's back as the actress dashed around their apartment, tossing scattered objects in her bag. The first time Joanne saw her do this she was panicked and begged her lover to calm down. Now it was a routine threat that Joanne was too tired to entertain anymore.

The dancer knows she has made a mistake as the rhythm breaks them apart. They move apart, dancing their own dance. The dancer's moves are cool and uncaring. The partner's moves are precise and harsh.

"Fine then, Jo! You want me out? I'm out." Maureen held back tears as she shoved a sweater haphazardly into a duffle bag.

The dancer squeezes her breast and tosses her head back, hair covering her shoulders. Her head lolls back and forth a few times before she bends over and touches her toes. She snaps her head up and watches her partner. The dancer bites her lip as she spreads her legs, lowering her toned form to the ground with ease.

A year ago Joanne would have been holding her by now, and the dance would have ended quickly and the world would be right for at least a week. Nowadays the dances had not changed, but instead had become longer and more heated than before.

Joanne sighed to herself as Maureen slammed the apartment door; she was not at all worried about Maureen leaving for good.

The partner moves much faster than the dancer does. She kicks her legs in quick succession behind her as she falls to the floor. She catches herself on her hands and lays prone. The partner rolls across the floor and curls into a ball. She wraps her arms around her knees then moves her hands to cover her face. Her hips move in fast circles, before falling into a lazy figure eight pattern.

She stopped taking her girlfriend seriously when one day she actually watched what the actress tossed into her bag. A can of soup, a plastic knife, a stuffed animal, and a TV remote for a television that they gotten rid of six months before.

Kind of hard to take someone who is running away seriously when that is all they take with them.

She knew Maureen would be back within a few hours or so. It was simply the way they did things.

The pair both stopped and rose to their feet. The dancer pleading for forgiveness, and the partner begging for admittance. Neither give in, neither move. The dance has ended for now. They back away from one another and cloak themselves in the shadows.

Joanne sat down on the couch and looked up when she heard the door click open, only to watch it be slammed harder than before.

Footsteps could be heard stomping down the stairs for far longer than the two flights should have taken. Joanne recognized this routine as well. Maureen stomped on each step three to four times, and would hope that Joanne would come out and apologize. And on most days she would, but not today.

"Bitch always has to make an exit doesn't she?"

The dancer ran out into the middle of the room one last time and leaped forward, arms out stretched as fell into a gorgeous swan dive. Her body hit the ground gently, barely making any sound. The dancer got up and walked away, back into her own shadow.

"Ugh! Why doesn't she get me? I mean, I am totally not to blame here! What am I suppose to do? Not talk to anyone because they might be undressing me with their eyes? That's just…well, silly, that's what that is." Maureen ranted to herself as she walked down the street.

She adjusted the bag over her shoulder and wondered how far she would really get in life with the contents of her bag. A Def Leppard cassette tape, Joanne's old sweater, a jar of pickles, and a the brush they used to wipe snow off their windshield.

"I'm fucked," she sighed sadly.

Maureen shoved her hands into her pockets in an attempt to fight off the cold. She jerked her hand out quickly when she felt something colder inside.

Dipping her hand back in the pocket carefully, Maureen pulled out a black stone with gold spattered all over it. She smiled to herself and laughed at the stone in disbelief.

"Aren't you supposed to make things better? Cause, I don't know if you know this, but…you kind of suck at it," she held the stone up to the sunlight and marveled at the sparkle it had.

Maureen leaned against the side of a building and opened her bag, shuffling the scattered objects about inside of it. She pulled out a sweater and realized that it was Joanne's. She held the fabric in her fist and took a deep breath.

"Even her sweater smells like her! I can't shake you baby," she said to no one, "I just wish I saw what you saw…" Maureen started to put the sweater back in her bag, but found herself stopping short.

Her hand felt warm all of a sudden so she opened her palm to investigate. All she found was the stone Mimi had given her. She touched it and realized that it was the source of the unusual warmth.

"What the hell?" was all Maureen was able to say as a pink smoke began to come off of the stone in waves. Soon the smoke turned into a thick mist, and Maureen found herself completely enthralled by it.

"This is so awesome!" She thought giddily. The pink mass was the last thing she saw before she passed out, her body sliding down the side of the wall.

TBC

Okay, so that's my first MoJo interaction ever. This story will eventually focus around Mark and Roger, it's just has a lot of set up to be done. Sorry for the slow updates, please bear with me. I have a lot of story in my head but not a lot of time to write it down. Please R&R I now many people have put me on their alerts which is wonderful, but the reviews don't match the people that have been reading. If you like it, please tell me so! This is a labor of love and I want to know people are enjoying it.