Moon Marc Flashback
Name: Moon Ross
Age: 40
Location: New York, New York
Occupation: Broadway Dancer
Martial Status: Single
How would you describe your family:
My family, as unique as we are, love each other more than anything in the world.
Just like me, my mother was a Broadway performer and it was there when she met my father.... her dance partner.
They were friends for years until they decided to "try out" being a couple.... I think it was more pressure by everyone then their own ideas. Well Long story short, my father was tired of pretending to be someone he wasn't but it was too late, a baby was on the way.
My mother and father remained great friends, continued to be dance partners and raised me together.
When I was about seven years old, my mother remarried to a man named Maximus and had four children for him.
Soon after my first brother was born, my mother quit dancing to be a full time mom. She moved in with my Step father while I lived with my dad.
But even though I didn't live with her, we spent a lot of time together.
Today my brothers Mic (33), Denis (31) and Derek (31) all are married. Mic has 2 kids while Denis and Derek both have one. I'm active in all my nephews/nieces lives and My little sister Mande (29) is engaged to be married.
Rehersing Day and Night!
~* Round One *~
I was a bit upset that instead of going on some adventurous date with Marc... I was stuck playing Bingo.
I have nothing against senior citizens, aging is an inevitable process, but of all the games in the world, we had to be playing Bingo.
As a kid, I never could get into it. We would play it every now and then but it never seemed that exciting. There was no strategy... no game plan... no thought process... all there was is chance.... and me and chance didn't get along too good.
But a date was a date and if this was what I had to do to spend more time with Marc, torture or not... than so be it.
"So... as you Ladies know. We'll be playing Bingo," Marc announced as he smiled a little too widely.
I smiled back at him. It was a cute attempt to make things more exciting than they actually would be.... but he didn't quite nail his delivery.
"After you Laides...." he added.
The Bingo Hall was packed with Seniors, many of which seemed to be in a trance... (dedicated and determined to win.)
A few of them noticed when we arrived and I happened to pick up on some of their smiles and whispers.
"They must be here for that Television Program," one lady said. Her eyes were bright and lingered on the cameras behind us.
"must be..." another one stated looking at Marc. Her expression was curious but slightly judgmental.
When I picked up on this... I was unsure whether or not we were welcomed here.
Many of these women appeared to be over 60, and therefore perhaps the whole notion of eight older females, dating one younger male... was bit too modern.
Since there weren't any group seats to fit all of us, we were pretty much scattered throughout the Bingo Hall.
Marc sat next too two other ladies while I was seated three rows behind.
Perfect I thought...
I was sure Marc would make his rounds during the date... but still... this wasn't turning out to be the magically first date I was wishing for.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
About 20 minutes into the Bingo game the coordinator of the event decided to ask one of us if we wanted to be the caller....
2 games in... and I still hadn't won... I would be happy to give it a shot.
Plus... maybe this would give Marc a chance to notice me more.
"B-2"
.... pause ...
"G-32"
....pause....
"I-16"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When my session was up I returned to my seat and over the course of the night I got to know some really interesting people.
We all got the talking about the old days. Well they talked and I listened.
A lady named Marva explained to me how she used to play a mean game of black jack in her day.
"When was the last time you played" I asked.
She was quiet... tongue-tied as she tried to remember her last time.
“Oh deary it’s been too long,” she smiled.
“ Well what made you want to stop playing?” I wondered again.
“When you get a certain age the kids automatically think you’d love bingo. My daughters been droppin’ me off here ever since my 60 birthday,” she laughed/.
All the seniors joined in. It seemed they all could share a similar story.
“BINGO!!!” rung out from another player. Her voice was a little less enthusiast then the others.
For the next for moment, the Seniors collectively talked about the good old days... They discussed all the card games they used to play... and how great they were at playing them.
I figured some of them were making themselves seem more talented... or lucky... than they actually were but I had an idea.
“Marva… How bout I get a deck from downstairs?” I whispered.
“For what sweetie?” she asked.
"I dunno... hearts... bridge... blackjack.." I smiled.
“No … no…. ” Marva insisted, her words saying one thing but her expression stating another.
*Silent*
“Do you think we’d get away with it,” she laughed.
Everyone joined in again. I watched as excitement grew on their faces.
"I'll figure something out..." I smiled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Soon enough I grabbed Raquel (one of the other girls) and we were on our way downstairs. I had no idea how we were going to get the cards... but I knew I was going to give it my best shot.
Just when we hit the door way.... Marc caught us leaving.
“Moon... Raquel where are you ladies going?” he smiled.
My eyes widened. How was I going to explain myself. I was supposed to be fighting for his attention, dating him… when I was running around looking for a deck of cards. Quite Childish for a 40 year old... I thought
“umm… well…” My mouth was wide open but noting esle came out.
“…we’re going to steal some cards,” I confessed.
“What now!?”
“The ladies want to play black jack and I kinda offered to… steal some cards,” I replied.
He laughed. “You ladies are going to get caught,”
“I’ve gotten away with worst,” I spilled this time without thinking.
His head tilted intrigued.
“umm.. I mean… gotten away with some … minor offences,” I again stated... something that needed not to be stated.
“offences?” he smiled.
What a hole I was digging my self in.
“You wanna come?” I smiled switching the subject.
He smiled as if to say... I'm not going to be apart of this.
“We might need a fall boy… so be a gentleman and come with us,” I teased... batting my eyes.
“You’re a bad influence Moon,”
“Come on Marc…how much bingo can you honestly take? The seniors asked for Black Jack,”
He thought about it for a second... the anticipation was killing me.
“We got 10 minutes,” he smiled as all three of us hurried through the doors.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I ended up getting the cards through deception. I felt bad for the Casino Employee who basically just handed the cards over to me... but I have to admit our adventure was pretty exciting.
Marc and Raquel heard the whole ordeal from the hall way... while I worked my magic in the storage room.
"Are you Melissa?" I smiled... quickly looking at her name tag but quick enough she didn't notice. "Max told me to come see you about some cards" I added.
"Max?"
"Max... the guy in the head office... he's pretty new and he has a mustache?" I explained some random character.
She tried to remember someone who fit my description.
"Well he said to come see you about some cards... you are Melissa right?" I asked.
"Yes.... but Max... Max... Max... " she thought about it.
"You'd probably know him if you seen him," I added sticking my hand out for my errand.
"Yes... probably..." she smiled slightly. She reached for two decks of cards and handed them to me.
We returned in about 10 minutes flat and we definitely spiced that Bingo Hall up a bit.
The place livened up a lot since we added the cards to the mix.
I could really tell it wasn't about the cards... it was about making them feel young again.
We took a few of the Seniors out into the middle of the Hall and started really dancing with them.
Since I already knew how to dance... they taught Marc a thing or two about the Charleston dance!
He made a great effort and picked it up really fast! Perhaps hockey isn't his only natural talent.
By the end of the night, I ended up having a pretty cool first date after all. Since I was 21, I always had a rockin' time in a Casino and this time was no different.
Marc and Me hadn't been alone all night and it was a little disappointing that the night was over. We didn't have that chance to connect romantically... and see if there were sparks yet.
I was attracted to him.
He had everything anyone could want in someone but I needed to see if I felt something other than sexual attraction to him.
So during the end of the night I took his hand and led him outside.
"It's getting a little too wild in there...." I teased.
"Whose idea was it to give them Heineken?" he replied.
"HEY! Thats not my fault... they asked for it... and you have to respect your elders," I defended.
We smiled at each other but I soon turned away when my heart jumped into my throat.
Suddenly it was a little too quiet. If it wouldn't have been for the party we just started inside... you would be able to hear us breathing.
I started to think.
Marc had definitely seen the playful side of Moon tonight... but would that be enough for me to stay around.
"I just want to say I had fun tonight...." I said formally and seriously.
"I had fun too...." he replied immediately after I finished my sentence.
"Thanks for tagging along with me to get the cards..."
"Not a problem," he replied quickly again.
Silence fell again... and I was again forced to break it. I just decided to flat out tell him how I felt. No matter how forward it may have been
"I really hope I get to see you again...." I smiled leaning in close to him.
I knew he couldn't for sure give me a definite answer that I would be able to stick around... but the fact that he knew I was into him... may benefit me.
That night I sweetly kissed him goodnight... and we were both on our way.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The afternoon Marc got in I took him to meet my father at his Dance Studio. Years ago it used to be both of my parents, but since my mother moved out of the city, Dad's been keeping it up.
The drive there, Marc didn't seem a bit worried about meeting my dad.
I figured the fact that he was a gay dance instructor, who did Broadway for the majority of is life, influenced his thoughts... but the poor guy never met my dad.
"So he's been a ballet instructor for years now?"
"... yes since 1975,"
" That's real cool," he said.
I could tell he was playing the situation out in his head. Analyzing all the information I gave him so he'd eventually imagine a frail womanly personality.
But mistake to get your hopes up like that.
Unlike the past guys I've dated, I let them keep their beliefs about my father, only to have them shattered upon meeting him, but there was something about Marc. I wanted the first impression to be as pleasant as possible.
Marc sat humming and gazing out the window, watching every building pass. It was almost like he was anxious to meet my father.
*cough*
" Sooo interesting fact of the day" I said breaking his hum ".... did you know my dads a complete Ballet Master," I smiled.
"Wow... He's that good huh?" his eyes lit up.
I laughed on the inside. He was just too adorable.
"No..... well yes... but you don't get it.
He's a Ballet Master... think Hockey Coach + Drama Queen,"
"Hockey Coach plus Drama Queen," he repeated slowly.
"He's a Brutally honest Diva basically... I love him to death but he's a hard cookie.
He works his dancers hard and my boyfriends harder," I added. As much as the truth would scare any guy in his position, I had to let him in on the secret.
Marc was quiet, processing everything.
Just like I expected the humming ceased and I watched as the nerves sunk in.
"I just didn't want you going in there expecting some sweet old guy... when you end up getting my dad," I said. "It'll be okay though... I told him to behave."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When we got there my dad was waiting for us.
I could tell Marc was impressed by how well he looked for his age. He kept extremely great care of himself throughout the years, and our genes are good anyways. *laughs*
"Daddy this is Marc, Marc this is my father Edward Ross,"
"Mr. Ross," Marc said shaking his hand.
As they shook hands my father looked him up and down. The stare down was about to begin and I knew I could do nothing to stop it.
"Your profession?" my father asked as they continued to shake hands.
".... NHL, Hockey Player,"
Here we go I thought....
"Team?"
"Detroit RedWings"
"University?"
"NYU"
"Parents Divorced or Married?"
"Married"
"Classical or Jazz?"
"Jazz"
" Steady Girlfriends?"
"Two"
"How many sexual partners have you been associated with.. *pause*.. in the past year?"
"OKAY DAD... enough," I stated breaking there hands apart.
My dad was getting to know Marc better then me within the first thirty seconds.
"Sooo ummm... can you show Marc around the studio... tell him a little bit about your daughter... while acting like a normal 60 year old man?" I smiled widely, blinking twice after the final suggestion.
He looked Marc up and down one more time.
Marc smiled at him as if the last question hadn't made him uncomfortable.
"Sure. Follow me," he smiled.
*another one dodges the bullet*
For the rest of the afternoon we relaxed in the studio talking about old days. My dad was one of the reasons I was in the profession I was in today and since my mom moved away from the city when I was ten, he was the parent who I related to most.
After all the reminiscing my dad being my dad, had to incorporate some dance into this. He taught Marc a few basic steps, "he was a natural" which scored big points.
He paired us together for a simple waltz and watched intently as he counted off steps.
"Doesn't this bring back memories Moon Beam?" he smiled as his foot kept rhythm
...
"... Yeah. It does," I smiled looking at Marc.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FLASHBACK
"One two three four… One two three four… Manuel count in your head, not with your lips!!"
My dad was tough on us…but not to the point where we hated it. We all knew he had our best interests in mind. He wanted each of his students to go far with the art he so carefully mastered.
“Jasper… Moon!!!” He yelled breaking my then partner apart.
"Pretend for one second you can stand each other yes? *pause*
LOVE?… Chemistry… PASSION!!!" He said sternly as he finished danced intensely with an imaginary partner.
“Well tell Moon to stop trying to lead,” Jasper shouted.
“… you goof. You keep dropping me when we do the lift!” I said pushing him away. He always threw me under the bus when it was time for someone to be blamed. I gave him the evil eye. My dad sighed and threw the same look my way.
“What did I just say… get it together people… or were going to be here all night,”
As stressful as it was at times, the finished product was something to be proud of. We ended up bumping heads in practice but come opening day we would be as tight as family!
That night we said goodbye to my dad and it was time to drop Marc at the hotel.
It could have been the full moon that night but my mind was all over the place. I knew I was being pretty bad company for Marc but I had some issues of my own to sort out.
He had gotteb through a pretty decent first impression with my father,( by comparison of course) and I felt like I didn't know much about him.
"You haven't said much...."
"... yeah... errr.. I'm really sorry, my heads just on another planet,"
"Anything you wanna talk about?"
....
I was hesitant.
I didn't want to come about telling him how I felt in an overt, selfish way.
I didn't want him to think I didn't appreciate him being here with me... cause I did... I just figured I knew nothing about him.
"Is it wrong to think this is going too fast?"
He smiled widely, gazing out the window while still listening to me. Somehow he gave off the "I knew this was coming vibe". This made me feel more comfortable, and it opened up the possibility that he might have understood.
"Maybe I'm old fashion but I thought I'd at least know your favorite color before I brought you home," I smiled.
"It's Red," he stated playfully.
His eyes glared at me waiting for a reaction.
I gave him one.
"You know what I mean... we haven't really talked," I laughed.
He picked it up one of my CD covers, examining it, while trying to avoid answering the question. I could tell by his expression that he was trying to think of something "polite" to say... something significant to make this whole "bring home a blind date" more like the real world.... but even he couldn't.
"...Yeah, this is going insanely fast," he smiled playfully, but it had an honest touch to it.
I then sensed it was much harder from his perspective. I had the task of getting to know one guy, trying to pull him in close to me, while he had the task of getting to know 2 groups of girls, while trying to keep them at arms length.
"I'm gonna be honest, sometimes information gets jumbled in this big brain of mine... so if I call you by the wrong name this weekend... you have to promise to forgive me," he added. I rolled my eyes.
He was joking... if I picked up anything during the time we spent together it was his sense of humor.
"This works both ways Mr.... You have no idea what I've been doing these past few weeks," I winked playfully.
"Oooh bringing out the jealousy card this early in the game huh?" he laughed.
"Hey! You started it..." I winked.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day I had plans to take Marc to my old Dance Academy.
That school had become all I knew since I was five years old. Being the daughter of two dancers is just like being the daughter of two Doctors. Although they don't come out in say it... they expect you to follow after them, and I had no problem with it.
"So this is the Academy?"
"Yes... this is it... my home away from home for the first 22 years of my life... I feel so ancient being here,"
I watched as young girls walked by. It made me reminisce about my more youthful days.
Marc must have picked up on my feelings can he steadily grabbed me into a hug.
"Don't think of it as Ancient think of it as being experienced," he winked.
"Maybe your right...." I replied as I became entranced by his body. He was hypnotizing me. At that point anything he could have said, I would have believed it.
"Look. I bet you could dance circles around all these girls," He smiled twirling me around.
Impressive.
He must have been really paying attention last night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
My old classmate, Marie, had become the principal of the Academy. We remained close friends throughout the years.
Today she decided to allow me to perform for her students. It was exciting because Marc would be able to see me move on stage.
I did a presentation about my journey to Broadway, showing the girls I was just like them and my dream came true.
I hope Marc was impressed! I put my all in that performance, in hopes he would find something intriguing about it.
Afterwards Marc wanted to show me how to play hockey. I was excited. I knew hockey was a big part of his world so this would allow me to get to know him a bit more.
“I took a few figure skating classes back in the day… so if I were you, I’d be pretty worried,” I fibbed, as I struggled to keep my balance.
“For one thing… figure skating and hockey are two different things,” He smiled as he held me steady.
“Well… If I can figure skate then I’m sure I can shoot a puck into a net,” I winked.
“If I didn’t know any better… I would think you were trying to trash talk me,” he winked back.
"Just a bit," I smiled.
It took me awhile to get the hang of rollerblading but after awhile I was confident in my abilities.
A little too confident if you ask me. I even learned how to shoot a puck in the net! Performing... umm... Slapshots!
However I wasn't as steady on my feet as I thought, and just as I was going for a breakaway my feet slipped from underneath me and I fell flat on the ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Hello there beautiful…”
I awoke to find Marc watching over me, I tried to get up quickly but my head was spinning. I realized I couldn't move as fast as I thought and I slowly rose.
"How long.... How long was I out?" I said holding my head.
"Two hours... You had me worried," he smiled moving a piece of hair from my face.
"... hey. I warned you, you'd be worried," I laughed. My head spun more when I laughed so my expression quickly changed.
Marc placed his hand on my chin.
"Take it easy beautiful...." he said in a worried tone.
I avoided eye contact with him. I knew I was anything but beautiful in this undersized outfit, smudged makeup and who knows what kind of bruises where displaying on my face.
"Get some sleep... The doctors said they need to keep an eye on you tonight," he smiled.
"No! I'm fine.... Just get my jacket please Marc," I said. I knew I wasn't fine but I didn't want to waste the little time we had together, cooped up in a hospital.
He picked up my chin up softly.
"I have something to tell you...." He said sincerely. His words scared me. I would understand that he would be leaving because I was hurt... but that it still wouldn't be easy to hear.
"I care about you... and because I care about you... you have to stay in tonight okay?" his eyes were worried and sincere. I meant everything to me to know he had some sort of feelings for me.... no matter how minuscule.
I didn't reply. All of a sudden my eyes got tired and I laid back into the bed. I remember feeling Marcs warm arms tucking me in... and me thinking... "I care about you too..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
My sleep was peaceful and when I woke up, I saw Marc at the side of my bed watching ESPN.
I didn't want to bother him so I just laid there watching him for a few seconds. A short time passed before Marc noticed me. I was smiling at him and this made him smile.
"Hey... Hey... how long were you awake?" he smiled.
"About an hour," I teased. His eyes glanced at the clock to double check the truth of my statement.
"... You know... Never be a Prison Guard," I laughed. My head didn't hurt when I laughed anymore and this made him laugh too.
I got up out of bed quicker and I noticed it was night.
"A whole day went by..." I said walking over to the window. I was sad that I missed it... but happy that Marc had stayed by my side.
"Whats a today when you have tomorrow right?" he winked walking over to join me.
We stood there looking at out the window for quite a bit. I was so deep in thought that I couldn't think of something to say.
"Marc... maybe I was wrong..." I said.
"Wrong about what?" he replied.
I wrapped my arm around him slowly, carefully contemplating my next move while also reading his body language.
"Perhaps ... you don't need to know the little things to know someone..." I stated.
"Perhaps, knowing who they are when your with them is enough?" I confessed.
He didn't say anything. He just pulled me closer and I buried my head under his chin, pressing my body firmly up against his. We stood there, chatting and breathing in sync until visitoring hours were over.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day I was back to myself. A good nights rest will do that to you. I had the whole day planned out and since Marc wanted to know who I was before.... now... I decided to go Treasure hunting.
"Are you sure Moon... we've been diggin for awhile..." he smiled.
"Oooh I'm sure, It's around here somewhere," I stated.
We were looking for a keepsake box that I buried when I was 23. It was some sort of way of letting go of my adolescents and just recently I remember I buried it.
"So why now? Why don't you wait...." Marc said, as he fished for information.
"If you expect me to declare my love for you then forget it... Your a big guy. Whens the next time I'm going to have a big strong guy like you to help me dig up a heavy box," I winked.
"So you using me... I feel so dirty," he smiled, playfully shaking dirt off his clothes.
"Your a dirty dirty booo---OOhh Marc there it is..." I nearly screamed as I saw my box.
Rushes of being a teenager glistened all over me.
Marc dug it up and we spent the whole afternoon examining my treasures and talking about them.
"Whats with the funky plate?" he laughed.
"Oh wow..... I took an art course and this is the product of it... can you believe I took a year off of dancing because I wanted to do this for a living," I laughed.
"No way..." he laughed.
"Yes! I wanted to find myself... and just after making about a million of these crappy things, I realized I was born to be dancer..." I laughed.
We looked through some letters from my mom... when I couldn't visit her in the country she would write to me.
We also looked through my old journal, Marc mocking the hearts around "Jaspers" name.
"HEY! I thought you hated that guy," he said.
"and I thought that secret was buried..." I smiled back.
We even came across my old Senior Yearbook. Marc rushed to find my High school picture.
"We definitely would have dated in High school," he smiled.
"Hockey Jock... I think not! I only went for the sophisticated guys," I teased. "The ones who can appreciate art,"
"Yes... Art?" he teased pointing at my plate.
We both laughed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~**~*~~*~
That night we barely noticed as the sun went down. We were too busy talking that it was only when we couldn't read one of my moms letters that we realized how dark it was.
"... Time to head in?" he sighed. I could tell he was a little disappointed and I was as well... but that wasn't all I had planned for the night.
"There's a reason why I buried this keepsake in these woods," I whispered. His eyes widened. I took his hand and we traveled through a broken path in the woods. It was dark so I was basically guessing my way.
"This is the one place I love more than the city..." I smiled as we broke branches.
"Why?" Marc said... his voice shaky.
"Because...." I smiled. We finally found our way to the clearing. We both staggered out of the woods breathless and stood at the very stop I hadn't stood in years.
"Wow...." he said.
The view was amazing, it overlooked the entire city. Marc stood silently, shifting his focus consistently from the city to me. It made me happy that he liked the view and that he appreciated it as much as I did.
"What do you think?" I smiled, trying to get some verbal communication going.
"Beautiful..." he stammered.
"I know... don't you think it's just amazing.." I whispered.
We looked at each other and the essence of our chemistry flew in the air.
I felt drawn to him... so we that night we kissed intensely under the moonlight.
PART TWO