Chapter 166: Not The Kind Of Fun I Imagined

Keeley couldn't help but compare this rehearsal dinner to her own. Lydia's and Collin's friends and family happily laughed and chatted around the table and everyone was having a good time. Hers had seemed like yet another business function.

Since not even her bridesmaids were her own choice, the only person from her side who was there at all was her dad. Both of her parents had been only children so while Keeley had some second cousins who were also taking advantage of her great-grandfather's trust, she wasn't close to any of them.

She felt abnormally out of place at her own rehearsal dinner since Aaron was busy catering to business contacts. He really had a knack for making her feel alone even when he was right there in those days.

Gloom settled in on her until the entrees arrived. Shrimp linguini alfredo ought to get her mind off of things for a little while.

Keeley dug into her food with gusto, stabbing each shrimp with her fork as if it were her ex-husband.

Aaron may not be the cheater she always thought he was but he was still a liar that broke her heart and ruined her forever. She couldn't even live her second life in peace due to his constant interference. He was almost 3,000 miles away and she was still thinking about him!

It was tempting to send him an angry text but that wouldn't solve anything. She couldn't let him know he still had an effect on her.

"Keeley, are you alright?" Jeffrey asked with a slight frown, noticing how hard she was stabbing her shrimp.

She pasted on an insincere smile. "I'm great."

"Are you sure? Because you seemed kind of pissed off."

She sighed and set down her fork. He knew her too well. "I guess my problems followed me here," she said self-deprecatingly.

Keisha put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Don't you worry about a thing; we're going to have so much fun tonight that you'll forget all about it!"

===

"This is not the kind of fun I imagined," Keeley said as she stared up at the sign that said 'Pole Dancing Classes' in horror. Now she understood why she was told to bring exercise clothes.

Keisha stifled a laugh. "It's not so bad! After this we're going back to Lydia's friend's place and eating snacks and playing party games. One of her other friends is a nail artist and is going to give us manicures too."

Manicures and party games were fine but pole dancing?

"Nobody is going to video this, right?" she asked nervously.

"I'm sure they will but I'll get a sworn statement from each of the bridesmaids that no one will post any of you if it'll make you feel better."

It did. Keisha was a saint. With that promise, she let her friend's girlfriend tug her inside the pole dancing studio.

Twenty poles were neatly lined up in four rows of five but aside from that it looked much like any other dance studio with its wooden floors and mirrored walls. The bridesmaids only made up about half of the bachelorette party. Lydia's cousins, her old roommates, and Keisha added up to 15 giggly women ready to learn how to pole dance.

The instructor stood at a pole in the front and quieted everyone by directing their attention to her. She dazzled them all by pulling off an elaborate routine where she practically flew around the pole.

She contorted herself in ways that shouldn't be possible and yet the movements remained fluid. Anyone who thought pole dancing was meant to be sexy only was clearly missing the artistry behind it.

At the end of the routine everyone cheered loudly for the instructor, who simply smiled.

"You certainly won't be able to do that by the end of the night but there are a few basic moves you might be able to get down. Are you ladies ready?"

Cheers arose from the party again and this time Keeley felt a little less weird about trying this out. After all, it's not like anybody else would ever find out about it. She got into the 'ready' position just like everyone else and awaited instruction.

Before even launching into the first move, the instructor had everyone do warm up stretches without the pole. Keeley hadn't done this many lunges since high school P.E.

She hated to admit it but she was a little winded already. The most exercise she ever got was walking back and forth across campus. She didn't have the time to do traditional workouts or go to a gym.

Unsurprisingly, no one was able to get the first move right away. It took about five minutes of practice before Lydia's cousin Delaney cried out "I got it!" in excitement before demonstrating a passable 'outside step.'

The instructor praised her and invited everyone else to keep trying for another five minutes before moving on. Lydia was really getting into it; she was the second person to pull it off. Keeley had less luck.

The second move, a pirouette, was more difficult. She couldn't quite get her arms to twist correctly so she ended up with her back to the pole.

It occurred to her suddenly that Jennica would be great at this. Keeley was in charge of her bachelorette party; maybe a pole dancing class wouldn't be such a bad idea. By then she might have a leg up over the others by going through this already and wouldn't embarrass herself so badly.

The 'fireman spin' was even worse—this time she had to clasp her knees around the pole as she spun around. At least Keeley wasn't the only one having a hard time now; several people fell off their poles or just plain got stuck and couldn't spin once their knees were in position.

They spent about fifteen minutes on this move because everyone was struggling a bit. They were all having fun as they went though. The studio echoed with laughter as they practiced.

"Keeley, video me! I think I have it!" Keisha grinned before pulling her phone out of her purse off to the side of the room.

She executed a decent fireman spin while Keeley filmed and shot her a thumbs up. "Nice!"

historical

"Now let me get one of you on your phone."

"I really don't think—"

The other woman brooked no arguments. "Come on, at least you'll have proof that you did it even if you never show it to anyone else. It'll help you remember tonight."

She doubted she would be forgetting this humiliation anytime soon; it was one of the most embarrassing things she had done in either of her lives. But Keisha insisted so she handed over her phone in defeat.

"Show me all of the moves we've done so far," she instructed. So Keeley did. Her face was flaming by the end of the video but she still pulled it off.

Replaying it, she didn't look as stupid as she thought she would. This wasn't so terrible after all.