“That girl is certainly loud,” said a voice from beside Erin.
She turned to see the owner of the voice and she felt her heart skip a beat. A pair of emerald green eyes looked back at her attached to the most handsome man she had ever seen. His hair was fair with a hint of red and he had a smattering of freckles across his nose. When breath had returned to her body she she forced herself to respond.
“That’s my sister for you. Her personality is too big for her body.”
“You must be the other birthday girl” he said, giving her a soft look of amusement. “Which one are you? Erin or Samantha?”
“Erin” she replied “And who might you be?”
“My name is Travis Kincaid. I believe my father does business with your grandfather.”
“A lot of people do business with my grandfather.” She hadn’t meant for it to come out flippant. It was just a statement of truth made obvious by the observation of how many people were at the party. “What is your father’s business?”
“Textiles. He trades in fine fabrics from across the world” Travis replied. “Such as the fabric your dress is made of. Do you mind?”
It took her a moment realize his gesture towards her dress was meant for permission to feel the material. She nodded and held out her arm so he could feel. He pinched a small portion of it and rolled it in his fingers.
“Based on the texture I’d bet this fabric was made in Chorenn” he said.
“It was” she said, impressed. “How did you do that?”
“Most of the fabrics in Chorenn are made from fibers spun from a plant that only grows there making it both rare and expensive outside of the country. The fabric is lightweight and soft, but retains heat very well making it perfect for keeping warm in their climate or for a late autumn birthday party...” Travis stopped and his face went a bit red. “Sorry, I’m rambling. I’ve been travelling with my father and his business for a long time so I’ve picked up a few things.”
“I think it’s very interesting” Erin said. “I know some things about fabrics, but mainly they’re what I need to know for sewing certain garments.”
“I’ve picked up a thing or two about that too” Travis said excitedly then explained. “We did business with a lot of seamstresses and tailors. My father actually sent me to apprentice under a tailor for a year because he said it would help me learn more tools for the textile selling game. That’s actually how I met one of my very best friends who was apprenticing there that year as well.”
The blush was back which Erin found herself thinking was very cute. He was probably embarrassed about rambling, but already she liked listening to him. And he hadn’t taken a look at her and decided she wasn’t pretty enough to talk to so that was a plus.
“Does this mean you know how to make dresses?” she asked.
“It’s one of the first things I learned.” His face lit up. “I quite enjoyed it.”
“I like making dresses to! But I’m not very good yet.”
“I’m sure you’re better than you think.”
“Maybe you could teach me some of your tricks and we could sew together.”
“I’d like that” he said, giving her a blinding smile. “But for now perhaps you might give me the pleasure of a dance?”
Erin had been so absorbed in everything about Travis that she hadn’t noticed that the crowd around her sister and her new fiance had subsided and the music for the night had begun. Now it was her turn to blush softly in embarrassment, nod her head, and take his offered hand. He pulled her towards him and out onto the dance floor where several couples were already dancing.
The music was light and happy, perfect for dancing. Travis was clearly a practiced dancer though oddly enough like Erin he seemed as though he would be more comfortable in the other dance position. Maybe he too had siblings of the same gender he had learned with and had ended up forced to be his sibling’s dance partner. When they had been learning Erin was often made to dance the man’s part with her sister due to her taller height. Of course she had learned the woman’s part too, but their instructor always seemed to prioritize Samantha which meant Erin had become much more comfortable dancing the man’s part. But she did know how to follow and for the moment that was all that mattered.
They made it through one dance and Erin thought that would be it, but as the next song started Travis pulled her into this one as well. The dance to this one was more complicated and the two of them found themselves stumbling through it. That is until Erin decided to switch their roles and started dancing the lead part. Travis seemed confused at first, but then smiled and followed her lead. Many people stopped to give them looks, but they didn’t care, giggling together as they stepped and turned. As the dance ended they moved over to the side of the room, both grinning ear to ear.
“Did you see the looks on everyone’s faces when I turned us around? It was incredible” said Erin. And it was incredible. For once in her life she had enjoyed having all eyes on her.
“I think that was the best dance I’ve had in a long time. You are a very good leader” said Travis, taking one of her hands and bringing it to his lips. The traitorous blush was back and she quickly brought her hand up to cover it. “Where did you learn to dance like that?”
“Someone had to be my sister’s dance partner when we learned how to dance” she replied. “I’m taller so naturally I got to be the leader. What about you?”
“One of the other apprentices taught me. He wasn’t really the best teacher. He just kind of led and I followed and figured it out. It was fun. Sometimes we would dance in our free time. Eventually I picked up on the lead part, but I’ve always been better at following” he said.
“Well you are certainly good at it. I enjoyed dancing with you. Perhaps we could dance again?” Erin asked nervously.
“I would love that” he replied. “But maybe we could sit and talk first? I’d like to get to know you better.”
“I would like that quite a lot.”
Travis offered his hand to her again, this time holding it and leading her to a table at the edge of the room. She let herself be led through the crowd of un-observant people, thinking about how nice the prolonged contact of Travis’ hand in hers was. He pulled out a chair for her and for nearly the rest of the evening they sat and talked and laughed, only getting up every once in a while for another dance.
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