Re: lakeside mansion; hugh c. & dietre a.
The refill was greatly appreciated, Dietre rose his glass in a little gesture of thanks, silently congratulating himself on not ruining the night with his amateur level flirting. At least not yet anyway, the movie wasn’t over, there was still plenty of time to put his foot in his mouth.
“I danced once,” Dietre admitted. “A very simple waltz at a masquerade with a friend of mine’s fiancé. ...It was a bit awkward as we don’t get along too well.” Damian was an ass in Dietre’s opinion, but the man had been more than generous to him and helped him too many times to be truly hated. “But I was not terrible, otherwise he would have told me so without hesitation.” Damian did not sugarcoat.
“I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had danced with a friend.” He watched Hugh from the corner of his eye in that shy way of his when he couldn’t handle looking at someone directly. “So… um… If you’re willing to teach me, I’m not opposed to learning sometime.”
Why was it that all the plans they made together sounded like dates? Karaoke on Valentine’s Day, dinner at a fancy restaurant, dancing… Dietre was too terrified of losing Hugh’s friendship by bringing up the D word in conversation, so he was doomed to wonder what was actually going on and agonize over it forever. Was that a small price to pay? He didn’t know. To cover for himself he added lightly, referencing the movie, “You know, as long as you stay in your dance space and I stay in mine.”