Valentines for Cinderella

Ray stepped into a tempest when he entered the theater. Couples and parents towing children streamed around him on their way to their seats, and there was never a moment between the demands for his attention; if it wasn't Rudy or Sofia, then it was Mel's kids who had to be seated, and finally it was Pamela at his elbow.

The demands only subsided when the music started. Ray turned off his phone and settled beside Pamela to watch the old fairy tale unfold. Jenn and Jill danced as the crazy stepsisters against Mel's humble Cinderella and they made the crowd laugh. Julio danced as her romantic prince and the crowd gasped at his leaps and turns.

In the final wedding scene, Mel stepped on stage for the pas de deux wearing a glittering tiara with diamonds and rubies and a red and white tutu studded with the same gems.

Women in the audience dabbed their tears while Cinderella danced the adagio with her prince then he stepped into the shadows. When Cinderella took the stage alone even Mel's kids fell quiet. The tempo quickened and the audience caught their breath while Mel danced. The stage light flashed off her jewels while she floated and spun, and in the end she rose on one toe and propelled herself through turn after turn while the crowd stood to cheer her on.

Ray waited after the show until Sofia presented Mel and Julio with bouquets of red and white roses. After the last bows he and Pamela made their way through the exiting crowd to the front of the stage. It was like swimming upstream. Rudy came from the wings and brought Gina Tedesco with him and they talked on stage as the crowd gradually thinned. Sofia met Henry in front of the stage and Pamela left Ray to talk with them.

Paul's voice came from back stage, "Dammit! This is going to stop!" He ran down the steps from the stage, stopped in front of Sofia and confronted Pamela.

"With due respect," Paul started, without showing any respect, "Community service is a waste of a dance company's time and money. I don't know why you're getting so much attention for the piddling sum you're good for, but it's time to stop this nonsense. I will not let my dancers waste their energy on some stupid community project!"

Pamela stepped back, and anger flashed in Sofia's eyes. She touched Pamela's arm and said, "Paul no longer speaks for this company." She turned to where Rudy watched from on stage, made a slashing gesture at her throat, and then looked back to Paul, "Thanks for your efforts here Paul, but your time with us is over. We're going in a different direction. Clear your stuff out of the studio."

Paul took a moment to grasp his situation then stepped toward Sofia, red-faced and furious.

Ray moved quickly; he grasped Paul by the arm and pulled him away, then pushed him down into the first row of seats. He loomed over the seated man and said, "Get a grip, Paul. This should be no surprise to you. If you need help clearing out of the studio then I'm sure that can be arranged."

Paul dragged himself up from the theater seat with his eyes on Ray then hurried around Mel's kids who were gathered at the front of the stage. Ray watched him leave then turned in time to see Rudy lean to Gina and say, "Now we have the opening we anticipated. I can offer you the position of Artistic Director of Franklin Ballet." From the smile on Gina's face Ray could tell the offer was well-received.

Henry watched the sudden changes then told Sofia, "The last roadblock seems to be out of the way." He glanced at Pamela then continued, "My visit here today wasn't by chance. It was Ms. Hardy who called me down. I believe we both have good news for you."

Pamela explained, as much to Ray as to Sofia, "I made the decision to fund your grant request last week after I first met with Mel, but I talked with Henry and we decided to make a joint announcement." She grinned at Ray and continued, "I'm sorry I led you on yesterday, but don't go away. You still owe me a photo." She handed Henry her phone and asked, "Would you take our picture?"

Ray's smile was a little confused, but he put his arm around Pamela and posed. After the picture was taken Ray blinked away the effect of the flash and found Mel on stage with Jenn and Jill and her bouquet still in hand.

The dancers listened as Gina told Rudy, "Let's talk specifics later. Right now I want to see what's going on here." Gina gestured to the crowd of children and volunteers.

The curtain blocked Mel's view, so she stepped around it to see what Gina was talking about. The children squealed when they saw her. "Oh my God!" she said. She looked at Ray with a smile as bright as the stage lights. "This is your surprise? Ray, this is wonderful!"

Mel thrust her flowers at Jill and ran to sit on the edge of the stage with the skirt of her jeweled tutu spread around her. "Theresa and Michael, and Dante and China and..." She named each of them as they jumped up and down to be the next to give Mel her card.

Mel's mascara was starting to run when she looked up at Jenn as said, "I don't have anything to give them!"

"Yes you do," Jill said. She sat down on Mel's right and pulled one flower out of Mel's bouquet while Jenn settled down on her left. Mel took the flower and gave it to a child almost too small to reach, then took another and another until the last was gone, but kids still waited with empty hands.

Julio came from back stage to see what was going on. He leaned over Mel's shoulder and gave her his bouquet, and then jumped off the stage to watch from beside Ray. Mel's face was streaked with tears by the time she ran out of flowers again, but then Gina handed Jenn a third bouquet and said, "I think these were for tonight. We can get more."

The volunteers waited until the kids all had flowers then guided them back to the buses. Mel's lap was filled with valentine cards when Ray stepped up in front of her. She leaned to his ear to say "Mr. Ellison, when we get out of here I'm going to make your day."

Ray gave Mel a fleeting smile while his worries from the night before returned. He said, "I have something else for you." He put his hands on Mel's waist and she gasped in surprise when he lifted her off the stage and set her among the cards that he scattered off her lap

"Ray," Mel complained, "I don't have anything for you. I've been so busy!"

"Look at yourself, Mel" Ray said, "You're a living Valentine's Day card. You're all I need and you could be even more."

Mel wondered what Ray meant and watched curiously as he reached into his jacket pocket to produce the card he made. She took it from his hands and read aloud, "Will you be my Valentine?" then opened the card and looked up with wide eyes. Jenn and Jill watched from their perch behind Mel and both covered their mouths and gasped "Oh my God!"

A diamond solitaire ring glittered inside the card. Mel repeated aloud the one word that Ray wrote below the ring, "Forever?"

Ray caught Mel's arms and said, "Mel, will you marry me? Then you won't need to worry when things try to pull us apart."

Mel didn't need Ray's explanation. She squealed "Yes!" and leaped onto him. He would have toppled over backwards if Julio hadn't kept him on his feet.

Ray held Mel in his arms, focused on her face and told her, "God Mel, you're a beautiful, hot mess."

"And now I'm going to be your hot mess," Mel said. She tipped her head and covered Ray's mouth with hers then pushed her tongue between his lips. Ray closed his eyes and knew nothing but Mel's kiss and her body in his arms, her touch, her taste, her scent and the sound of her ragged breath.

The picture that Pamela snapped from behind Ray showed a young man in a fitted suit standing in the stage light with a ballerina wrapped around him. The white frill of her tutu radiated from her hips and her arms draped over his shoulders with his card still in hand. Her long legs with pointe shoes still on her feet crossed behind his back.

Gina clapped her hands from stage and while the dancers laughed she repeated the company rule, "You two! No sex in the company costumes."

It was late that night when Mel crawled over Ray and laid her head on his chest. She smiled to herself and told Ray, "I'm going to like my new name. It kind of rolls off my tongue." She drifted to sleep in his arms mumbling, "Mel Ellison. Mel Ellison."