Love's Ballet

By Lee Stevens

Love's Ballet is a nonlinear love story between Avery, the librarian, and Omar, the ballet dancer, told in three acts set against the backdrop of Philadelphia. From a milestone date in their burgeoning relationship to the delightfully awkward meet-cute to a realization that changes everything, read as this pair does the delicate dance of love.

 

BWAM interracial romance, HEA, standalone

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lee Stevens
• Release date: Feb 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393711636

Book preview

a short story by

Lee Stevens

Author’s Note

This is a nonlinear short story, meaning it does not follow a chronological order. It shows three pivotal relationship moments between Avery, a librarian, and Omar, a ballet dancer.

The lower capitalization is an intentional choice.

This work was previously published as the relationship by Ashley D. Stevens.

the 8th date

seven dates to get to this point. standing outside a beige five story brick building, in winter, and holding a sweet beet pie from my favorite specialty pie shop. omar lived in that building, the man i had been seeing for two and a half months.

flexor hallicus longus tenosynovitis, it turns out, changed things for both of us.

i inhaled deeply and blew it out. i pulled out my phone and sent a simple text message: I’m outside. in reality, i was a yard away but i didn’t want to look like a loiterer. after all, this was a nicer (read: expensive) part of town and i’m a black woman dressed in a long, black puffer coat. i looked both ways before crossing the narrow street. a small green honda civic zipping down the street caused me to pause between two parked cars. on the opposite side of the street, a woman, pale and freckled with thin red hair, glanced my way. her eyebrows raised. in spite of myself, i looked down and rolled my eyes. not this shit. she didn’t have to say anything but i could feel her eyes on me. it didn’t escape my notice how she slowed her pace as i climbed up the steps to the building to wait.

i didn’t have to wait long. omar opened the heavy black security door to let me in. there was an openness to his face. the sight of it a temporary balm to my anxiety over the date and being watched. his chestnut eyes seemed to shine when he looked at me. i suppressed the smile of delight.

thank you for coming, he took the pie and gave me a kiss on the cheek. his beard tickled my face. i breathed in the scent of him. he smelled of old spice, fresh rain, and fennel. i glanced back.