As time went on, Autumn and myself went on to keep teaching, each at different venues. We had our fair share of student’s and lessons to occupy our time but we always made time for each other during the week. We were sure to always go out and attend the social dances put on around town. After some undesirable events, she let me know that she was going to get back with her ex. I knew the history and wasn’t really surprised. Didn’t really hit me all that much. It was around this time that I stopped working in dance studios all together. The drop in the economy cut back on students and they let me go. I figured it best to try and work things out on my own once again and keep it that way until it was time to move on to a new career.

I put the word out that I was looking to host large group classes in town and one of my friends picked up on it. She got with some of her friends and eventually got a group of around 25 or so students that showed up on a regular basis. Teaching this class a couple times a week would be enough of a pay day to keep my finances in order and even have fun on the side. I was thrilled to say the least. The classes went pretty well. However, I was having problems getting to some of the more advanced moves. I could walk of the students through the individual parts for both the male and female steps but there were times when it just wasn’t the same without being able to illustrate the moves put together from two people that really knew what they were doing.

I was checking around with some friends that had taken lessons from me before and even a couple of other instructor friends but couldn’t get anyone to help me out. One day as I was headed to class, riding my motorcycle down there, I got a call when I was stopped at a light. I pulled my phone out to check it quickly and saw that it was Autumn. We still kept in contact from time to time and went out dancing on a few occasions, only downfall was that her tool of a boyfriend was always hanging around. He was into ballroom dancing too, but only socially so he wasn’t as good. Kind of made me laugh sometimes getting to see him struggle through some of the more advanced steps with her while knowing I could breeze through them without a problem.

The light turned green, I pushed the phone back into my pocket and pulled over into a gas station so I could call her back. I stopped at the pump and got off my bike to go get a drink inside. I had a little time to kill so I figured I’d have a cigarette and call Autumn back really quick. I came back out of the store, lit up a cigarette and as soon as I hit the call button, someone swatted the cigarette from my mouth. I looked up ready to hit somebody and then saw Autumn. “I was about to kill you,” I said. “That’s for not answering my call,” she laughed. I explained I was on my bike and I was just about to call her back as I picked my cigarette back up off the floor. We chatted idly and I explained I was headed to teach my class. Then it hit me. “Hey, Autumn, are you busy right now?”

“No, why?”

“Well, I need some help with my class. You live close by. Do you mind?”

“What do I have to do?”

“Just come in with me every now and then to illustrate some steps. It would only be a few minutes each time and obviously not every class. You live pretty close so it’s not like it’s a huge hassle.”

“Yeah, sure, why not. We can get something to eat when we’re done. It’s been a while since we’ve hung out.”

It always appeared like she kept me around as a rebound or fall back in case she got on bad terms with her boyfriend again. I didn’t really mind. I enjoyed having her around. She was fun to hang out with and great to look at. What warm blooded male would turn down time with a beauty such as her?