Page 43 of What Happens in Paradise

‘Problem?’ I repeated, stalling for time. I couldn’t exactly say yes, could I? What possible reason could I give for not wanting him to come without either offending him or admitting that I was worried about getting too close to him?None. ‘No!’ My voice went up several octaves. ‘Of course not! Like you said, it’ll be… fun! Yay!’

That was a lie. It would definitelynotbe fun.

I didn’t know what reggae moves we’d be learning, but something told me it wouldn’t be a dance where there would be much distance between our body parts.

Something told me there’d be booty shaking and so much bumping and grinding, it’d makeDirty Dancinglook like a children’s film.

Shit.

Once we were in the car, Bob set off. Whilst he continued his chat with Alejandro about a bad storm they’d had in Jamaica before we’d arrived, my mind raced.

Maybe I’d overreacted. Not all Jamaican dances were X-rated. There was skanking which my dad did, where you kind of marched to the beat whilst sliding your feet from side to side and doing a little kick. We could be learning something like that.

And anyway, if I wasn’t comfortable with anything, I could just watch.Simple.

It didn’t take long to get to the studio. We waved Bob off and walked in to see Nadine stood at the front of the small room. It was pretty basic with white walls, light wooden flooring and a mirrored wall.

‘Hi!’ I said cheerily, then glanced at my watch. The class was due to start, but there was no one else here.

‘Hey,’ Nadine mumbled. She didn’t seem like her normal, bubbly self.

‘Everything okay?’ Alejandro asked, noticing that something was off.

‘Not really,’ she sighed.

‘What’s up?’ My face creased with concern.

‘Six people promised they’d turn up today and no one’s here.’

‘Well, it’s still early. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute. I meant to ask: do you have any photos from your lessons or a website that you use to promote the classes?’ I hoped my questions would distract her and help cheer her up.

‘I have some photos on social media!’ Nadine’s face brightened.

‘Could you show us?’

‘Sure!’ She reached for her phone.

Twenty minutes later, Nadine had talked us through all the photos and told us that she’d set up the class after encouragement from her friends. I’d stalled for as long as I could, but there was still no sign of anyone else.

‘I can’t believe no one’s showed up!’ Nadine sighed. ‘It’s so hard. I really want to make a go of these classes.’

‘How long have you been doing them?’ I said.

‘About two months.’

‘Things will pick up.’ I patted her shoulder gently to reassure her. I wished I could tell her that we’d add it to our itinerary, but I couldn’t without seeing for myself what it was like.

‘I hope so. But I have to pay to hire the studio, so when people don’t turn up, I lose money.’

‘We will pay for the lessons,’ Alejandro reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. ‘Tell me what we owe you.’

‘I can’t take your money. I invited you as guests.’ She looked at her watch. ‘We should get started.’

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ I asked. I considered suggesting we do the class another time, but she already seemed deflated so cancelling it altogether was a hard no.

That also meant I couldn’t back out of taking part. It seemed like Nadine’s confidence was low, so I needed to throw myself into this and show lots of enthusiasm to make her feel better.

‘Once I feel the beat, I’ll be fine.’ She nodded.

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