Living Lycra

by Eric VanSickle (vanman@mchsi.com)

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Chapter One – They Meet

A group of 16 girls, aged 14 and 15, perform their routines at the barre, going through their plies in all five classical ballet positions, clad in black leotards in different styles and pink ballet tights, wearing regular ballet slippers.  In the center of the formation is their teacher, who has been doing the same thing as her students ever since she took up dance when she was 7 years old.

Katie Johnson was a member of the original classes of dance students at Arabesque School of Dance 20 years earlier.  Now, she is one of the lead instructors at the school.  Even though most teachers walk around and supervise their students, Katie likes to do the barre work with her students, so that they can see how it’s done while they do it.  Occasionally she will break from the line to help a student with her form, but she believes that if she does the things her students do in class, she’d have their respect.

Katie had a promising stage dance career ahead of her right after she graduated high school and was courted by several major dance companies in the U.S., including the Joffrey Ballet, but while at Ohio State University, she found her calling – teaching.  She had a bond with her long-time teacher back home, Marie, founder of Arabesque, and decided her contribution to the arts would be best served if she joined her former teacher as an instructor and help her pass her knowledge to the next generation.

Like her students, Katie was wearing a black leotard, with hers having long sleeves, as well as pink tights and simple ballet slippers. However she also wore a chiffon wrap skirt, which made her stand apart from her students.  Along with the feeling she has that dancing keeps her in shape, she also liked the way her dance attire feels on her body.  She found out from a few of her fellow instructors that she might have a fetish for dancewear.  She thinks it may be more than that, and she wishes there was someone out there who would help her indulge in it – preferably a man.

-- May 1982 --

Marie Lineiux sits on a sofa in her New York apartment with an ice bag on her right knee, which in turn has a brace wrapped around it.  Just a month ago, Marie was on stage at Lincoln Center in the lead role of a new ballet in the third night of its performance.  She was in the middle of her solo number when she did a grande jete and landed improperly on her right leg.  Her knee gave out, and she collapsed.  The ballet abruptly ended, and the young, aspiring French ballerina writhed in pain.  Paramedics rushed to the stage, put an air cast around the dancer’s leg and rushed her to a nearby hospital.

X-rays were negative, but further examination, including one using the hospital’s new magnetic resonance imaging unit, showed her anterior cruciate ligament was torn.  The surgeon in charge of Marie’s case informed her that he could repair the knee but wouldn’t guarantee her knee would be strong enough for her to return to the stage.  After the surgery, Marie felt rather depressed.  She wasn’t sure what she could do without being able to dance.

Someone knocks at her door.  “Entrée,” Marie calls.

The door opens.  Her agent, Jack Nelson, enters the apartment.  Jack was known as a power broker in the sports agent world, representing everyone from Major League Baseball superstars to the man at the end of National Basketball Association benches.  He was known for negotiating the first million-dollar-per-year baseball contract for one of his clients, who played for the New York Yankees at the time.  But, when he attended the season premiere of The Nutcracker just four years ago, and he saw Marie on stage as the Sugar Plum Fairy, he knew he had to represent her, too, to help artists like her earn more money in professional stage performances.

They met backstage after that performance, and he gave her his business card, which had a date, time and a restaurant name printed on the back for them to meet about business.  Marie and Jack hit it off, and she agreed to have him represent her.  They also started dating, too, a few years later.  Jack came to Marie’s apartment to check up on his client, but not as her agent.

“Marie, honey, I haven’t seen you since you left the hospital,” Jack said with concern on his face.  “You never answer your phone.  You don’t leave your apartment.  It seems that you are willing to waste your life away on this couch hoping for something.”

“Oh, Mon Cherie,” Marie replied with a sigh of frustration, “I don’t feel like going out in this world.  It seems as if I’m a shell of myself.  I mean look at me!  I have a brace on my knee, which was ruined by the only thing I know in my life, le dance.  I don’t know what to do.”

“Marie, darling, just because you can’t dance on stage anymore doesn’t mean your life is over.  You’re only 28 years old.  I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

“But, you know that I cannot dance anymore.  Most of your players’ careers aren’t the same when they injure their knee, especially your football players…”

“Most of them are still playing…”

“But, their teams aren’t paying them as much as before their injury, you know that!  When a dancer injures her knee, she’s through!”

“Marie, Sugar Plum, I was talking to the manager of your dance company…”

“Ariel’s going to save a spot for me?”

“That wasn’t what we were talking about,” he said, which drew a frown from Marie.  “However,” he continued, “I asked Ariel if she could think of a way for you to still contribute to the field when your knee is healed.”

“And?” Marie beamed.

“She suggested you start your own dance school.  With the investments you’ve made over the years, you have the capital to start one in the Midwest.  You can pass on what you’ve learned in your career to the next generation.”

Marie was absolutely ecstatic.  “I can teach!”  She then hugged Jack.

-- Today --

Josh Thompson, a newspaper reporter from the Globe, finished taking notes from the answer Marie Nelson, owner of Arabesque School of Dance, gave from his last question.  During her question, Josh imagined how everything must have been 20 years ago when that conversation she described took place.  He then snaps back into the here and now.

“So, what brought you to this area?” Josh posed.

“We, that is Jack and I, found that this was a small enough town with the most affordable real estate rates for what I was looking to start the studio, yet close enough to the major sports cities for Jack to represent his athletes,” Marie said.  “I’ve also seen this area had some of the best talent that have enrolled in my school.  Many have become principal dancers with professional ballet companies, some have started their own schools, whereas most have become successful businesswomen. 

“Although they weren’t able to continue their dance into professional lives, those young ladies have written to me saying that if it wasn’t for the confidence they’ve acquired while students at my school, they wouldn’t have been what they are today.  I feel molding the lives of young people is more important than producing the next great prima ballerina.”

“What of the boys who enter your school?  I know there are those who enter ballet either to train for sports, especially football, or to hang out with the girls…”

“And many of those boys did come to this school because they heard that Lynn Swann did it when he played for the Steelers,” Marie interrupted.  “They saw that that feature on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood just after my studio opened.  They thought that being a dancer meant they could become the next NFL superstar.”

“Didn’t hurt Swann.  He was voted into the Hall of Fame not too long ago.”

“Unfortunately, societal pressures re-emerged and less and less boys have enrolled into the school.  I think I’m lucky if I have three or four in the entire school, not counting my own sons, of course.”

“How many children do you have?”

“Jack and I have three.  My oldest son, Ron, is 17 and will be a senior next fall at the high school.  He’s in my senior-level class that I teach, along with a few others.  The girls all figuratively have fought over him when they all became teens until he finally got the courage to ask one of them to be his steady girlfriend.  My daughter, Amelie, is 13 and she’ll be in seventh grade.  She’s now in my prized pupil’s class.  Katie has been with me since I opened, except for the time when she took dance education at OSU.  She is now one of my senior instructors.  My youngest, Ben, is just 8, and will be a third grader this fall.  He’s in the juniors’ class, and doesn’t mind that several of his friends are teasing him about him being a dancer.  He always shoots back, ‘At least I’ll get the girls when they’re interested in me.’”  The last comment caused them both to chuckle.

“How about I talk to a few of your students and instructors, including Katie, as you said she was your ‘prized pupil’?”

“But of course!  Let’s go to Katie’s class.  She’ll be finished in about 30 minutes, so you’ll get a chance to see them in action.”

The two got up and left Marie’s office and strolled down the hall to a door marked with a simple number 3.  Marie opened the door and showed Josh in, then they both stood along the mirrored wall as Katie and her class had just finished their work at the barre.

“Mme. Marie, what brings you by?” Katie asked.

“This gentleman here is from the Globe and is doing a story on the 20^th anniversary of this school.  He wanted to observe your class and speak with you and some of the students after class for his story,” Marie said.  “Carry on with your class.”

Katie continued the class by rehearsing some choreography for the upcoming recital.  Josh watched the students perform their routine under Katie’s watchful eye, while stealing a couple glances at the young teacher.  His eyes travel from her slippered feet, to the pale pink-encased, shapely legs from a lifetime of dance, to the simple black, long-sleeved leotard covering her torso.  He notices her slim waist, her pert breasts, then her beautiful face.  She has her hair tight in a bun, much like many of her students.  She turns her head toward him, and he notices her deep green eyes to go with her auburn hair.

Katie notices Josh looking at her, then she takes a look at him too.  She notices he’s in shape himself.  Of course, she can’t really get a chance to see how so because he is wearing a pair of loose-fitting slacks, button-down shirt and tie, but she can tell he has what could be a dancer’s body.  His posture is straight and his muscles are long and lean.  She wonders if he likes her for what she’s wearing or if he’s just simply attracted to her.  After that thought, she turns her attention back to her students, where she sees Amelie miss a step that ruins the routine.

“Stop!” she shouts, then shuts off the tape recorder.  “Ami, you’ve never missed a step in our practices before.  Something wrong?”

“Sorry, Miss Katie.  I guess I was nervous.  Mom’s right there, and with the press here too, I must have forgotten what I was doing,” Amelie said nervously.

Marie whispered to Josh: “She’s not used to an audience during class.  She can turn it on while on stage, but in the classroom, she feels it’s more intimate with her classmates and Katie.  She doesn’t like it even if I look in.”  She then giggled.

Amelie glared over at her mother and the reporter.  “Mom!  Are you embarrassing me again?”

“Au contraire, Mon Cherie, I’m just telling Mr. Thompson about how well you perform before a larger audience.”

Josh chimed in: “I take it you’re Amelie.  May I suggest you think there are 1,000 of me instead of just one.  Pretend you’re on stage.”

“Did you tell him that, Mom?”

“Tell him what, Mon Cher?” Marie replied with mock surprise.

“How I am dancing.”

“She did,” Josh said.  “What I told you was what I did when I played solo-ensemble contests back in school.”

“Oh.  Thanks, mister, uh…”

“Josh is fine.  ‘Mr. Thompson’ makes me feel like I’m 57 instead of 27.”

Katie perked up when she heard Josh’s age, which means he’s the same age as she.  That made her more interested in him.  “Class, I think mist… uh, Josh wanted to talk with some of you ladies, so I’m going to end the class for the day, but turn things over to our guest.  Josh, how do you want to do things?”

“I’ll just go around and ask a few of the girls a few questions, starting with Amelie, since she’s Marie’s daughter, and go from there.  Then when everyone’s dismissed, I’ll talk with you.  You ladies can do whatever you want while you’re waiting.”

Josh had brief interviews with several of the students, and when he was done, he thanked them all and turned them over to Katie to dismiss.  Then he went to her to start her interview.

“Is there anywhere you want to go to do this interview?”

“My office will be fine.  Right this way.”

Katie leads Josh from the classroom to her office.  It’s smaller than Marie’s and doesn’t have a desk.  Instead, it has a couch, coffee table and plenty of ballet-inspired artwork.  She also has several photos of herself from her younger days as a student at the school in her recital costumes, along with her group photos.

Once they enter her office, Katie unties her skirt and hangs it on a hook on the wall, leaving her clad in only her leotard and tights.  She also takes off her slippers and rubs her feet as she sits on the sofa.  Josh takes a seat next to her, pad and pen in hand ready to continue his reporting.

“So, Katie, I understand you were one of Mrs. Nelson’s original students way back when she opened the school.  Did you ever think back then you’d be one of her most trusted instructors?” Josh asked.

“When I started taking dance class, I never thought I’d make a career out of this,” Katie replied.  “I danced because I thought it was fun.  I was a very energetic kid, as my parents told me, and would sometimes pirouette and dance around the room.  When Mme. Marie opened her studio, my parents saw her ad in the newspaper.  They enrolled me to see whether I liked it.  I loved the fact I could dance around and be encouraged to do so.”

“And when did you realize that you had the talent to make dance a career?”

“I think it was when I started getting invited to different summer dance camps and seminars held by the big-name companies.  I mean, my sophomore year in high school, I went to one camp, which invited me back the following year.  That same year, the Joffrey Ballet and the American Ballet Theater invited me to go to their seminars.  Believe it or not, I also had an invite from the Bolshoi during my senior year, but I had to turn that down.”

“Why’s that?”

“My parents couldn’t afford to send me to St. Petersburg, and we couldn’t raise the money in time.  That’s when I went to the Ohio State audition camp.  They accepted me into their dance program.”

“When did you realize that teaching was in your future and not performing?”

“I took a few choreography courses, and also conducted a few special performances of my work.  Leading the other dancers in my choreography, and how they all took to my instruction, made me realize teaching might be a more rewarding path for my dance career than performing.  Of course, I do perform every once in a while.  I have a few solos during our recitals here, and sometimes I join the other instructors and a few senior students in a production number.  Mme. Marie was thinking about making our group a little informal company.  She also does perform with us, though she’s not quite the dancer she used to be, with her knee and all, but she holds her own in her roles.  The rest of us are the focus of her choreography.”

“What is your long-term goal now?”

“I would like to own my own studio.  Mme. Marie has offered me a half-stake in this school, but I’m now saving up to purchase it.”

“Has she offered to have installment payments taken from your salary?”

“She did, but I declined.  I’d rather have it done in one fell swoop.  I now live at my parents’ old house after they moved to a new place.  The mortgage on it is fully paid, but I don’t feel comfortable using the house as collateral on the partnership.  I mean, what if we have a decline in attendance and I can’t make the payment with the bank?  My parents would be heartbroken if the house is taken away from me.”

The two continued with the interview for a good half-hour, until Katie noticed the clock on her wall indicating her next class was about to begin.  “Oh, I’m going to be late for the advanced toe class!” she exclaimed.  “Can we meet up later, informally?  I want to get to know you, too.”

Josh reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.  He opened it and pulled out one of his business cards.  “Here’s where you can reach me at the newsroom.  My direct line is right here.  Call me right after you’re done.  I’ll be writing the story about the school for Sunday’s Arts section when I get back there.”

Katie took the card and put it in her bag as she took out her toe shoes and a new skirt.  “Talk to you later,” she said hurriedly, as she scurried back to her classroom in her stocking feet. 

Josh went toward Marie’s office to thank her for the time for the interview, but saw she was out too.  He took another card from his wallet, wrote on the back “thank you” and laid it on Marie’s desk.

 

Chapter Two – Later that night…

Josh puts the finishing touches on the second of his two articles he wrote based on his interviews at Arabesque.  The first is on the school, its students and Marie.  The second is a sidebar bio on Katie.  Earlier, he told the metro editor – Tony Landau, a 15-year veteran in the business – and the arts editor – Tammy Crawford, who’s only been in journalism two years, and before then was a performance artist – about his idea to add a sidebar to the main story.

Tony thought there was an ulterior motive behind this request.  “How cute is she?” he simply asked.

“Cute doesn’t describe her,” Josh replied.  “But how she looks isn’t the point.  She’s a local gal who had one dream, but found her niche in a different direction.  By the time we’re doing Arabesque’s 40^th or 50^th anniversary article, Katie would be the owner.”

“And that’s the kind of story we’re looking for, Tony,” Tammy interjected.  “Mme. Nelson once was a famous dancer, but she’s from France and used to work in New York.  Katie is homegrown.  Our readers will want to know this girl.”

“OK, Tammy, this story’s going into your section this Sunday,” Tony sighed.  “Josh, don’t let how that girl looked in that get-up affect your journalistic judgment.  I’ll tell Mike to get a few good shots of this Johnson girl to go with the sidebar, especially for the jump.  You are doing a jump, aren’t you, Tammy?”

“Ask Josh.”

“You’ll have enough material for two or three jumps, Tam,” Josh joked.

Josh spent nearly four hours writing both articles, and missed his dinner break, finishing at nearly 9 o’clock.  At the same moment he hit the save key combination on his computer, his phone rang.

“Globe newsroom, Josh Thompson.”

“Hi, Josh.  It’s Katie.”

“Katie!  I just got done writing the article on you and the school.  I take it classes are over for the day.”

“I’m just outside the newspaper building right now, near the front door.  I came by to see if you’d want to grab something to drink or eat somewhere.”

“Come around to the side and ring the bell and I’ll let you in.  I just have to run the spell checker on the articles and we can go.”

“OK.  Bye.”

Josh clicks the mouse cursor onto the spell check button, and moments later he hears the bell from the night entrance.  One of the copy editors looks up at the security monitor.

“Is anyone expecting someone that looks like they’re coming straight from a dance studio?” the copy editor queried.

“Let her in,” Josh replied, after clicking the last “Change All” button in this spell check.

The copy editor pressed the lock release button, then spoke into the intercom inviting Katie to come inside the building.  Josh saved his work and then got up to meet Katie downstairs near the entrance.

“You didn’t change?” he asked.

“I usually wear nothing but dancewear or anything else made of nylon or spandex.  I decided to tie on a print skirt over my leotard to be presentable for the public,” she replied.  “You like?”

“Looks good.  Let’s get up to my desk.  I’ll show you the articles.”

They return to the newsroom and walk up to Josh’s desk.  He offers his chair for Katie to sit and read the articles, both of which are on the same file.  She reads the first article about the school itself, then the sidebar on her.  All the while, Josh leans against the desk, facing her, and admiring her leotard-and-tight-encased body.  He examines how the black leotard hugs her curves, including her B-cup breasts.  He notices that it looks like she may not be wearing a bra.  His eyes then travel lower past the black-and-white checkerboard wrap skirt to her pink ballet tights, tightly encasing her crossed legs.  He also notices she’s now wearing slide-on platform shoes, about three inches thick on the heel and an inch-and-a-half on the toe end.  The shoes also have nubs on the insoles, obviously to massage her feet after a long day teaching.  He thinks it must be hard for her to only wear thin-soled ballet slippers all day.

His reverie is broken by a giggle.  “Josh, you have captured me perfectly in that second article.  Thank you,” Katie said.  “The first one was good too.  Mme. Marie will be so pleased to see it Sunday.”

“I’m glad to approve.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to save a copy of this in Tammy’s folder.”  Josh accesses the “Save As” function from the “File” menu and saves the file into the “Arts” directory.  “Tammy, my two stories, on the file named ‘Arabesque,’ is in your folder now.”

“Thanks, Josh!” Tammy responds.  “Have you taken your lunch yet?”

“No.  I worked through it to get that done.”

“Just a second…”  Tammy then picks up her phone and dials it.  She talks to someone, unheard by Josh, and then replaces the receiver.  “Pete said you can take off for the night.  See you tomorrow.”

Katie has a questioning look.  “Pete?”

“He’s the assistant managing editor.  Our managing editor keeps normal business hours, even though we’re an A.M. paper.  I work the metro department from 2 to 10, usually taking my lunch at 6.  Because the Globe is a Guild paper, lunch is paid.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain it later.  Let’s get something to eat.”

“Oh, yeah.  Let me call for reservations.  One of the adult male students at the school runs the Swan restaurant.”

“I always wondered how that name came about.”

Katie accessed the speed dial on her cell phone and called to get a secluded table for two for them.  Josh also logged off his computer, then grabbed his sport coat from over his chair and slipped it on.  He escorted Katie from the Globe building and down the street about four blocks to the Swan.  The maitre d’ immediately led the couple to the reserved table and gave them menus.  The semi-circular booth allowed them to sit right next to each other, though they at first sat almost opposite each other.  When their server arrived, Josh ordered the Cobb salad with fat free ranch dressing, and Katie ordered the Caesar.

As they waited for their food to be served, Katie decided to interview Josh.  “So, now that you know all about me, it’s time I knew a little about you.  How did you get so in shape?”

“Yoga,” Josh replied simply.

“So that’s why you ordered the salad.  You’re vegetarian.  Ever thought about dance, too?”

“Thought, yes.  Tried, no.  I didn’t think I would have the rhythm in the feet to do it.  My time on stage was as a trumpet player.”

“Oh, so you are artistic.”

“I haven’t played since I graduated from Iowa.  My old, semi-beat-up trumpet is in a closet back at my parents’ place.”

“And what made you get into reporting?”

“I got bit by the journalism bug in seventh grade.  I heard there was a meeting for the school newspaper, so I went there to see what it was about.  When I wrote my first article, and brought home the edition it ran, my parents thought that I should work toward that as my profession.  So, here I am.”

“How long have you done yoga?”

“You want to know it as a regular practice or how long since I first did it?”

“Both.”

“I first did it when I was 10, when I saw a book in the library with a cute young girl, wearing about what you are now, except her tights were darker and the leotard was a bit lighter – I couldn’t tell because it was in black and white – doing yoga moves.  I thought that was what you were supposed to wear when you did that, so I got myself a pair of girls’ tights that was approximately my size.  I put them on, then slipped a pair of underpants over them, then put on a T-shirt and did what she was doing.”

Katie giggled.  “What color were those tights?”

“Blue.”

“How’d you feel when you first put them on?”

“I thought they felt good, almost natural.  I only did yoga on and off until I went to college.  That’s when I started doing it regularly.  We’re talking 1995 now, and wearing leotards and tights was out of style unless you were doing ballet.  Instead, I bought a pair of footless running tights at a sporting goods store and wore them, shirtless when it was warm and with a T-shirt on cooler days.  I didn’t quite like the way the waistband dug into my waist in certain situations, so I looked around to find a unitard that would fit me and would work for a man.  The only ones I found were in dance catalogs, so I got a couple, but never got the nerve to wear them in a class.  I only wore them when I was practicing at home.  And at that, I never wore underwear.  I did in class, so that my groin wouldn’t be so pronounced, if you know what I mean, but I felt it was restricting.”

“I never wear any underwear under my dance clothing, at least not bras and panties,” Katie interjected.  “When it’s cooler, I just layer nude-colored leotards and pantyhose under my normal dancewear, and then layer a wool jumpsuit over that.  I don’t wear bras or panties for aesthetics, no lines showing through or anything like that.”

“I was wondering about that when you were reading the articles in the newsroom.”  Josh stopped his comment when the server came to deliver their salads.  When he left, Josh continued: “I thought I saw your nipples start to poke through the fabric of your leotard.”

Katie giggled at Josh’s forwardness.  “Yes, I have developed a fetish for dancewear and anything made with Lycra, too.  When you wear your unitard at home practicing yoga, do you feel extra excited?”

“Sometimes.”

“You’re a fetishist, too!”  Katie slides a foot from her shoe and strokes it under Josh’s pant leg, lifting the cuff.  “You like the feel of nylon and Lycra and spandex on your skin, don’t you?  You’re getting hard as I’m doing this, too, right?”

Josh simply nods and tries to eat his salad, giving no outward appearance as to what is going on under the table.

Katie continues her tease with hushed tone: “You want to put on your unitard right now and rub your body against my leotard and tights, don’t you?”

Josh swallows his bite of salad.  “Yes, as well as helping you out of that dancewear, seeing how lovely you look in the nude, seeing your dance-toned features glowing in candlelight or moonlight.  When I saw you in your studio, I wanted to take you right there.  I had to hold myself back, being a professional, but I knew that when we were together in this setting, there was no reason to restrict myself.”

Katie slid herself closer to Josh, while sliding her tights-covered foot up Josh’s leg to his groin.  She felt through the pants that Josh was fully erect.  She positioned herself so that her leg can stroke his crotch.  She whispered, “Josh, undo your pants for me?”

Josh reached down with one hand, leaving one hand holding onto his fork, and unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his trousers and unzipped the zipper.  Katie reached down and lowered his pants a bit so that her leg can stroke against Josh’s underwear, which could barely contain Josh’s pulsating member.

Josh just couldn’t stand it anymore.  “Katie, this isn’t the right place.  I want you, but can we go somewhere more private?”

“Your place or mine?”

“Mine, so that I can put on a unitard as you wanted.”

Katie lowered her leg back to the floor and redid Josh’s trousers right when the server approached with the check.  Josh paid the bill and left a nice tip, just so that the server wouldn’t ask what was going on.  They returned to the Globe parking lot and got into Josh’s car.  They drove to his apartment.  Katie saw the apartment was a bit small, just a living room, kitchenette and bathroom.  Josh’s futon bed was folded into sofa mode.

“So, where do you practice?” Katie asked.

“In the center of the room.  This is what I could get initially that I could afford on my salary while at the same time I can still pay my student loans.  Take off your shoes before you go from the linoleum to the hardwood.”

Katie slips her shoes off and steps onto the hardwood floor.  Without her ballet slippers on, she recognizes the texture of the floor against her stocking feet.  “This floor feels like that of a dance studio.  How do you keep it clean?”

“I use hardwood floor cleaners once a month and a static-charged sweeper weekly to keep it dust free.  Let me change into a unitard.  I’ll be right back.”  Josh then disappears into the small bathroom after grabbing an article of clothing, which Katie can only think of as a unitard.  She recognized the material as being navy blue nylon/Lycra.  Katie takes the wrap skirt off and has a seat on the futon.  She drapes the skirt over the back of a chair on the way to the futon.

A couple minutes later, the bathroom door opens and Josh steps out.  Katie eyes Josh’s navy-encased body.  She starts with the toned chest, the tight waist, the erection in his crotch straining against the Lycra, the defined thighs and calves, and sees the material end below Josh’s feet.  “Stirrup-foot, I see,” she says.  “That’s good, so the legs don’t ride up.”

Josh strolls over to the futon and sits next to Katie.  Katie then reaches over and touches the unitard, feels the silkiness of the material on his skin.  She strokes his legs, then his inner thighs, and then teases his cock.  Josh closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths to keep in control.  Katie then takes one of Josh’s hands and guides him to touch her tights-covered legs.  He feels the nylon beneath his hand as he lightly strokes her leg.  His hand also travels up to her inner thigh, then to her leotard-covered groin.  She leans back and swings her leg over Josh’s lap to allow him to be able to stroke her clit and outer lips through the leotard and the gusset of her tights.  She starts to sigh with pleasure as he stimulates her, all the while lightly stroking his erect penis with her leg.

Josh leans into her, and with his free hand starts to cup and caress Katie’s breasts through the leotard.  He mixes kneading her breasts with stroking her nipples, so that they become hard as diamonds and poking through the Lycra.  He also feels her become wet between her legs.

“Kiss me!” Katie breathed.  “I want to taste you, now!”

Josh leans into her and pauses right before making contact with Katie’s lips.  “When I laid eyes on you earlier today, I knew it would come to this, here, tonight,” he says, and then he softly presses his lips to hers.

Katie parts her lips and slides her tongue to part Josh’s.  Their tongues brush each other, then start entwining as they deepen their kiss.  Josh lifts one of his legs so that they wrap the one Katie draped over his lap, and so that each other’s legs can rub each other’s groins as they make out.  He then lifts her to be upright, wrapping his arms tightly around her and feeling how her leotard fits tightly to her back and ass.  They kneel with one leg situated between the others’, rocking back and forth as they continue kissing, their passions rising form the Lycra-on-Lycra friction within their loins.

“Josh!  Stop for a second!” Katie said suddenly, breathlessly.

“Something wrong?”

“I just need to catch my breath.  What do you have in your fridge to drink?”

“I have Pepsi One, Sunny Delight and milk.  Want me to get you something?”

“No, I’ll get it.  Why don’t you…” she stops to kiss Josh lightly, “…unfold this futon?”

Josh smiles evilly at her suggestion, then kisses her back, then lets go of the embrace to let her get her refreshment.  Katie walks over to the refrigerator and takes out the half-empty bottle of Sunny Delight, then grabs a glass from the cupboard.  She looks back at Josh, how lovely he looks in his navy blue tank unitard, unfolding the futon from sofa to bed mode.  She decides to get a second glass from the cupboard for him too.  She pours the juice into both glasses, and returns to him, offering him a glass.

“Thank you,” he said.  They both sat back down onto the edge of the futon as they drink their juice.

“What did you say back at the newsroom about a ‘guild’?” Katie queried.

“Oh, the Globe is covered by the National Newspaper Guild, sort of like a trade union,” Josh explained.  “What the Guild does is it ensures that reporters, copy writers, pressmen and others who work for member newspapers get fairly compensated.  Those employees who are also members of the Guild pay dues, which is a small amount deducted from their paycheck, but whether or not they are Guild members, they still get the same benefits from the newspaper.  It’s all part of the contract between the Guild and the Globe.”

“Oh!  It sounds a lot like the Actors Equity that Mme. Marie used to belong before her injury.  Of course, Jack helped her get better contracts when she was prima ballerina of the ABT.  You have an agent?”

Josh chuckled.  “Most newspaper reporters don’t need one.  Only those who appear on TV regularly would need one.  That’s what the Guild does, it represents me and thousands of other reporters across the nation.”

Katie finishes her juice and sets the glass on the floor next to the futon, then starts stroking Josh’s hair.  “I don’t know why you don’t wear your unitards outside of your apartment.  You look very sexy in them.”  She then kisses him again, tasting the citrus cocktail they just consumed lingering in their saliva.  She takes the glass that Josh was holding and sets it on the floor, then guides him to lie on his back.

She then sits over Josh, astride of his crotch, leans over and gives him a deep kiss.  She feels his cock stiffen again beneath her.  She starts to move her hips, grinding her Lycra-covered womanhood over his Lycra-covered manhood.  She breaks the kiss and sits up, continuing to move her hips over his faster and faster.  He reaches to fondle both of her breasts at the same time.  Their breathing becomes heavier and heavier, mixed with groans of near orgasm.  The heat they generate between them became so intense, they both came in their Lycra.  Katie collapsed onto Josh’s chest, panting.

“That was so great!” Katie said breathlessly.  “The only thing that would be better is if you were inside me.”

“It’s too bad they don’t make dancewear with penile and vaginal sheathes,” Josh replied.  They both chuckled at that comment.

“Maybe we could make something like that.”

“Until then…” he kissed her, then reached under the neck of her leotard to start to slip it off, “…let’s try this the other way.”

Katie smiled, then slid her arm out of the leotard as Josh was removing it, then the other arm.  Josh slid the leotard off her torso and down her legs, discarding it onto the floor nearby.  Katie, now clad only in her tights wettened by her vaginal juices, then pulled the shoulder straps of Josh’s unitard down his arms and pulled the article down his chest, past his waist and semi-erect cock.  She paused to take his manhood into her mouth, lapping up his cum from their first foray.  Then she slid the unitard off his legs and threw it across the room toward the bathroom.  Finally, Josh helped her take off her tights, revealing that she is completely shaved, with no hair on her legs, torso, or even her pubic area.

“You must like to have absolutely nothing come between your skin and your dancewear,” he observed.

“I use a depilatory spray monthly,” she explained.  “I’ll use it on you sometime.  You’ll like it that way better.  You see that when your skin is in direct contact with spandex, it’s truly an electric feeling.”

“I can’t wait, but first…”  Josh doesn’t complete his sentence, but starts kissing Katie again.  He felt his cock spring back into life, and rolled himself atop her to get ready to enter her.  Katie spreads her legs wide into a side split to easily accept his manhood.  He slid himself inside her and started to pump.  She then wrapped her legs around him, forcing him deeper inside.  As he drills her with his penis, they kiss each other with reckless abandon.  After about 10 minutes of grinding, Josh starts to feel himself twitch.

“I’m about to come inside you!” he shouted.

“Just fuck me hard!  Make me come too!” Katie replied.

Josh sped his thrusts, trying to take them both over the top.  After several ecstatic moments, with their voices crying out in pleasure, they both climaxed, and collapsed in each other’s arms.  As the afterglow of their sex lingered, they continued embracing, kissing and fondling each other.

“Josh?”

“Yes?”

“It may be a bit soon, but I love you.”

The comment surprised Josh, but he knew he felt the same way.  “I fell in love with you when I saw you this afternoon in class.  I love you, too.”

“Move in with me at my house.  You’ll have much more room, and you won’t have to pay any more rent.”

“I have to give my landlord notice before I do that.”

“How much?”

“Just a month.”

“Want me to help you pack?”

“As long as you just accept this as payment.”

“Accept what?”

Josh smiled an evil grin and winked.  Katie threw her head back as if she got the idea.  “Oh!  You are such a devil,” she said.

Josh then pulled the covers over them, and they spent the night together.

 

Chapter Three – Moving In

Just a month after they first met, Josh has fully moved into Katie’s house.  He didn’t have much for possessions, as his apartment was very small.  All they needed to bring over were his clothes (including the all-important unitards), some small nick knacks, his computer and his futon.  As Katie’s house was fully furnished, she decided to bring the futon downstairs to the basement.  When they brought the futon there, Josh noticed the basement was no ordinary basement.  He saw mirrors on the walls, a freestanding ballet barre and a nice, hardwood floor.

“You have your own practice studio?” Josh said, dumbfounded.

“Of course,” Katie replied.  “Dad and a few of his employees installed this when I was 10 so that I could do my basic forms and stretch where I can have room.  My bedroom was a little too small, and my parents didn’t want me to do it in the living room.”

“Maybe you can teach me some dance here, and I can teach you a little yoga?”

“Sounds like a fair trade.  However, if I were to teach you dance, we have to get you some more gear, like slippers, maybe some tights and more unitards.  After we’re done here, let’s get down to the boutique at the studio to get them.”

“You sure you have ballet slippers in size 10?”

“I think we do.  C’mon, we should move this thing to this wall.”  Katie motioned toward the wall adjacent to the stairs.  They then position the futon at that location.  They return upstairs to continue unpacking.

Later that afternoon, Katie drives Josh down to the studio to grab his new gear at the dancewear boutique.  There, they meet with Jessica, the boutique clerk and part-time teacher.  She was wearing a royal blue bike-length unitard with ballet pink tights underneath and black slippers.  She had just finished with the tiny tots class and opened the boutique.  After greeting each other, Katie asked Jessica to take her and Josh into the storeroom to look at the stock there.

“Is that the reporter from the Globe?” Jessica queried.

“Yes.  He just moved in with me,” Katie said, then went hushed.  “Josh and I became lovers the night after he interviewed everyone.  He likes wearing Lycra as much as I do, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I see.”  Jessica then addressed Josh: “I read your article last month on the school.  We were all impressed, and our enrollment went up quite a bit for young students.  I just had my largest turnout for tiny tots since I started working here three years ago.  And 10 of the 30 kids there were boys.”

“Wow.  That’s quite a jump.  I hope they all stick with it,” Josh said.

“Me too,” Katie added.  “Jess, we need to get Josh some shoes in particular, maybe some tights and maybe a few more unitards.”

“What street size you wear?” Jessica asked Josh.

“Ten.”

“You’re in luck.  We have some Blochs in 8½ in back.  C’mon, let’s get you fitted.”

“Katie, wouldn’t that be small?”

“Bloch makes men’s shoe sizes smaller than street.  Jessica knows what she’s doing.”

The trio went through the front of the boutique to the stockroom.  Jessica led them all to the section where every size of ballet shoe is neatly sorted into size and width.  She takes a pair of black slippers in size 8½ medium width and gives them for Josh to try on.  He then takes off his shoes, but leaves his socks on, and then gets ready to put the right slipper on his foot.

“Josh!  Wait!” Jessica exclaims.  “Take off your sock and put this on.”  She gives Josh a nylon foot cover, so that he could try on the ballet shoes as if he were wearing tights or barefoot, but not stink up the shoe before purchase.  He slips off his socks, which are cotton ankle socks, and slips on the covers.  He then puts on the slippers.

Jessica frowns: “You sure your shoe size is a 10?”

“That’s what they say,” Josh replies.

“Nikes are always a half size higher than standard.”  Jessica then gets a pair of size eight slippers.  “Try these.  Ballet shoes should be completely snug around your feet.”

The second pair is a perfect fit.  Josh notices two pieces of elastic in the box.  “What are they for?”

“Don’t worry about that, Josh,” Katie said.  “When we get home, I’ll sew them on.  Jess, let’s take another pair, and a pair of jazz shoes, too.”

Jessica grabs a second pair of ballet shoes in the same size and color, then has Josh try on a pair of jazz shoes in the largest size available.  They then go to the tights area and grab three pair of men’s black ballet tights and two pair of flesh-colored tights that would fit Josh’s 28-inch waist and 30-inch inseam.  Finally, they go to the unitards and find the men’s styles all are footed.  They grab a white one and a black one in medium, and then have Josh try them on.  They both fit.

“Got any in blue?” Josh asked while wearing the black unitard.

“Only in women’s styles, sorry,” Jessica replied.

“Well, we’ll have to take these,” Katie said.  “Get back in your street clothes, and we’ll get going.”

Jessica rang up the purchases back out front and applied Katie’s 50-percent discount.  Josh paid for the garments and the couple left to return home.

At home, Katie asked Josh to get into one of his unitards to prepare for his first dance lesson downstairs.  They both went into the bedroom and stripped off their street clothes.  Katie had on a T-shirt and bike shorts as they were moving and dancewear shopping, under which she had nothing.  Josh stripped off his T-shirt and jeans, followed by his briefs and socks.  He then grabbed his black footless tank unitard, in which he slipped first his left leg, then his right, and quickly pulled it over his body.  Katie took a pair of footed tan opaque tights, rolled the right leg of it and slowly slid it up her right leg.  All the while, she smoothed out the wrinkles and made sure the tights fit every curve of her leg.  She repeated the process for her left leg.  When the legs of her tights reached her crotch, she pulled the panty area over her lower abdomen.  While she was dressing, Josh warmed himself up with some front bends and leg stretches.  Katie then grabbed a royal blue cap-sleeved leotard and stepped through the neck opening, putting her feet through the leg openings.  She reached over and pulled the leotard up her legs to her crotch, lingering as she does so to tease Josh.

“I never thought I would get aroused like this,” Josh said as he points to his crotch, showing he’s getting erect, “seeing someone get dressed!”  His comment made Katie giggle.

She continued to dress, as she pulled the leotard over her torso, covering her firm B-cups and slipping her arms into the short sleeves.  “Grab your shoes and put them on,” she told Josh.  “I need to make sure they fit you exactly and to put on those elastic bands.”

“So, you have to put those bands across my foot somehow?”

“Not only that, but there is a small elastic band around the vamp of the shoe that helps it hug the foot.  C’mon, get them out!”

Josh grabs one pair of the ballet slippers and takes them out of the box.  He then takes a seat on a chair and slips them on.  Katie kneels next to Josh’s feet and grabs the ends of the thin elastic band around the edge of the shoes and pulls them tight, asking whether they feel too tight.  When Josh tells her what feels right, she ties the ends of the elastic into a knot and cuts the ends.  She then takes the thicker elastic bands that came apart from the shoes and stretches them over the top of the foot about an inch below the ankles.  She takes a couple straight pins and affixes them to the slippers.

“Now, carefully slip these off and put on the other pair,” Katie instructs.  Josh does so and Katie repeats the process for the other pair.  “We don’t need to do this for your jazz shoes, as they’re made to hug your feet right away.”

“Want me to help stitch the elastic on the ballet shoes?”

“Sure.  Let me thread a needle for you and you can do one pair.”

Katie grabs a sewing kit from her dresser and grabs a needle and a spool of black thread.  She threads the needle, knots the end and gives it to Josh for him to stitch the elastic onto his slippers.  She then does the same with another needle and the other pair of slippers.  When Josh finished the pair he’s stitching, he tugs at the elastic to make sure it’s secure.  Then he puts on the slippers.  “Perfect!” he said.

Katie finishes the other pair soon after, then walks over to the closet to set the slippers in there.  She then takes a pair of blue toe shoes, styled like sneakers with laces instead of ribbons, and puts them on.  “Time to go down to the practice room,” she said.

Josh stared at the strange ballet shoes.  “Wait!  Those look like gym shoes instead of ballet slippers,” he said.

“They’re the newest trend in pointe shoes.  Some companies have used shoes like these in scenes set in modern times, but I like wearing them while I’m practicing here.”

“Are those available in my size?”

Katie laughed at that comment.  “No, silly!  Men don’t perform in pointe.”  She thinks about her last comment.  “Well, 99 percent of men don’t.  There is a troupe of men who perform as ballerinas, and I’ve heard of some classes where men are taught pointe, but pointe is usually a feminine thing.”

“So no chance on me getting a pair of those.”

“No chance.  Let’s get downstairs!”

They descend into the practice room.  Katie has Josh help her move the portable barre out to the center of the room.  Then, she asks him to stand on the opposite side of the barre with his right hand on it facing her.  She then instructs him in the five basic positions.  She has a bit of surprise when she sees that Josh has good flexibility in the hips, especially when he gets into third and fifth positions.  Katie then takes Josh into plies, first with demi-plies, then seeing if he can do a grande-plie.  Josh shows that he can go very deep in first through fourth positions, but in fifth position, he almost falls onto his face.

“Careful, Josh!  Remember, fifth position limits some movement if you’re not used to it.  Keep your balance.”

Upon that advice, Josh doesn’t try to go as deep when he plies.  Once they complete the set of plies, Katie has them both rotate through the positions with the opposite leg forward.  Josh goes through the sequence without incident this time.  After the plies, the pair work on leg stretches on the barre, followed by different kick series and poses.  Katie then asked Josh to help her put the barre to the side and showed him different dance moves.

After what seemed to be a few hours of dancing, Josh staggered over to the futon that came over from his old apartment and flopped onto it.  “Boy!  This is tiring!  No wonder dancers are in great shape!”

“Well, this is just your first time doing this,” Katie replied.  “That’s normal for some people’s first ballet lesson.  They think because it’s so smooth and graceful that it isn’t strenuous.  Just a sec.  I’ll run up and grab some drinks.”

Katie went into the kitchen and grabbed two 20-ounce bottles of orange-flavored Gatorade and returned to the practice room.  She handed one to Josh, who opened it and took a big swig.  She sat next to him, very close, and opened her bottle.  After she takes a sip, she swings her legs across Josh’s lap and wraps her left arm around his shoulders.

“I don’t care what other women say, but I think men are sexy after they’ve worked out,” Katie said in a sultry voice.  “The way their skin glows as the light reflects off the beads of sweat, and the slight musky smell, that just does it for me.  Unfortunately, until you came along, none of those men were interested in me.  Some were not even interested in women at all.”

“Must have been dancers, huh?”

“Of course.  You would think that being around women wearing leotards and tights in the dance hall would make these dancers aroused somewhat.  But most of the male dance students I’ve been with in college were gay.  There was this one guy in my class as a freshman, he was so hot!  I approached him after class one day and asked him if he wanted to go to a movie that Friday night.  He said, ‘Sorry, but my boyfriend and I have plans tonight.’  I felt so embarrassed.  The other guys on campus outside the dance department thought we dancers were unapproachable, so I missed out on dating.”

Josh polishes off his Gatorade, sets the bottle on the floor beside the futon, and then slides his right arm around Katie’s back, pulling her closer to him.  He can feel the sweat-soaked Lycra of her leotard in his embrace.  “All those men didn’t know what they were missing,” he says.  He then strokes his left hand across Katie’s tights-covered legs.  “I must admit, you also are sexy when you’re sweaty.”

“As are you, especially when wearing your unitards.”  She then shifts herself so she can slide on Josh’s sweat-soaked, Lycra-covered thighs and have her butt near his crotch.  As she does so, she leans into him and gives him a passionate kiss.  Seconds later, she breaks the kiss and pivots to face away from him and grind her butt into his stiffening manhood.  She leans back into him, and he reaches around to caress her leotard-encased breasts.  She turns her head back to him, and they share another kiss, wet and deep.

After a few minutes, Katie pivots on Josh’s thighs again, this time to face him.  As she does so, she swings her left foot to rest on his right shoulder, followed by her right foot on his left shoulder.

“Josh, could you take off my shoes for me?” she asked.

Josh undoes the laces on her left shoe, followed by her right.  He lingers as he takes off the shoes.  First, he loosens the vamp on the left shoe, then slowly slides the shoe off her heel.  He takes a moment to lightly tickle her foot as he removes the shoe.  Katie giggles as she feels his teasing touch on the sole of her foot.  Josh then slides the shoe completely off her foot, and repeated the process on the right foot.

Free of their bindings, Katie’s tights-covered feet play with Josh’s face.  Josh couldn’t help but relish the feeling of the nylon-Lycra blend on the sensitive skin of his face.  Katie then wraps her feet behind his head, and bends up to kiss him again.  As their mouths and tongues play with each other, Katie resumes grinding herself onto Josh’s groin, this time stimulating her two-layer Lycra-encased clit and pussy onto his unitard-covered cock.

What Katie did next surprised Josh.  With her feet, she stared undressing him.  She slipped each foot on their corresponding shoulder strap and pulled them down his arms.  He then pulled his arms out of them.  Katie then grabbed the unitard with her hands and pulled it down to his waist.  She lifted her crotch off him and slid the unitard off his crotch.  With his stiff cock now exposed, she resumed grinding it directly.  Josh’s thoughts went off the radar with the feeling of his girlfriend stroking him while she’s still wearing her leotard.

Suddenly, she stopped moving her hips.  She got off Josh and removed his ballet slippers and the rest of his unitard.  “Undress me while I blow you,” she commanded.  She turned herself so she was upside down to Josh and started kissing and licking Josh’s rock-hard penis.  Taking the invitation, Josh pulled the shoulders of the leotard off Katie, removing them from her arms.  Then he slid the leotard down her body – or rather up her body since she was upside down – and discarded it near where she set his unitard.  Next, he took a moment to nuzzle Katie’s pussy through her tan tights.  He was able to feel, smell and taste her juices within the nylon-Lycra of the tights and the cotton gusset.  He then took the waistband and started pulling her tights off her abdomen and legs.  Once he threw the tights near the leotard and unitard, he felt the first suction of Katie’s mouth enveloping his nearly throbbing member.  Josh then started licking her clit, creating a topsy-turvy 69 position.

After a few ecstatic moments, Katie removed Josh’s member from her mouth, then placed her hands on either side of his thighs onto the futon, and swung her legs from the wall in a gymnastic walkover.  The move caused her back to arch when her feet hit the floor, after which she straightened up, turned and faced Josh.

“Impressive,” Josh commented.  “It seems teaching you backbends won’t be a problem.”

Katie just smiled and approached Josh again, resuming the same position they were in while they were clothed, but this time she impaled herself onto him.  She ground on his cock for several minutes until she started to feel him about to climax, then started slowing down to keep him from going over the top.

“I want you to make me cum,” Katie said longingly.  “Fuck me with all your might.”

Josh then turned so he could lay Katie onto her back.  While keeping her legs on his shoulders, he knelt on the futon and lifted her hips onto his thighs.  He pumped into her deeply and rhythmically.  Katie started to scream at the top of her lungs with each thrust, encouraging him to go faster, and faster, and faster.  Josh felt Katie’s vagina start to tighten on his dick, so he finished her off.  He saw some clear fluid squirt from her crotch – female ejaculate – just before he felt himself empty into her.  As his orgasm raged, he started to slow gradually down to a halt, but keeping himself in her as he lifted her up to sit on his thighs.  They shared another loving kiss as they collapsed onto their sides on the futon, feeling the afterglow of their throws of passion.

“You know what would be great?” Josh said.  Katie shook her head.  He continued: “What would be perfect is if we had a way to make love to each other still wearing our Lycra.”

“I think there are places that make outfits with either crotch zippers or plumbing holes.  I’ll check the Internet to see who does that.”

 

Chapter Four – Fate Lands

Katie and Josh have settled into their life together.  Katie has taught Josh enough dance movements in ballet, modern, jazz and hip hop that she had started choreographing a few numbers for them to perform at future Arabesque recitals.  She also informed Marie that Josh might be the male principal dancer they might be looking for in the special performance group they were thinking about forming within the school.  Marie wanted to wait until she sees a pas de deux either in the studio or at the upcoming spring recital.  Meanwhile, Josh has been teaching Katie yoga.  Her dance background made several of the basic postures too easy for her, so Josh, through the help of B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, guided her through some advanced asanas, which he tried himself.  They both noticed their inner strength increase through the different standing and balancing poses.  Katie got even more flexible than she already was through her dance that she considered trying a contortion routine.

Their mutual quest to get Lycra clothing to wear while having sex they also accomplished.  They bought fingered and footed, mock turtleneck unitards with crotch zippers from three different websites.  They ordered custom-made suits, fitting their every curve as if the suits each were a second skin.  They’ve found the suits have enhanced their sensations as they slide against each other.  They also added to their kink by getting several sets of spandex sheets, and even implemented a study of the Kama Sutra, adding new sexual positions to their repertoire.

As another cross-training option since the snow thawed, Katie and Josh have been in-line skating on the local bike trails.  They roll around a secluded five-mile trail north of town every weekend just before sundown.

On this mid-April Saturday, they’re skating along the trail as usual.  Katie rolls in front, wearing a shiny royal blue biketard, with long sleeves and a mock turtleneck, and pink ballet tights underneath.  Josh skates behind her, wearing a replica of the USA short-track speed skating uniform.  He likes skating behind Katie, as it gives him the opportunity to admire her tight, spandex-covered bottom.

They were reaching the midway point of their weekly jaunt when Katie noticed something streak in the sky and land about a half-mile ahead of them.  “What was that?” she posed.

“Let’s find out,” Josh said.  He then accelerated past Katie and sprinted to the area where they saw whatever the object was that landed.  Katie tried to follow as best she could.  She saw him stop and take off his skates.  Josh then walked into the prairie grass at the point where he saw the smoke, where the unknown object landed.  Katie stopped near the entry point and took off her skates.  She then removed the feet from her convertible-foot tights, rolled them up to her ankles and followed Josh to the impact area.

Josh reaches the object.  He sees it’s cylindrical with a partially rounded end, maybe a foot in length, and made of rock.  He reaches over and feels a bit of heat emitting from it.  Katie then appears from behind.  “What is it?” she asked.

“It’s probably some chunk of a meteorite.  I didn’t think we were in the Leonid meteor season,” he replied.

“Careful with that thing.  It could be radioactive.”

“Well, it feels a little warm.”  Josh then touches it and feels a slight tingle, then retracts his arm.  “Something about that rock is strange.  I felt a tingle, but it wasn’t like it was bad.”  He grabs the meteorite and feels the tingle go up his arm into his chest and down the other arm.  He then hands it to Katie, who also feels the same tingle.  However, she quickly puts the stone into her fanny pack strapped to her waist.

“Whoa, that was something else,” Katie said.  “Let’s get our skates back on and head back home.”

“When we get back to the car, I have to call this in to the newsroom,” Josh said.  They returned to their skates and put them back on, of course Katie had to put the convertible feet back on her bare feet as she put on her skates, and completed their circuit of the trail.  At the parking lot at the trailhead, they removed their skates and put on their regular footwear and entered the car.  Josh started the car and drove back to town.  On the way, he grabbed his cell phone and called the newsroom on his speed dial.

“Tammy?  Josh here.  Who’s on desk tonight for tomorrow morning’s edition?  You are?  OK, I’ve got something for you.  Katie and I were out rollerblading on our usual trail when we found this meteorite fragment land.  I’m on my way back to town now.  You want to see it?  Well, it has some strange properties, as we felt some kind of tingle while handling it.  It’s right now inside Katie’s fanny pack.  Just a second.”  Josh turns to Katie.  “Are you feeling that tingle still?”

“No, not right now.  Not since we put that thing in the pack.”

“No, Tammy.  We’re pulling into downtown now.  I’ll be there in three minutes.  Bye.”

“Why was she asking that?”

“She took astronomy as a minor at UCLA.  She thought that if people handle certain meteorites or other space debris, radiation might cause that tingle we felt.  She wants to see whether she feels the same thing.”

“Oh.  We’re here.  There’s a spot right there.”

Josh parked the car and turned off the engine.  They got out and walked up to the main entrance, where Josh used his key to enter.  They then go up to the newsroom and approach Tammy’s desk.

“So, where’s the meteorite?” Tammy asked.  Katie unbuckles her fanny pack and hands it to the arts editor.  Tammy unzips the pack and reaches for the meteorite.  “Tingle, huh?  I’m sorry, but I don’t feel it.  What you got here is just a plain, phallic shaped rock.”

“But I saw it streak across the sky when we were skating,” Katie complained.  “It had a little smoke trail and everything.”

“OK, OK, I’ll go to the NASA website and see if they know of any meteors that entered the atmosphere this afternoon.  Besides, I think you two need to take a shower.  It looks like you were working up quite a sweat.”

“How could you tell?” Josh asked.

“Your clothes look like they’re clinging right to your skin.  Go home.  I’ll investigate this.  If we have something, I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”  With that, they left the newspaper office and headed home.

After they arrived, they plopped on the couch and started to take off their clothes.  Josh fumbled to reach the zipper in front of his speed skating suit while Katie tried to reach the zipper at the neck of her unitard.  Neither could find it.  “What the hell?” Katie cried.  “I can’t find my zipper.  Could you get it?”  She turned her back to Josh and lifted her hair.

Josh searched for the zipper to her unitard, but also found it not there.  He noticed half of the zipper was missing.  He saw from her neck to just between her shoulder blades was completely smooth, with her shoulder blades and spine clearly defined, but from the shoulder blades to the small of her back was normal, including the bottom half of the zipper.

“Katie, you’re not going to believe this, but it looks like part of your unitard has been melded with your skin,” Josh said.

“What?” she gasped.  “Let me look at you.”  When she turned around, she saw that the zipper from Josh’s neck to the middle of his chest was gone too.  “It seems the meteorite only reacts to people who wear Lycra!  Tammy wasn’t wearing anything made of nylon or Lycra, wasn’t she?”

“No.  She was just wearing a denim shirt and blue jeans.”

“That’s why she didn’t feel the tingle and we did.  But my fanny pack is made of rip-stop nylon.  But… Wait!  It doesn’t have Lycra!  That’s why it stopped when I put it in the pack.  But how did the zippers disappear?”

“It must have something to do with the material absorbing whatever is holding it together.  Remember, thread also doesn’t have Lycra either, and your back is completely smooth where the rock had a chance to meld you to your unitard.”

“But I don’t want to wear this all the time and still have part of it normal.  I want this off!”

Josh noticed Katie’s unitard start to return to normal.  “Katie, turn around.”  She did so.  Josh saw the zipper reappear.  “You have to basically really desire it to be off.”  He then unzipped her unitard.  After that, he closed his eyes and concentrated on removing his speed skating suit.  As magically as Katie’s unitard loosened, the zipper on Josh’s suit materialized too.  He opened his eyes and unzipped the suit.  “Katie, get the candy tin next to the computer and I’ll get out of this suit before I touch that rock again.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m going to put that rock inside there until we figure a way to make full use from that thing.  So that I don’t get melded to this suit, I’m going to strip naked and then take that rock out of your pack and put it in there.”

“OK.”  Katie then grabbed the tin M&Ms candy container, which Josh bought during Christmas 1994, and brought it to him.  Josh slid out of his suit, and while completely naked, grabbed the meteorite from the fanny pack.  Feeling no tingle, he considered it safe to handle it.  Katie then opened the lid and saw there was still some M&Ms inside.  “I’d better put these in another bowl.”  She went into the kitchen and grabbed a cereal bowl and dumped the remaining candy in it.

She returned to the living room and held the tin for Josh to put the meteorite inside.  Once he put it in, Katie closed the lid.  “Where should I put it?” she asked.

“Put it atop the fridge,” Josh replied.  Katie set the tin as instructed.  “I’m heading upstairs and start a bath,” Josh said when Katie was putting the tin away.

“That sounds great.  Grab the bath beads from the closet, second from the top shelf.  It’ll make it more soothing.”

Josh grabbed the speed skating suit from the floor and sauntered up the stairs.  He threw the suit into the bedroom and then stopped at the closet to grab the container of bath beads.  He saw the label – jasmine scented, it said.  He then went into the bathroom and turned on the waterfall-type faucet for the tub.  He grabbed six beads from the container and threw them in the water and waited as the tub started to fill.

Meanwhile, Katie grabbed a wine bucket and placed a bottle of white wine in it.  She surrounded the bottle with ice and grabbed two wine glasses from the cupboard.  She climbed the stairs and went into the bedroom.  She set the wine and glasses near the door, then picked up Josh’s speed skating suit from the floor and put it into the hamper.  She sat in front of the vanity and stripped off her biketard and her tights.  She then grabbed a hair band and twisted her hair into a bun, which she wrapped with the band.

When Josh was satisfied the tub was full enough, he turned off the water and switched on the spa jets.  The tub is large enough for two, measuring four feet wide by six feet long by a foot and a half deep.  He stepped into the tub, feeling the warm, agitating water tickle his legs.

Katie hears that Josh had turned off the tap and turned on the jets.  She grabs a silk robe and wraps it loosely around her and ties it in a loose bow.  She then grabs the wine and glasses and enters the bathroom.  Josh watches as she seductively enters the bathroom.

“C’mon in, the water’s nice,” he says.

“I thought we’d make this a bit more romantic…” she says as she reaches to the light switch.  She turns off the overhead light, and then reaches into the cabinet below the sink and hits a special switch.  Rose-colored lights recessed in the walls surrounding the tub flicker to life.  Katie then sets the wine bucket beside the tub and opens the bottle.  She pours a glass and gives it to Josh.  She pours one for herself, sets it down, and then slips off her robe.  The silk robe slides off her, revealing her taught body, silhouetted by the rose lighting.

“You look more beautiful than when we first met,” Josh said.  “I can see why you wanted to use this special lighting.”

“My parents installed it for themselves.  They told me where the secret switch was a few weeks ago.”  She then takes her glass again and steps into the tub, sitting opposite Josh for the time being.

“Katie, as I was filling the tub, I just thought of something we could do to utilize that meteorite we found.”

“What is it?”

“Zentai!”

“You mean those faceless-hood catsuits?”

“Yeah.  We can order a few of those from that couple in Iowa that we ordered our last few suits.  I figured that if we’d want to bond with Lycra clothing, might as well go the whole nine yards.”

“How many were you thinking?”

“I don’t know, maybe six, 10, something like that, so that we’d have a little variety in our appearance.”

“Ten?  Each?”

“I’ve saved up quite a bit of money of late, and I think I can purchase at least my half.”

“In that case, I’m game for that too.  If I could propose a toast on this?”

“Be my guest.”

“To that little rock we found and whatever special adventures it will provide us in our love with each other and our love of Lycra.”

“And to you, my prima ballerina, whose entry into my life has made me a complete person.”

“You mean that?”

“That I do.  I love you so much, Katie.  I don’t know whatever I have done before we met when I did the story on the school’s anniversary.”

They click their glasses and drink their wine.  Katie then rotates herself around the tub so that she’s lying right next to Josh.  The couple spends the entire time in the tub kissing and caressing each other, keeping each other on the edge of desire.  Katie reaches into the water to stroke Josh’s engorged member.  Feeling this, Josh does the same to Katie’s box.  Their mutual hand jobs make them to the brink of orgasm, but Katie slows the stroking first.

“Not yet, Tiger,” she said, breathlessly.  “C’mon, let’s towel off and watch a video before bed.”

After they dry each other, they put on matching red Lycra catsuits with footed legs, mock turtlenecks and back and crotch zippers.  The head back to the living room, where Katie puts a videocassette into the VCR and hits play.  She settles into the sofa with Josh as the video starts.

“Cinderella?” Josh asks as the title displays on the screen.

“This is my favorite in my collection of classic ballets on video,” Katie replies.

Josh then sees who the lead dancers are.  “Oh, I get it.  Marie’s Cinderella in this one.”

“Mme. Marie gave me this when I was 12.  She called this her greatest performance in her dancing career, and she wanted me to get inspiration by watching her.  This was when I wanted to be a famous prima ballerina.  I just watch this now for pure enjoyment.”

They watch as the younger version of Marie and the rest of the company perform the classic Tchaikovski adaptation of the fairy tale of a downtrodden maiden, repressed by her stepmother and stepsisters, who gets enchanted by a fairy and finds herself marrying a prince.  All throughout the video, Katie sighs at the performance of the founder of her school.

“Does it make you wonder what if you didn’t get the teaching bug in college?” Josh asks.

“No, I’m just in awe of how Mme. Marie expressed the romanticism and emotions of Cinderella in this ballet.”

“Yeah, she was good in her prime.  It’s just too bad that she hurt her knee not too long after this performance was filmed.”

“Uh huh, but if she didn’t sustain that injury, she wouldn’t have founded the school when she did.  Then I may have been with another school, and the odds of us meeting would have been…”

“Katie, you’re thinking too much, but I get your point.  Marie’s injury indirectly led to our meeting.”

As the tape shows the finale and the curtain calls, Katie hits the stop button on the remote, and then turns off the TV.  Before she could put the remote down, Josh has already swept her in his arms and carries her up to the bedroom.

 

Chapter Five – The Bonding

Katie hears a knock on her door as she dries her hair after taking a shower.  She slips on her robe and goes down to answer.

“Yes?”

“Hi, I have two packages here,” the postal carrier says.  “One is for a Josh Thompson, the other for a Katie Johnson.”

“I’m Katie.  Josh is my boyfriend.  You need me to sign for them?”

“Actually, miss, it’d be best if Mr. Thompson signs for his package.”

“I can do it for us both.  I have his authorization.”

“Fine.  Sign here and here,” the postman said as he gives Katie two pink cards to sign.  She signs them and gives them back to the postman.  He then gives her two blue and white boxes, both with the same address, but one with her name and one with Josh’s.  Both have the same return address, from Iowa.

“We’ve been waiting for these for a week!” she said with glee.

“The U.S. Postal Service always gets the mail through.  Enjoy.”  After Katie closes the door, the postman walks away, shaking his head.

Katie takes the boxes into the living room.  She lays them onto the end table near the couch and takes a long look at them.  She then takes the one with her name on it and opens it.

“They’re here,” she says as she removes one of the ten articles from the box.  She removes it from the plastic bag and unfolds it.  She feels the Lycra in her hands, admires the blue color, and inspects the craftsmanship.  She sees the sleeves all end in fingered gloves, the legs in full feet, and the hood is completely enclosed.

She slips off her robe, still nude from the shower.  She unzips the two zippers and rolls up the left leg.  She then slides her left foot inside and pulls the fabric up her left leg.  She repeats the process with her right leg.  Next, she pulls the suit around her hips and waist.  Then she puts her left arm in its sleeve and works the glove around each finger.  She repeats it with her right.  She then pulls the hood over her head and zips the hood zipper down to her neck.  Then she grabs the tab of the back zipper and pulls it up to overlap the hood zip.

Katie strokes herself from head to toe to feel how the Lycra has encased her body.  She starts getting horny, and fondles her breasts and clit.  Her breathing gets faster and faster, and just before she loses control, the phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Hello, I’m calling today to talk about your phone service…” the female voice on the other end said.  Obviously, it was a telemarketer.

“Not interested, so leave me alone, bitch!” Katie said in disgust, then hangs up the phone.  “The nerve of those people, interrupting me while…” she said to herself, but then, “I’ve got to call Josh!”

She picks up the phone and dials Josh’s desk number.  “Globe newsroom city desk, Thompson.”

“Josh?”

“Katie?  You sound like you’re out of breath, and like something’s over your mouth.”

“They’ve arrived!”

“The suits?”

“I’ve got one on now.  They’re perfect!”

“Cool!  As soon as I get off, we’ll celebrate, then we’ll do our…” Josh looks around the newsroom to make sure no one is eves dropping.  “Our thing.”

“Well, I gotta get changed and get ready for classes.  I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.”

“Love you.”

“I love you, too.”  Josh hangs up his phone.

“Something from the home front?” Tony asks.

“Yeah, Katie said we received a package we were waiting for.”

“What kind?”

“It’s none of your damn business, Tony!”

“Fine.  Say, Pete just said the press is down and we have to send the papers over to the Press-News to be printed today.  That means we have an early deadline.  We have to be done by 4.”

“Good.  Then my weekend starts a few hours earlier.”

“Now, before then, Josh, I need you to help me down at the police station.  I have to talk to my source down there about a possible bust, but the police chief also wants an interview with their retiring detective.  Too bad it’s not the same guy.  Could you tag with me and do the gold-watch guy?”

“Sure.  Might help me get an ‘in’ with the cops.  When do we go down, Tony?”

“Grab your pad, I’m on my way out the door.”

Josh grabs his reporter’s notebook and a pen and follows Tony out the back door to his car, on their way to the police headquarters.

Meanwhile, Katie lingers as she takes off her blue zentai.  After removing it, she looks through the rest of the box, and sees all 10 colors specified are in there. 

Along with royal blue, they ordered black, red, forest green, black-and-white zebra-striped, chocolate brown, metallic gold, metallic silver and tiger-striped. Katie’s box also included ballet pink, while Josh had hot pink added to his package.

Katie left both packages lying on the coffee table, but with her zentai lying in their bags, spread out.  She went back up to the bedroom to change into her dance clothes.  She put on a pair of ballet pink tights, working them up as they tightly encased her legs and shaved groin.  She then took a mock-turtleneck, sleeveless leotard with keyhole back and put it on.  She took a moment to admire herself in the mirror, and to put her hair in a bun.  She then grabbed a pair of windpants and put them on over her legs for a little added warmth and descended the stairs to the living room.  She grabbed her dance bag, which included her pointe shoes, her regular ballet slippers, a pair of dance heels and some of Josh’s gear.  As it’s Friday, Josh regularly stops at the school to work out with her privately in her studio.  She then slipped on her mules, and rushed out to her car to drive to the school.

Later that afternoon, Josh and Troy returned to the newsroom to do their respective stories.  Troy’s source turned out to be golden, as he got the scoop on a rape investigation involving a prominent college athlete.  Josh got some good anecdotes from the retiring police officer to make a very poignant piece.  They both banged out their stories and got them submitted right before the 4 p.m. deadline.

Just before he finished his story, Josh takes a moment to call to Arabesque.

“Arabesque School of Dance, Jessica speaking.”

“Hi, Jess.  It’s Josh.  Is Katie available?”

“Hey, Josh.  No, she’s in a practice with the rest of the staff.  Mme. Marie decided to form that company with the instructors and some senior students.”

“Could you leave a message to let her know that I’m getting off early today?  Our press is down, and our deadline was moved up to 4.  I’ll head right over there right after I’m done here.”

“OK, I’ll do that for you.”

“Thanks.  Bye.”

After Josh finished and got the go-ahead to take the rest of the day off, he got in his car and drove over to Arabesque.  He walked in and saw Renee at the front desk.

“Hi, Renee.  You know if Katie got my message I left Jess?”

“I don’t know.  We all just got out of practice,” Renee said.  Her forehead still had a hint of perspiration from practice.

“What were you all doing?”

“Oh, Mme. Marie wanted to make sure all us ladies were up to the rigors of stage dance, since most of us instructors had been off the stage for so long.  I guess you can think of this as ‘dance boot camp.’”

Josh chuckled.  “I hope Mme. Marie wasn’t too hard on you ladies.  Where’s Katie?”

“She’s just started her junior lyrical class, and I wasn’t too hard on them, Joshua,” Marie said as she entered the room.

“Hello, Madame.  How is the new company going?”

“Missing a few dancers… male dancers.  It seems my oldest son and the two boys in the seniors’ class are not enough for a good ballet.  Come into my office and let’s talk.”

Accepting the invitation, Josh follows the school’s grand dame to her plush office.  Upon entry, he admires the photographs of Marie in her hey day.  He notices one photo above the sofa.

“Hey, that’s you in Cinderella!  Katie and I were watching that tape the other day.  You were great in that,” Josh said.

“Merci beau coup, Josh.  I tried to bring all of Piotr Tschaikovski’s characters to life, all the greats as well.  Cinderella, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Carmen, I tried to make them all my own.  Look, right there is me as the dying swan in ‘Swan Lake.’”

“What are your plans with your new troupe?”

“Oh, it all depends on what strikes us.  Some original dances, some interpretations of classical ballets, maybe some performances of modern choreographers like Ailey and Balanchine.”

“I thought Alvin Ailey was a black man.”

“I think we can interpret Ailey’s work to our traits.  But, I think you get what I’m going after.  So, about my dilemma, I hear Katie’s been giving you some private lessons and you both are working on your own performance.”

“That’s right, Madame.  We’re portraying Lois Lane and Clark Kent.”

“Ooo, la la, you’re doing a dance to ‘Superman!’  I’d like to see you two rehearse it sometime.”

“Well, we’re getting it all together for the spring recital.  We were going to practice it later after Katie’s last class today, but with the press being down and our deadline moved up, I decided to come over early, maybe step in with a class if she’s willing.”

“Katie’s senior ballet class starts up at the top of the hour with my eldest son in there.  Maybe you can join up with them.”

“It’d be nice to not be the only boy in the class, Mom,” Ron said as he entered the office.

“Ah, mon primer.  Did hip hop end early?” Marie said.

“No, we’re on a break.  I take it you’re the reporter living with ‘Big Sis.’”

“‘Big sis’?” Josh asked.

“Ron’s been around Katie for so long, he considers her a big sister,” Marie explained.

“And she sometimes calls me ‘Little Bro,’ as she was an only child,” Ron added.

“I guess you all have some what adopted her into the family,” Josh said. “So, Ron, I take it you’re one of the few males in your mother’s company.”

“Yeah, it goes with the territory of being a dance school owner’s son.  Ami’s also in it, but Mom’s got it so that we’re not partnered together.  It seems the brother-sister pairing just doesn’t give the same chemistry as two non-siblings.”

“I guess anything from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ might seem awkward.”  All three of them chuckled at the reference.

“Josh, you’d better get into your gear and warm up, as the senior class is beginning in a half hour,” Marie reminded.

“I have to get my stuff from Katie’s bag,” Josh said.  “I’ll take your offer into consideration.”

“No need to, Joshua.  I’ll watch you and Katie perform.  Think of this as an ‘audition’ of sorts.”

Josh then exited Marie’s office and went to Katie’s studio and knocked on the door.  He could see through the door’s window that Katie had to encourage the rest of the class to continue while she answered.  Her eyes lit up when she saw Josh and opened the door.

“What are you doing here at this time?  I thought you don’t get off until about 6 or 7.”

“The press is down, so our deadlines were moved up to 4 so we can send the paper to the Press-News.  Didn’t you get my message?”

“What message?”

“Didn’t Jess leave it in your office?”

“Oh!  I went right from company practice to this class.  I didn’t stop in there.”

“I need my gear so I can join your senior class.  Oh, and Mme. Marie wants to see our dance.  She’s thinking of asking me to join your company.”

“Oh?  Then I better make sure we have the song.  Come in.  My bag’s over there.  I got your footed black unitard and your black slippers.  You can change over there.”  Katie pointed to the dressing room across the hall.

Josh stepped into the room and went to Katie’s dance bag, where he pulled out his dancewear and left to change.  Katie had to quickly explain to one curious student what was going on.

Josh entered the dressing room and stripped out of his office wear.  He then slipped on his dance belt, making sure the thong fits right between his buttocks in a comfortable fashion.  Then he put on the unitard, one leg at a time and pulling it up to his waist.  He made sure the dance belt is positioned correctly before pulling the straps of the unitard over his shoulders.

As he was putting the second strap over his left shoulder, he heard a giggle.  He turned and saw two female students enter the dressing room, followed by Ron.

“Ronnie, who is the new beefcake?” asked the petite, Asian teen with short, raven hair pulled back into a scrunchie.

“That’s Katie’s boyfriend, Josh.  He’s going to join us for a workout, Mai.”

“He’s cute.  Too bad Miss Katie already took him,” said a taller blonde, whose long hair has been braided.

“And he’s out of your league, Lori,” Ron said.  “Besides, weren’t we going to the prom next week?”

“Hey, she can inspect the merchandise, as long as she doesn’t actually try it out, right, Lori?” Mai said as she started stripping out of her street clothes, exposing her small breasts, but wearing her ballet tights under her jeans.

“That’s right, Mai.  Besides, since I’ve won Ron here, I intend to keep him,” Lori said as she stripped herself totally naked in front of everyone, and reached for her ballet tights and leotard in her bag.

“Should I leave?”  Josh chimed in, obviously a bit red faced seeing the two 17- and 18-year-old girls undressing in front of him without a care in the world.

Ron noticed Josh’s discomfort.  “Oh, don’t worry about this, Josh.  They’re used to undressing and changing in front of some men.  We don’t have segregated dressing rooms.”

“Yeah, we’re not ashamed of nudity,” Lori said as she steps into her long-sleeved black short unitard, her tights already on.  “In fact, I think it does turn Ron on.”  She winked at her intended prom date, which caused Ron to blush a little.  “See?”

“You know how my mom thinks about students sleeping together underage.”

“Ron!  We’re 18 years old, seniors in high school, going to be going to the prom together.  Heck, you even gave me your first letter pin from football.”  Lori finishes putting on her unitard.  “If that doesn’t show me you care and that we shouldn’t do it, I don’t know what it is.”

“You mean…?”

“I love you, Ron.”  Lori then leans in to kiss Ron when…

“Ahem!  There are other people here,” Mai said.  “Can’t you wait until you’re alone, after the prom?”

“I think I’d better excuse myself and warm up,” Josh said and exited the dressing room after slipping on his slippers.  Finding a spot in the hallway, he started his yogic stretching routine to limber his muscles for the dance class.  More students file around him, heading into and out of studios and the dressing room, and also finding a spot to warm themselves up.

When Katie’s studio door opened, Josh and the senior ballet students filed into the room.  Other than Ron, Lori and Mai, the students wondered who the strange man was.  Katie decides an introduction is in order.

“Class, may I introduce Josh Thompson of the Globe – and my lover.  He usually comes here on Fridays after all classes are done and works out with me, as well as at our house, but since he got off early, he’s going to join this class today.  Josh, why don’t you take the spot at the barre between Ron and Lori.  Everyone, to the barres.”

The class lines up as usual, except with Josh falling between Ron and Lori.  The class consists of 14 girls and three young men, four counting Josh. 

All the girls wore some version of a black leotard with ballet pink tights, while the guys each wore something different.  Josh and another male student each wore a black full-length unitard, except the other student’s is footless and Josh’s is footed.  Ron has footed black tights over a white thong leotard with crew neck and a zipper in back.  The other male student is wearing a tank-top biketard in white.

Katie leads the students through the barre routine, after which she has the group do its floor work.  Afterward, she has the group gather in the middle of the floor.  Meanwhile, Marie quietly slips through the door to observe what will happen next.

“Class, Josh and I would like to show you a work in progress.  We’re trying to do an original dance to Five for Fighting’s ‘Superman (It’s Not Easy).’”  The announcement of the song caused a murmur among the students.  “Quiet now.  So, imagine if you will that we are in the newsroom of the Daily Planet, and that I’m star reporter Lois Lane and Josh is Clark Kent.  We do a little playacting, like I’m going to say that I’ve discovered my partner is really Superman.  Mai, if you would, please man the stereo and hit play when I give a nod.  Everyone else, have a seat while Josh and I perform this for you all.”

The students sit on the floor in a cross-legged fashion as Katie and Josh take their places.  Mai is at the CD player waiting for Katie to give her signal.  With everyone in place, they start their playact prologue.  They act like they’re at desks in the newsroom at the Daily Planet, typing their respective stories for the morning edition.

“Clark,” Katie, as Lois, said, “I have a killer of a story.  It’ll get me the Pulitzer for sure!”

“What is it, Lois?” Josh, as Clark, inquired.

“I know who Superman is.”

Josh gulps, acting as if Clark’s secret is revealed.  “Who is it, Lois?”

“You, ya big lug.  You don’t think I’m naïve enough to not see the coincidences?  You disappear just before Superman appears.  I’ve read all the comics.  All superheroes have secret identities.  And you know what?”

“What?”

“I think I’ve fallen for you, Superman.”

“What makes you still think I’m Superman?”

Katie makes like she’s removing a pair of glasses from Josh’s face, and unbuttoning a suit.  “Then explain this S on your chest if you’re not Superman.”

Josh lowers his head.  “You’re right, I’m Superman, but keep this between us.”

“And give up the Pulitzer?” Katie turns away, and then gives Mai the nod.  Mai hits play on the CD and the Five for Fighting song starts through the speakers surrounding the studio.  The couple performs their dance, flowing across the makeshift stage, sometimes acting like they’re flying across the floor, other times doing poses.

As the song ends, Josh adopts a classic Superman taking off pose with one arm wrapped around Katie.  Everyone in the room applauds, including Marie.  Josh and Katie take their bows.

“C’est magnifique!” Marie exclaims.  “Bravo you two.  Class, you see how hard work and working under a great teacher like you have here can make you all good dancers.”

“Thank you, Mme. Marie,” Josh said.

“Josh, Katie, can I see you both when you’re done with class?”

“Sure,” Katie said.  “Class dismissed.”

After the students file out of the room, Marie, Josh and Katie meet in one corner.

“Josh, Mon Cherie, I would like to officially offer you a spot in the Arabesque Dance Company,” Marie said.  “I’m trying to establish this, as your sports department might call it, as a ‘semi-pro’ company, so you will get paid for your performances, but not too much.”

“Yeah.  For us instructors, we’re getting an extra fraction of gate receipts or appearance fees on top of our normal teaching pay,” Katie added.  “Since you might still be at the Globe while you’re dancing, you’ll basically get a share of what we make.”

“You think I’m that good, Madame?” Josh asked.

“Oui, I do,” Marie responded.  “When we met last spring, I never knew you had this much talent as a dancer.  You were just a reporter, nothing more to me.  Ever since you and Katie have gone together, and she has taught you dance at home and here privately, you have transformed into someone just about on par with Barishnikov and Nuriyev.”

“Really?” Josh said, dumbfounded.

“She said ‘just about,’ not that you were, so don’t let it go to your head,” Katie said.  “With all due respect, Mme. Marie, Josh still needs a bit of polishing.  Of course, when he’s with the others, they might help mold him into a principal male dancer.”

“And that’s the other reason I want him with the company, Mon Cherie Katie.  While he’s good now, he needs to join us so we can help him be better.”

Josh furled his brow.  “So what you’re saying, Madame, is Katie found a diamond in the rough – that’s me – and you want some other master jewelers – you and the rest of Arabesque – to turn me into a brilliant diamond ring?”

“But of course, Mon Cherie!  We’ll make a great dancer out of you yet!”

“What’s the practice schedule?”

“Right now, we’re meeting before classes, practicing and rehearsing starting at noon and going about three hours.  The senior students on the company are taking a half-day of school, as they have enough credits to get their diplomas.  Then, the instructors prepare for their students at 3.”

“That might be tough for me.  I work from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except for today of course.  I don’t get overtime, as those hours are mandated by the contract between the Newspaper Guild and the Globe.  That means I have to be there by 10 and off by 6, with an hour for lunch.  I’m salaried, as well.  I’m not sure if I can ask my editor to see if they can shift me to the night beat.”

Katie chimed in: “Josh, why don’t we take the weekend, or longer, to discuss this.  I know this is a big step for you, and you’d have to make a lot of adjustments.  Plus, we do have plans for tonight.”  She winked at him.

“Katie, Josh, you two don’t have to make a rash decision,” Marie said.  “We won’t really get fully prepared for performances until summer, when the students are out of school.  We can adjust our company practices to earlier in the day, or later.  Take your time, but I hope you’d accept my offer, Josh.  Enjoy the weekend, you two.”

“Thanks,” Josh said.

“See you Monday, Mme. Marie,” Katie said.

After Marie left, Josh started ambling around the studio.

“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.

“I don’t know if I can do two careers.  I’d probably be the laughing stock of the newsroom.  I can just hear it now.  ‘Look!  Here comes the dancing reporter!  He scoops and he plies.’”

“I’ll bet they don’t know a plie from a pirouette.  We might be able to make this work.  It’s just that we have to figure a schedule that would work in with your work schedule, or see if your boss can work with us.”

“Or I could always transfer to the sports department, or I can become a correspondent, work on my own hours.”

“That’s a possibility.”

“I’ll talk to Pete to see what I can do.”

“Well, this was my last class today, let’s get home to celebrate.”

“Oh, yeah!  The zentai arrived!  How should we celebrate?”

“Let’s go to Olive Garden.  I’m in the mood for some Italian food tonight.”

“I guess we’d best get home and get ready.  As soon as I get to the car, I’ll call ahead for a table.”

They leave the studio, and Katie exits the school, gets in her car and drives home.  Josh runs into the dressing room, with a few girls changing into and out of their dancewear, and grabs his street clothes.  He then gets to his car and calls The Olive Garden.  He tells the maitre d’ to put him and Katie on the list for a table for two, and they should be there within 45 minutes.  The maitre d’ tells him the current wait is 45 minutes to an hour, so their spot should be there by the time they arrive.  Josh then drives home, in his unitard, which gets a few gawks from women walking nearby.

When Josh arrives home, Katie is already in the shower.  He empties the pockets of the pants he wore to work and throws it and his shirt, socks and underwear into the hamper, then strips off his slippers and unitard.  He throws it into the dancewear hamper, along with the dance belt.  He then walks over to the bathroom, in the nude, to take his shower.

“Katie?”

“Come on in here.”

Josh enters the bathroom, then carefully into the shower.  Katie is facing the showerhead, and Josh enters behind her.  Katie has her loofa sponge filled with body gel and has lathered herself up a bit.  Josh reaches around and embraces her.

“The restaurant said there was a 45-to-60-minute wait, and that was 15 minutes ago,” Josh said.

“Then we’d best not delay.  Come around here and let me scrub you down.”

Josh moves himself around her to be between her and the water spray.  Katie then works the sponge over Josh’s body, covering him with sweet-smelling lather.  When his body is covered, she steps behind him so he could be rinsed off.  She then has him lean his head into the spritz.  After his hair got wet, she takes his bottle of shampoo and works it into his hair and scalp.  She then has him tip back into the running water, so it can rinse off.

“All done,” Katie said.  “I already did myself.”  She then reached to turn off the water, but Josh intercepted her and started to kiss her passionately on the lips.  She then broke it off briefly.  “What about dinner?”

“Oh, yeah, right!”  Josh then reached behind him to turn off the water, while kissing her at the same time.

“You think we can dry off doing this?”

“Maybe not.”

“Then we’d better stop this so we can do that.”

Josh then grabbed a towel and started drying Katie off.  She did the same to him.  They then rush into the bedroom to get dressed.  Josh slipped on a pair of underwear, a pair of khaki pants and a blue rugby shirt.  Katie pulls on a pair of opaque tan tights (no underwear, of course) and slips on her metallic red Lycra ultra-mini dress.

Katie then puts on a pair of strap sandals with three-inch heels.  Meanwhile, Josh slips on a pair of socks and deck shoes.

After they’re dressed, the couple descends the stairs and exits the house toward Josh’s car.  He opens the passenger-side door for Katie and helps her into her seat.  He then goes to the driver’s side and gets behind the wheel.  He starts the car and pulls out from the driveway, on its way to the restaurant.

Josh pulls the car into the parking lot in front of The Olive Garden and finds a spot that gives them a nice walk to the door.  He also noticed the crowd has spilled out the front.

“It’s a good thing I called ahead,” Josh said.

He then exited the car, walked around the front and opened the passenger-side door.  He offered a hand to his lover to assist her out of the car, and Katie took it.  She stepped out of the car, and they started walking up to the restaurant hand-in-hand.  The people waiting outside the building nearly stopped all conversations to admire how stunning Katie looked.

The couple entered the restaurant and went to the maitre d’ station.

“Hi, table for two for Thompson, I called ahead,” Josh said.

“Ah, yes.  It’s not quite ready yet,” the maitre d’ said.  “You’re next in line, though.  Here’s your pager.  It’ll light up and vibrate when your table is ready.”

Josh takes the four-inch-square pager, and he and Katie head to the bar.  They each order a drink, to be put on their tab, and wait for the table to open up.  They each ordered a glass of white wine.  They toast each other, and take a sip.  Just then, the pager started to flash and travel across the bar.  Josh takes the pager back to the maitre d’ station, with Katie in tow.  A server shows them to their table and sets menus in front of their seats.  Josh pulls a chair out for Katie, and she sits, and follows that with a kiss.  Josh goes to the other side of the table and takes his seat.

“Man, I’m hungry,” Katie said.  “I forgot to have breakfast with all the excitement when our packages came.”

“How’d you survive all that dancing without food?”

“I don’t know.  I did grab a granola bar right after company practice.  That might have helped.  They have that never-ending pasta bowl on special right now.”

“Don’t make yourself sick over pasta.  I’m thinking about the pesto ravioli.”

“That sounds good, too.  I’ll have that instead.”

Another server comes to the table.  “Welcome to Olive Garden, my name is Stacy…  My God!  Katie!  How are you?”

“I’m doing quite well.  This is Josh, my boyfriend.  I haven’t seen you since high school.”

“Well, I got into a dot-com right after college, but of course, when the tech bubble burst in 2000, I was out of a job.  I’m now a senior trainer here.”

“You and Brad do anything?”

“We broke up during college.  He didn’t like the idea that I was getting into computers and all that.  You know how football players are, just dumb jocks wanting to date dumber cheerleaders.  He hooked himself up with a pom pom girl at the U.”

“You went to Miami?” Josh chimed.

“Only because they had one of the better computer programming schools in the Southeast, and Brad was going to play tight end there.”

“And you were a cheerleader?”

“Just in high school.  The U’s spirit squad members didn’t think I was good enough.  At least that dot-com helped me pay back all my student loans, and fast.”

“Well, we are ready to order, aren’t we, honey?”

“Yeah,” Katie said.  “I’ll have the pesto ravioli.”

“I’ll have the same,” Josh said.

“Great.  I’ll get your salad and breadsticks in just a moment.”

After Stacy left, Josh asked, “Was she also a dancer?”

“No, she went into gymnastics and cheerleading.  We were both neighbors at one time, but her parents moved across town.  Then I went to Ohio and she went to Miami.”

Stacy later returned with a tray carrying a bowl of salad and a basket of breadsticks.  She ground some parmesan cheese over the Caesar salad and set the bowl and the basket on the table.  “Did you want more wine?” she asked.

“I’ll have a little more,” Katie said.  Stacy then filled up her glass.

“I’m fine until the food gets here,” Josh said.

“Your entrees should be ready momentarily.  Enjoy,” Stacy said.

Josh scoops out some salad and puts it on Katie’s plate first, then takes some for himself.  Katie grabs a breadstick and takes a bite.  “These are nice and warm, must be fresh.”

As they enjoyed their salads and breadsticks, Stacy returned with their platters full of ravioli.  She asked if they wanted some parmesan grated over their dinners.  Katie had her do a little over hers.

When Stacy turned to Josh, he said he wanted some.  Stacy ground, and ground, and ground, waiting for Josh to tell her to stop.  “Just go until your arms are tired,” he said.  “Ow!”  Katie had kicked him in the shin, lightly.

Stacy laughed.  “I guess she’s saying that’s enough for you.  Enjoy your dinners.”

After Stacy left: “You don’t have to be such a pig,” Katie said.  “Have some pasta with your cheese.”

Josh just smiled and ate some of his ravioli.  Meanwhile, Josh slipped off his right shoe and rubs his foot along Katie’s tights-covered legs.  That made her purr a little bit, and she uncrossed her legs.  She slipped off her right sandal and moved her foot up Josh’s leg under his pants hem.  Josh moaned quietly as he felt her nylon-Lycra blend-clad foot on his skin.  He then let his foot travel up the inside of Katie’s left leg, pushing its way under her miniskirt.  He let his toe flick against Katie’s womanhood.

“Ooo, that is so good,” Katie said, which got a look from a couple at a neighboring table.  “You have to try the ravioli,” she said coyly, and then winked at Josh while she bit on another piece.

Katie, taking the lead from Josh, also traveled her foot up the inside of Josh’s leg and started teasing his stiffening member.  Unless the other restaurant patrons looked under the table, they didn’t know this young couple was doing de facto foreplay.  They continued eating their meals, as they disguised their sexual moans with enjoyment of their meals.

Stacy returned to the table.  “I see you two are enjoying your meals.  Would you like anything else?”

“We’re fine.  We just need the check,” Josh said.

“I’ll be right back with it.  Oh, and you can put your shoes back on,” she said with a wink.

As Stacy went to print up their ticket, Katie and Josh slipped their shoes back on, while giggling at each other.  Katie’s face was a slight shade of red from the knowledge one of her old friends found them out.

Stacy returned with the check, and Josh gave her his credit card.  She ran the card through and brought the card and receipt back for him to sign.  He added the tip and signed the form.

“Thank you, sir.  You both have a good night,” Stacy said.

“See you around, Stacy,” Katie said.

Josh and Katie get up from the table and exit the restaurant.  They get back in the car and drive home, thinking ahead to their next adventure.

When they arrived home, Josh decided to take a look at the 10 suits that arrived in the box addressed to him.  He sees the different colors and prints, and then admires the design.  “Wow, they’re great!” he said.  “I can’t wait to put them on.”

“I’d think we’d better wash up again,” Katie chimed. “After our little foray under the table, I don’t want to get the insides too dirty too soon.”

“I might need a little refreshing shower,” Josh agreed.  “I’ll take this blue suit up to put on when we get out.”

“I’ll go with the ballet pink first.”

With that, the couple climbed the stairs with their selected suits in hand, and disrobing as they ascended the stairs.  They laid their suits near the sink as Katie started the shower.  The water cascaded over the two nude bodies, washing all the recent dirt and oils off their bodies.  Katie also applies her special depilatory compound all over Josh’s body, including around his crotch and on his face, after she turns off the spray for a few minutes.  She then has him put on a coating of the compound on her.  After five minutes, she releases the spray, which rinses the chemical bath off their bodies and all their